Resign now! Hedge fund boss rages at Speedy Hire chairman

A BITTeR row has erupted over the leadership of rental firm Speedy Hire with a millionaire hedge fund boss demanding the chairman quits.

Toscafund chief executive Martin Hughes – nicknamed the Rottweiler – sent a stinging letter to Jan Astrand, chairman of Speedy Hire.

He accused the 69-year-old, who earns £219,000 a year, of failing to turn the company around, of indecision and a lack of experience.

Hughes, who through Toscafund is the firm’s biggest shareholder, criticises Astrand for losing investors’ confidence and blocking progress.

The pair have been at loggerheads for months, with Toscafund demanding a special meeting at which shareholders can vote for Astrand’s removal. This will be held by September 9 – but Hughes wants Astrand to leave before then.

It is the first time Toscafund has called for a chairman’s resignation in its 16-year history, with Hughes

(pictured right) arguing the move was needed due to the strength of shareholder opposition to Astrand’s role.

Astrand (pictured left) joined as chairman in 2015 and took on extra powers as executive chairman in July last year. Toscafund said that Speedy Hire’s share price had plunged by 29pc since then.

It argued Astrand had undermined chief executive Russell Down by interviewing someone else for his job without speaking to shareholders.

The fund, which owns 19.5pc of Speedy Hire, also has a large stake in rival HSS Hire Group.

It was strongly in favour of a merger between the two companies – a move Hughes said Astrand had halted.

Hughes, 54, who is one of the City’s most successful hedge fund managers, said the chairman had prevented the deal because he was ‘aware that there was unlikely to be a role for you in the combined business’.

‘You have failed to deliver during your tenure as executive chairman and we do not believe you have the appropriate track record or attitude to oversee the company’s turnaround,’ Hughes wrote. ‘You have proved to be an indecisive business leader.

‘Your previous roles and experience do not justify your current position and remuneration.’

If Astrand is removed, Toscafund intends to replace him with turnaround expert David Shearer.

It said Shearer was independent and would represent the interests of all shareholders.

Astrand was previously chief executive of Axus International, chief financial officer of Commodore International and chairman of easyHotel, a spin-off of budget airline easyJet.

A spokesman for the company declined to comment.

Speedy Hire shares closed up 3.6pc, or 1.25p at 35.75p.