A prominent business is in crisis after one director was ousted and its chairman forced to resign.

A string of resignations followed from Hopes Auction Company in Wigton in a dramatic boardroom dispute.

It is understood that the walk-outs followed the decision to remove leading north Cumbria accountant David Allen from the company’s board.

That move came at the company’s annual general meeting last week.

It is understood chairman Jonathan Hope, from whose family the business’s name is taken, later stood down. Mr Hope has declined to comment.

Farmer Jeff Dixon, of Thwaites Farm, Welton, has stepped in as acting chairman.

Shareholders who contacted our sister paper, The Cumberland News, said they were unhappy about the use of proxy votes during proceedings at the annual meeting.

Management at Hopes, which has well documented debts running into millions of pounds, insist it is business as usual,


David Allen When contacted, Mr Allen, 50, whose firm has its headquarters at Dalston, confirmed he had been removed from the board.

“I was not at that meeting. I was out of the county at the time. It came as a complete shock,” Mr Allen said.

It is understood Mr Allen was asked to join Hopes’ board of directors last September to provide his financial and business expertise. It was recognised then that new skills were needed for the mart to move forward.

“I enjoyed my time with Hopes on the board, and the changes I wanted to bring. I would love to go back on the board to help the company in the future if the opportunity arose,” said Mr Allen.

It is understood that calls have been made for an extraordinary general meeting.

A statement from Hopes confirmed that an election of directors was held with the result of a poll being that Mr Allen was not re-elected to the board of directors.

Hopes moved to their new multi-million pound auction mart premises along Syke Road about three years ago.

Its old High Street site has been the subject of much rumour and speculation since retail giant Tesco performed a U-turn in late 2014 after earmarking it as a location for a new supermarket.

Two years ago it was revealed by Hopes’ managing director, Bruce Walton, that accounts showed that Hopes had £6.2 million in borrowings.

It was said at the time £4m was to pay for the new site and an adjoining parcel of land. The remaining money was a working overdraft.

It is understood that it was agreed at the AGM that the company-owned Greenhill Hotel, near Wigton, would be sold.

Hopes, it is said, are in the process of selling off parcels of land in a bid to clear some of their debts.