Mission Capital appoints non-exec director

Philip Goldenberg, aged 62, a solicitor at law firms including SJ Berwin where he was finance partner until 2004, is a consultant to Michael Conn Goldsobel and is a former non-executive director of the Confederation of British Industry.

In a statement to the stock exchange today Mission also updated its current legal situation with former executive chairman and managing director Neil and Emma Sinclair.

Court applications
It said: ‘In response to the Sinclairs' court applications, it came to the Company's attention that Mr Sinclair and Ms Sinclair had improperly applied the Company's funds in certain matters of their personal expenditure (some of which have been admitted by the Sinclairs).’

It added: ‘The Company is now taking action to recover these funds (approximately £35,000) from the Sinclairs while continuing to investigate further personal expenditure by the Sinclairs.’

Legal costs
As a result of this litigation, Mission has incurred exceptional legal and other professional expenses, which to date amount to more than £200,000 which the company will seek to recover from the two former executive directors.

It said that given these expenses and liabilites which amount to around £ 425,000, it expected a further trading loss in the half year to 31 March 2008 and in an overall loss for the year to 30 September 2008.

The Sinclairs lost a High Court battle in March to be reinstated as directors in the interim before the outcome of the legal trial to decide their future with the company.

'Brutal coup'
The Sinclairs are suing AIM-listed Mission and other board members over the 'brutal coup' that ejected them on 5 February.

Before the trial the Sinclairs sought to be reinstated, claiming the non-executive directors were not acting in Mission's best interests.

Mission’s interim results for the half-year to 31 March 2008 will be released at the end of June.