Marchpole clears out board as auditor quits

Marchpole, which makes Yves Saint-Laurent clothes in the UK, yesterday cleared out it board as it emerged that PricewaterhouseCoopers had resigned as the group's auditors.

It was unclear what had prompted PwC to quit, although in its resignation letter the accountancy firm said that there was nothing to its departure that shareholders needed to be aware of.

The development came as Michael Morris, Marchpole's founder and former chief executive, succeeded in his attempts to replace board directors who had been seeking repayment of Mr Morris' alleged personal expenses.

Greg Tufnell, the former managing director of Mothercare, and Bill Walker, the entrepreneur behind the Ben Sherman menswear brand, have joined as non-executive directors, with Mr Tufnell serving as acting chief executive. Chris Phillips, a former investment banker, will become non-executive chairman.

Ian Gray, David Bradfield and Andy Cox have relinquished their posts of chairman, finance director and sales director after spending 11 months troubleshooting the business. Marchpole declined to reveal whether they had received a pay-off, but said "mutually acceptable terms" had been reached.

Mr Morris has agreed to let Deloitte and Touche, the accountancy firm, rule whether £200,000 of expenses incurred while he was chief executive, should be counted as legitimate corporate entertaining or personal expenses. They included helicopter flights to race meetings.

Marchpole is also seeking to reduce his £170,000 claim for consultancy and "introduction" services that he provided after he was ousted in February 2000.

After yesterday's boardroom overhaul, Mr Morris, who is Marchpole's major shareholder, has dropped plans to call an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the composition of the board.

Meanwhile, the company revealed that it was debt free and had a forward order book exceeding £7m. Last month it reached an agreement to sell its leasehold interest in its West End head office, a move aimed at alleviating what it called its "severe financial difficulty". Shares in the group closed up 1p at 6.25p, valuing it at £7.5m.