Marconi urged to 'come clean' over homes

The National Association of Pension Funds is urging its members to write directly to Marconi over its purchase of two houses from a former executive after the company refused to provide further details. It said shareholders should demand an explanation and details on whether this kind of practice has happened before.

A spokesman said: "We are looking at the matter and will take it further if contacted by shareholders. It is open to any shareholder to write to Marconi to seek an explanation."

Marconi yesterday declined to say whether it had bought other houses from executives and if so, how many. "We have absolutely no comment to make," a spokesman for the telecoms group said.

The comments followed complaints from Standard Life which had urged the company to "come clean" and say how many times this had happened, even if there was no regulatory requirement to disclose it.

When Marconi refused, Standard Life said: "Standard Life Investments seeks to improve shareholder value through constructive consultation with companies and other corporate governance initiatives. We expect all companies, including Marconi, to have a formal and transparent procedure for developing executive remuneration policy and for fixing remuneration packages for individual directors."

Marconi bought two houses from its former director of sales, Charlie Foreman. The first was a house overlooking Wandsworth Common in south-west London, which Marconi bought in June last year for £1.7m when it wanted to relocate Mr Foreman to a new job in Coventry. It subsequently sold the house for £1.5m, making a £200,000 loss.

Mr Foreman then paid £1.6m for a luxury mansion in Buckinghamshire to be closer to Coventry. When he was made redundant three months later Marconi bought the house from him in February. It paid £1.6m plus £150,000 in stamp duty. The house is still for sale at £1.35m.

Marconi claimed such relocation packages were not unusual if executives changed jobs and needed to relocate.