Mr Kipling in zombie mode

AN activist investor has called for an end to the ‘shocking reign’ of Mr Kipling’s boss.

Shareholder Oasis Management said Gavin Darby’s tenure as chief executive of the cake maker’s owner Premier Foods has left the group in ‘a zombielike state’. Hong Kong investor Oasis is the group’s second-largest investor with a 9.3pc stake.

It has called for Darby, 62, to be removed and is threatening to replace him ahead of the AGM on July 18.

Oasis accused Darby of ‘ selfinterest and self-preservation which does not respect the interests of shareholders’.

A spokesman said Darby had ‘ overseen five years of

failure which has led to considerable destruction of shareholder value’.

The spokesman added that the chief executive ‘frustratingly has driven Premier Foods into its current zombie-like state’. Darby ‘had no credible strategy to return’ the company to growth, he said.

‘As the largest independent shareholder, we have completely lost faith in him. It is time for change,’ said the spokesman.

Oasis is proposing that Premier Foods’ chief financial officer Alastair Murray replaces Darby temporarily as it hunts for a replacement. It said it has already been approached by ‘chief executive candidates’. The

firm has been under pressure to improve its performance since rejecting a 2016 takeover bid from US food-maker McCormick. Shares have plunged 36pc since the deal fell through.

But Premier hit back at Oasis and praised Darby’s track record of ‘successfully transforming’ the business. Chairman Keith Hamill said the board recommends shareholders back Darby at the AGM.

He added: ‘The board believes that Gavin Darby is running the company well.

‘In contrast, the Oasis proposal offers no constructive solution to the challenges being addressed and involves the risk of creating instability.’