
A shareholder rebellion at Topps Tiles has raised significant concerns about the retailer’s leadership, as nearly 40% of investors voted against its pay report at the company’s annual general meeting.
MS Galleon, an Austrian private equity firm and the largest shareholder in Topps Tiles with a 29.9% stake, led the revolt against the remuneration report on Wednesday.
This contributed to 39.5% of shareholders voting against the resolution. A similar percentage also opposed the reappointment of outgoing chief executive Robert Parker and director Diana Breeze, The Times reported.
The board of the tile specialist said that it would “consult and engage with the relevant shareholders to understand and discuss their views” in the light of the result.
Last week Parker, who has been Topps Tiles CEO since 2019, announced his resignation after prolonged criticism from MS Galleon, including requests for a leadership and strategy review. His replacement is expected to be named in late 2025.
The Austrian investor has previously described the Topps leadership as “incapable of recognising the seriousness of the current situation” and said that it had overseen a “complete failure” in adapting to online retail.
It warned that it had “grave concerns that the business has lost its way in recent years” and that Topps was “in significant danger of ceding further ground to competitors”.
Despite the criticisms, the retailer posted a 4.6% increase in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 28 December 2024, compared with the same period the previous year.
Defending its performance, the business said in December that it was outperforming the overall UK tile market while expanding its online presence.
Chairman Paul Forman emphasised the importance of digital development in driving growth. He said: “Further expansion of our digital capabilities is at the heart of many of these growth initiatives. Our latest results show that we continue to take market share, consistently outperforming the wider tile market despite very challenging trading conditions.”
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