New blow hits Eldridge Pope as chairman steps down

Eldridge Pope has announced that chairman Christopher Pope is stepping down due to ill health.

The news comes at the same time as Jersey-based pub and retail group CI Traders has announced it will not bid for the troubled Dorset brewer, which is working to recover from a severe downturn in trading.

Mr Pope was the only remaining family member involved in the management of the business at a senior level. He is stepping down after almost 50 years with the business and over 20 years as chairman. He will remain a non-executive director, but his departure from the day-to-day running of Eldridge Pope marks the end of an era.

The Pope family remains a major shareholder in the business. While Eldridge Pope has been seen as a takeover target for some time, there have been suggestions that the Pope family is asking too much for its stake.

Earlier this year, a buyer widely understood to be Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries walked away from takeover talks after failing to agree a price.

Robert Colvill, the company's senior non-executive director, is assuming the role of acting non-executive chairman. Mr Colvill, a former finance director of Marks & Spencer, joined the Eldridge Pope board last year.

Eldridge Pope held talks with CI Traders last month, at the time when entrepreneur Michael Cannon launched his unsuccessful bid to buy the company. Although the initial talks came to nothing, CI Traders said it would consider its position further.

Mr Cannon only received acceptances amounting to an additional 2.18 per cent of Eldridge Pope shares, bringing the total he controls to 12.85 per cent.

CI Traders said that, after consideration of the result of the tender offer, as well as a recent shareholder meeting at which the Eldridge Pope senior management set out its strategy, "CIT has no present intention of making an offer for Eldridge Pope".

However, it did not rule out changing its mind and making a bid if Mr Cannon or another bidder made an offer, or if the Eldridge Pope board would recommend an offer from CI Traders on acceptable terms.

Eldridge Pope is still looking to slim down its operation, with 29 pubs from its total estate of around 120 on the market.

Chief executive Susan Barratt told The Publican there had been some interest, but "there's nothing definite to report".