It was a rather tetchy Eugene Greene who chaired the Jones group a.g.m. last week. He would brook no criticism of the company directors who, he said, had done a great job increasing the company's asset value from £15 million to £30 million (€19 millionE 38 million) in a two-year period.

The company has been the subject of a management buyout and the company's a.g.m. heard that shareholders should get the first tranche of a £2-plus per share payout by the end of this year.

One shareholder who asked why the directors had not applied to the High Court to reduce the company's share capital earlier was quickly despatched by Mr Greene who provided a sterling defence of the directors' strategy.

But Mr Greene quickly saw red when a young shareholder quizzed him on directors remuneration.

He demanded the shareholder's name and asked him how many shares he held. The shareholder dutifully replied that he held 500 shares - although Mr Greene had not shown the same concern for the precise shareholding held when quizzed by the previous shareholder.

Mr Greene explained that when the company was restructured in 1997, part of the agreement was that the directors would be rewarded handsomely through remuneration packages, including pension and performance bonuses.

Mr Greene said he was extremely happy with the outcome of the restructuring and he wanted to complement the executive directors, without whose "effort and dedication" the company's market capitalisation would not have doubled from £15 million to £30 million.