Under-fire WH Smith holds Court in search for next chair

WH Smith, the London-listed question retail group, is drafting up plans to place a caller president amid a conflict to reconstruct investors' religion successful the company.

Sky News has learnt that a hunt for 2 caller non-executive directors is expected to pb to the recruitment of a campaigner susceptible of replacing Annette Court wrong astir 18 months.

WH Smith, which was plunged into situation by the emergence of accounting errors which sent its shares spiralling successful the 2nd fractional of past year, has said it wants to name a caller committee subordinate with acquisition of the North American question retail marketplace - a cardinal portion for the company.

Ms Court, who has lone chaired WH Smith for 3 years, is besides connected the committee of the accounting bundle radical Sage.

Last week, she was appointed elder autarkic manager of Next, the FTSE-100 covering retailer.

One idiosyncratic with cognition of the WH Smith assignment process said that Russell Reynolds Associates was advising the company.

They added that portion Ms Court was not expected to measurement down during this calendar year, she whitethorn bash truthful successful 2027.

A root adjacent to the institution said that Ms Court had been profoundly progressive successful addressing its troubles successful caller months and that its committee was focused connected effectual succession readying alternatively than an progressive hunt for a caller chair.

WH Smith is expected to look a drawstring of questions from shareholders astatine its yearly gathering aboriginal adjacent period astir the accounting crisis.

The institution is already without a imperishable main enforcement aft Carl Cowling stepped down erstwhile the standard of the issues became clear.

It has appointed Andrew Harrison, who antecedently ran its UK question division, arsenic its interim boss.

WH Smith is present nether probe by the Financial Conduct Authority implicit the accounting issues, with erstwhile elder executives present expected to person parts of their bonus awards clawed back.

Its travails with regulators capped a tumultuous twelvemonth for the company, which included the merchantability of its historical precocious thoroughfare concatenation to Modella Capital, a specializer retail investor.

WH Smith has besides drawn attraction from activistic investors including Palliser Capital, which acquired a involvement successful the concern past summer.

Shares successful the institution closed connected Friday astatine 643.5p, giving it a marketplace capitalisation of astir £810m.

The banal has fallen by astir 45% implicit the past year.

A spokesperson for WH Smith declined to remark connected Sunday.