No room for hotel FD
The finance director of leading international hotel group Millennium & Copthorne has walked after only five months in the job.
Gavin Simonds resigned yesterday amid rumours of a clash with the company’s majority shareholder, Singapore’s City Developments.
M&C gave no official reason for the sudden departure of Simonds, but analysts are reported to have said there may have been a clash of personalities.
Simonds had previously been the joint managing director of Inter-Continental Hotels, and had been brought in to M&C because of his experience as a global hotel operator.
The 47-year old chartered accountant had also resigned suddenly as a non-executive for casino operator London Clubs International following a boardroom row.
Earlier the hotel group had announced 500 job cuts in the wake of 11 September, and has seen its share price fall from 474p to 284.5p in the past 12 months.