Threat to Amey chief

Brian Staples, chief executive of ailing support services company Amey, is under pressure from its largest shareholder to step down.

Metitor Management Capital, which has built up a 15 per cent stake in Amey, wants the business broken up.

But the idea is set to be rejected when Amey's board meets in the next few days. This is expected to trigger aggressive action from Metitor.

An Amey spokesman said: "It would be irresponsible to sell at this price. We can produce far more value in the shares."

Talal Shakerchi, a manager at Metitor, said he wasn't prepared to spell out future action until he had a formal response back from Amey's chairman Ian Robinson. But he said: "People have got widely held views about Staples. We haven't quite got there yet.

"There's a huge difference between Amey's share price and the value in the business. That is why we are taking action."

A well-placed source said that Metitor's next step would be to call for Mr Staples' scalp, because the City had lost faith in him.

Robert Osborne, ousted as Amey's business development director in July, has been touted as a possible replacement.