Marconi's chairman and chief executive were both ousted from the UK telecoms equipment firm yesterday after another disastrous trading slump. Lord Simpson, chief executive, and Sir Roger Hurn, chairman, were forced to resign after fellow board members acted on news that losses for the first half would be £227 million sterling (€370 million). Two months ago their guidance was that Marconi would break even.

Lord Simpson and Sir Roger are two of Britain's most prominent industrialists and their ejection sent shock waves through the City of London. Marconi's shares closed at 53p off 1p valuing the group at less than £1.3 billion. The news was accompanied by a further 2,000 job cuts.