Shareholders vote for founder to stay on board
Matalan shareholders voted overwhelmingly to re-appoint John Hargreaves as chairman at the retailer's AGM yesterday.

Matalan's largest institutional investor, US-based Harris Associates, failed to find enough support to oust Hargreaves from the board, with only 8 per cent of the votes going against the chairman.

Harris Associates' disapproval of Hargreaves follows speculation this week that Hargreaves is about to make a bid for the retailer and take it private. The company has a 6.9 per cent stake in Matalan.

Hargreaves founded the value retailer and owns a 53 per cent stake in the firm.