The British High Court ruled that Stobart Group had the right to fire its CEO Andrew William Tinkler in summer 2018, the Financial Times has reported.

The court found that Tinkler acted in breach of his fiduciary duties by attempting to oust the group's Chairman Iain Ferguson and discussing the matter with investors. As such, the group could lawfully fire Tinkler. The court also confirmed the validity of the election of Ferguson as a Chairman in July 2018.

However, the judges did not prove an unlawful conspiracy between Tinkler, fund manager Neil Woodford, and Philip Day, whom Tinkler promoted as his choice for the chairmanship, to change the composition of the board.

Judge Russen QC said that, in his opinion, Tinkler developed "a real grumble" about his perceived under-remuneration and tried to wrench control over the company back.

While Stobart has welcomed the judgement, Tinkler is likely to appeal.

Recently, Tinkler had become involved in a takeover dispute at flybe. (2002) (Exeter). In January, he acquired a 12% stake and since then has been calling upon other shareholders to reject the bid by Connect Airways, a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart, and Cyrus Capital. In 2018, flybe. rejected a takeover bid submitted by Stobart Group alone, at that time still headed by Tinkler.