Ince settles former chief's claim with £15,000 payouts

Ince has paid its former chief executive and ex-head of finance £15,000 each to settle their claims for loss of office, the listed law firm announced today.

Adrian Biles – who said in July that he would step down from his post as chief executive – was removed as a director of Ince earlier this month due to ‘circumstances which may give rise to a conflict of interest between Adrian Biles and the company’, while his father John Biles was also replaced as head of finance and administration.

Ince told the stock market today that it has ‘entered into individual settlement agreements’ with both Adrian and John Biles, who have now ‘left their positions within the group’.

’Under the settlement agreements all parties have agreed to waive all claims against each other,’ the firm said. ‘This includes amounts of approximately £670,000 owed to the group by Adrian and John Biles and their associate companies, as well as potential liabilities of the group to Adrian and John Biles of approximately £690,000 relating to claims for loss of office, rent and other expenses.

‘A payment of £15,000 will be paid to each of Adrian Biles and John Biles for loss of office and their interests in shares in the company must be retained until 10 October 2022.’

The news caps a tumultuous period for the listed firm, which recently announced that it is selling off tax consultancy firm CW Energy to remove £2.9m from its balance sheet following ‘financial difficulties’.

The firm has also delayed the publication of its annual report for the year ending 31 March 2022 until November, citing the impact of Covid-19 on the preparation of its accounts. A trading update is due to be published before the end of this month.

It revealed in May that pre-tax profits for the last financial year are likely to be ‘short of market expectations’ with global revenue expected to fall by 3% to £97m after a ‘challenging’ final quarter.

Ince last month announced that it generated a total of £9.5m from a fundraising exercise and open share offer needed to stave off financial difficulties, having said in July that it was ‘at the limit of its borrowing facilities and was unable to make a short-term repayment’ at the end of May.

The firm saw its shares halve in value after announcing the fundraising exercise and that a cyber attack in March would cost it some £5m.

Shares in Ince Group plc remained unchanged by noon from yesterday’s close of 4.50p. The firm’s share price has dropped by more than 90% in the last 12 months.