A TOP businessman from Leamington has been sacked following a ‘Jeremy Clarkson-style bust-up’.
Former Automobile Association (AA) executive chairman Bob Mackenzie is reported to have got into an altercation with a male colleague in a bar.
Soon after news broke of the dad-of-five’s heated dispute, more than £200million was wiped off the company’s shares, with prices plummeting by up to 18 per cent.
A family friend told the Times that 64 year-old Mr Mackenzie had suffered a “Jeremy Clarkson moment” – a reference to how the former Top Gear television presenter was sacked for a ‘physical and verbal attack’ on a producer at a hotel. The bust-up is believed to have ‘ended with a handshake’.
A spokesman from breakdown cover provider AA told the Observer: “Bob Mackenzie has been removed by the board from his role as executive chairman, from his other roles and as a director and as an employee of the company, for gross misconduct, with immediate effect.”
But Mr Mackenzie’s son, Peter, told The Times his father had resigned and was battling mental health issues.
He said: ‘My father resigned due to acute ill health, from which he has been suffering symptoms for some time.
“A consultant clinical psychologist advised him last week that he needed to take at least six months leave. He is very unwell and has been admitted to hospital.”
According to the AA’s latest annual report, Mr Mackenzie – who was chairman since 2014 – was paid £1.36 million a year, including a £750,000 basic salary.
