A European private equity business which wants a bigger say in how Topps Tiles is run, says the retailer has stagnated under its current leadership and is calling for chairman Darren Shapland to be ousted.
Austria-based MS Galleon GmbH says growth has stalled while competitors such as Victoria Plumbing and Tile Mountain have thrived post-Covid – despite Topps taking a bigger share of the UK market.
MS Galleon – which has grown its stake in Topps from 21 per cent last May to almost 30 per cent today – says it believes Topps has failed to exploit online opportunities under Mr Shapland and wants to oust him at the AGM on Wednesday, January 18, and bring in two new directors.
