Business

Co-op removes four directors

AILING lender Co-operative Bank has taken another step towards a stock market flotation by removing four directors from its board. The bank said non-executive directors Duncan Bowdler, Peter Harvey, Bob Newton and Len Wardle will stand down but remain on the board of the financial services arm of the wider funerals-to-supermarkets Co-op group.

The lender, which slumped to losses of £709.4 million in the first six months of the year, is attempting to plug a £1.5bn black hole in its balance sheet through painful fundraising, which will force losses onto owners of its bonds and leave it with a stock market listing - ending its prized mutual status.