Ince’s former chief executive has been removed as a director of the listed firm with immediate effect due to a possible ‘conflict of interest’.

Adrian Biles said in July that he would step down from his post as chief executive and resign from the board once a fundraising exercise and open share offer needed to stave off ‘financial difficulties’ had been completed.

Ince told the stock market today that Biles ‘has been removed as a director of the company with immediate effect, as a result of circumstances which may give rise to a conflict of interest between Adrian Biles and the company’. A spokesperson for Ince declined to give any further detail when contacted by the Gazette.

The firm also said that John Biles – Adrian Biles’ father – has been replaced by Jillian Watt as head of finance and administration, subject to final approval by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

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Biles said in July that he would step down from his post as chief executive

Shares in Ince Group plc dropped fractionally on this morning’s announcement, to 4.33p at noon from Friday’s closing price of 4.30p. The group was trading at more than 55p just under a year ago.

Today’s news follows a rough spell for the listed firm, which 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.

Last week, Ince said that it was delaying the publication of its annual report for the year ending 31 March until November, citing the impact of Covid-19 on the preparation of its accounts. A trading update will be published before the end of this month.