AA chief sacked for ‘Clarkson-style fracas’
Company’s stock market value drops £200m at loss of executive chairman after fracas shocks City
The AA was plunged into chaos last night after its executive chairman was sacked for suffering what friends called a “Jeremy Clarkson” moment. Bob Mackenzie was dismissed yesterday after it’s claimed he lashed out at a male colleague during an bust-up at a hotel bar. News of his sacking for gross misconduct sent shockwaves through the City and triggered a plunge in AA’S share price, wiping £200 million off the company’s stock.
THE executive chairman of the AA was sacked yesterday after what friends called a “Jeremy Clarkson” moment.
Bob Mackenzie was dismissed following claims that he lashed out at a male colleague during an angry bustup at a hotel bar.
The news of his sacking for gross misconduct sent shock waves through the City and triggered a plunge in the AA’S share price, wiping £200million off the company’s stock market value.
Although details of the fracas remain unclear, Mr Mackenzie’s son said his 64-year-old father had been “acutely ill” and admitted to hospital. In a statement, Peter Mackenzie, 34, said yesterday: “This is an extremely distressing mental health issue.
“My father tendered his resignation this morning and resigned his directorships due to acute ill health, from which he has been suffering symptoms for some time. A consultant clinical psychologist advised him last week that he needed to take at least six months leave. He is very unwell and has been admitted to hospital.
“The family trusts that all parties will act responsibly towards a loyal servant of the company in a manner which reflects the stress he has been suffering.”
A source close to the family told The Daily Telegraph: “Bob had what I would describe as a Jeremy Clarkson moment. He is not well.”
Mr Mackenzie, did not suffer any injuries and the police were not called after the incident last week.
It is not known whether the other man involved was injured, or his part in the incident. It is not known where the altercation took place.
Mr Mackenzie was “removed” with immediate effect by the board for what a company source described as a “personal conduct-related matter”.
Jeremy Clarkson was sacked for his “unprovoked physical and verbal attack” in 2015 on a Top Gear producer.
The BBC said the presenter had failed to maintain “standards of decency and respect”. Clarkson hit Oisin Tymon at the Simonstone Hall Hotel in North Yorkshire.
Yesterday the AA, founded in 1905 and known as the fourth emergency service, barred staff from talking to the media about the incident, though one insider described employees as “shocked”. A source said: “It’s fair to say that we don’t get rid of an executive chairman without really thinking about it. What appropriate action would need to have been taken has been taken.”
A spokesman refused to comment beyond its official statement which said that Mr Mackenzie had been “removed” as executive chairman for gross misconduct.
Mr Mackenzie, a father of five with homes in London and Warwickshire, was one of a team who led a complex buy-out and float of the business in 2014.
An accelerated process was used in order to gather £1 billion from 10 “cornerstone” investors. It saw the motoring association go public, but it also
‘It’s fair to say that we don’t get rid of an executive chairman without really thinking about it’
‘The family trusts that all parties will act responsibly towards a loyal servant of the company’
landed it with nearly £3billion of debt.
Mr Mackenzie’s departure will see John Leach, a current senior independent director, take the chairman’s role, while Simon Breakwell, non-executive director, who has held senior positions with Expedia and Uber in the UK, becomes acting chief executive.
Along with news of Mr Mackenzie’s departure, the AA told shareholders that performance in the first half had been “robust”, with personal membership edging up to 3.3 million.
At Mr Mackenzie’s £2million home in an upmarket village near Kenilworth, a domestic employee said his wife, Jane, 53, had left the property earlier. She was not aware of Mr Mackenzie’s whereabouts.