Family feud at Shepherd Neame

THE family dogfight at Shepherd Neame is set to reopen at the Kentish brewer's annual meeting later this month when rebel shareholder Stuart Neame mounts a new challenge to the board.

The company is bracing itself for a series of resolutions from the former vice chairman calling on directors to adopt Higgs-style corporate governance guidelines and put his brother Roderick on the board.

Jonathan Neame, chief executive and cousin of Stuart, called on shareholders to reject the 'damaging' proposals.

The company revealed pre-tax profits, up from £8.73m to £9.3m last year, had been hit by a £822,000 charge to meet the costs of Stuart's unsuccessful employment tribunal challenge and an expected pension top-up.

Sales of its famous Spitfire ale, 90% of which are made outside Shepherd's 368 pubs, jumped 10.2%. But Neame warned that recent unsettled weather and tough comparatives after last year's fine summer were making current trading tough.