Morgan to fight car firm ousting

A FORMER SPORTS CAR chief has vowed to fight his removal from the board of the company his grandfather founded.

Charles Morgan said he was appealing against the decision by Morgan Motor Company, which said he would no longer be a part of the managing team or the board of directors at Morgan Technologies, a subsidiary of the main company.

Earlier this year, Mr Morgan stepped down as the Worcestershire-based company's managing director and became an ambassador for the brand started by his grandfather Henry Morgan in 1910.

The Morgan company said today: "Further to decisions taken in January of this year, Morgan Technologies is now in a position to announce that Charles Morgan is no longer part of the management team or board of directors of the company.

"Over recent months, and in response to the growth in volumes, model range and overseas markets, the company structure has been strengthened across a number of different areas. This reflects the scale and complexity of an increasingly global business.

"While these are significant developments for the company, the Morgan family, directors and management team look forward to sharing more news with the wider Morgan community in the near future. These changes will help cultivate an exciting future for Morgan which continues to reinforce the unique attributes of the brand."

The statement went on: "The Morgan family recognises the management contribution that Charles has made to the family business as strategy director, and confirm that he remains a shareholder.

"However, to ensure continuing success, Morgan must look to strengthen and review its strategies, and acknowledge that our management team are better placed to steer the company in the future. We wish to thank our past, present and future customers for supporting our craftsmen and women, and for ensuring that our unique family-owned business succeeds for another 100 years."

Mr Morgan told Autocar publication: "I am appealing the decision."

He added: "As a family member I think I should have been consulted about this press release because it suggests that it comes from all of the family shareholders.

"It fails to explain what the decisions were back in January. It confuses growth in volumes with growth in sales and doesn't suggest whether we are responding to either. And it also suggests that I resisted overseas markets and global expansion when I was the one going abroad."

Morgan was run by Henry Morgan until his death aged 77 in 1959. Charles Morgan's father Peter then took over until he was replaced as chairman by Alan Garnett, a non-family director, from 2003 to 2006.

Charles Morgan was then part of a four-man management team , becoming managing director in 2010.

Morgan, based at Malvern in Worcestershire, is on course to sell a record-breaking 1,200 cars this year. "The company is in a good place," a Morgan spokeswoman said.

By Peter Woodman, Press Association