Moss Bros chief executive Philip Mountford faced a hostile reception at the retailer’s AGM yesterday.

Mountford was told to put “clear water” between himself and Baugur, the group’s largest shareholder and the investment group that halted its£40 million takeover bid for the retailer.

Andrew Moss, a member of one of the retailer’s founding families, which has a 17 per cent stake in the business, demanded that a replacement chairman be found swiftly.

Laura Crawford, a representative of the Greenwoods pension fund stake, asked why a new chairman had not been lined up in the event that Baugur's approach failed.

As revealed by Retail Week (June 20), the beleaguered retailer has been without a chairman since the planned departure of Keith Hamill a week ago.

Favoured candidate Barry Gibson turned down the role at the retailer, which has been plagued with in-fighting between the diverse group of shareholders.

Mountford said Moss Bros was looking for a dynamic chairman with retail experience, but not necessarily from a menswear background.