Blacks chairman resigns
The chairman of Blacks Leisure, David Bernstein, has resigned as both chairman and director with immediate effect. This is despite winning a re-appointment vote last week.
At a company AGM on 27 July, Bernstein, who is also the current chairman of the Football Association, received 78 per cent of votes in favour of his re-appointment.
However, Blacks told the Stock Exchange this morning: "David has decided that, whilst this would normally be sufficient, the challenges faced by the business in such a difficult trading environment require a unified shareholder base supporting the strategy developed by the board."
Bernstein had been chairman since 2001 and joined the board in 1995. The nomination committee is now seeking a replacement.
"David has made a considerable contribution to the business and the board would like to take this opportunity to express their gratitude and to wish him well for the future," said Blacks.
Earlier this month Blacks shares fell 19.7 per cent after the company revealed it had agreed a £40m facility to manage its debt. This followed a 38 per cent fall in share value the previous week after the scale of its debt was revealed.
Bernstein has spent six years as joint managing director of Pentland Group, five years as Manchester City chairman and was appointed as chairman of the Football Association in January.
He is also chairman of Sports and Leisure Group, Orchid Group and is a non-executive director of Ted Baker and Wembley National Stadium.
