Ric Piper, finance director of technology consultancy WS Atkins, will now not be joining the publisher after the company issued a downbeat trading statement sending its share price tumbling 72%.
Trinity Mirror chairman Sir Victor Blank called an emergency board meeting on Tuesday, following the statement from WS Atkins.
Piper was summoned to London to meet senior members of the board where they reached the mutual agreement that he should not take up his new post.
The decision will leave the publisher in a vulnerable position, with no finance director and a chief executive working out his notice until he leaves in summer 2003. It will likely fuel speculation that the newspaper publisher will be broken up, with its national and regional newspaper businesses going their separate ways.
Trinity Mirror shares were trading down 4.5% at 352.5p this morning.
The finance director's role will be overseen by director of accounting and treasury Vijay Vaghela until a replacement can be found. However, this is likely to be a tricky appointment to make, because a new chief executive is likely to want to appoint his or her own finance director.
Piper had been set to replace Margaret Ewing, who announced her departure from the company in January, when she quit to join airport operator BAA.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
.jpg)
.jpg)