Leighton hits at board critics

SERIAL company chairman Allan Leighton today launched an attack on the shareholder groups that whip up anti-boardroom sentiment.

Leighton was speaking after 'a week of grief' following calls by the Pensions and Investment Research Council (Pirc) for shareholders to abstain from re-electing him as chairman of internet leisure company Lastminute.com.

Pirc claims his position on a host of other boards raised questions about how much time he could devote to Lastminute.

After winning more than 99% of the vote today, he said: 'It concerns me that some of the shareholder bodies are more interested in creating headlines for themselves than improving shareholder value.

'Shareholders judge on performance, and that is what they have done today.'

He said he had no beef with the Association of British Insurers or the National Association of Pension Funds.