The company declined to say yesterday whether any jobs would be

The company declined to say yesterday whether any jobs would be affected.The move marks the tough new approach from Lloyd’s, which is trying to restore its reputation as a financially robust market. If Goshawk’s reserves prove too thin, then Lloyd’s central fund, a pool of £800m from other Lloyd’s members, will pick up the tab.Goshawk employs 84 people in the UK. Lloyd’s of London yesterday ordered Goshawk, the insurer of the Columbia space shuttle and the collapsed Accident Group, to close in the UK following concerns over its reserving levels. It breached its banking covenants, admitting it had inadequately researched markets and had poor reinsurance cover for the risks it had taken on.Goshawk’s Syndicate 102 will now go into run-off and Lloyd’s will appoint a third party to manage its existing policies. Mr Shore made clear yesterday that he believed his role as an independent director was to counterbalance Enic but his views “are not shared by the chairman and parties associated with Enic”.The Spurs chairman and Enic founder, Daniel Levy, said when he produced annual results on Monday that he had abandoned attempts to raise fresh funds.. However, he stressed that there was no financial crisis at Spurs: “There is a healthy balance sheet and strong cash flow. I just believe that if there is to be significant investment in players it should come not from debt, it should come from equity raising.”I also believe that in the right circumstances there could be considerable appetite from third parties for a new equity issue made to all shareholders on a pro rata basis.”With his two main opponents now removed, Mr Levy is in a better position to revive his plan for a £15m convertible bond.

The finance director, Paul Viner, resigned after only a year in the post. He was replaced by Matthew Collecott from Enic, the sports investment business that is a 29.8 per cent shareholder.Over the past few days, it has emerged that the board of Tottenham has been at loggerheads over how to raise cash for new players. Mr Shore has wanted the board to agree to an equity fund-raising rather than an issue of debt, the preferred route of the chairman, Daniel Levy.The 42-year-old stockbroker, who became a Tottenham director in 2001, said that his fund-raising expertise was not being used to its full potential. The boardroom dispute at Tottenham Hotspur claimed a casualty last night as the non-executive director Howard Shore unexpectedly resigned.
Mr Shore told The Independent that the issue of cash raising was central to his departure He said: “This was not a sudden decision. However, sources close to the situation denied there had been talks.WestLB is selling Panmure as part of a wider shake-up of the group which will see it concentrate more on its core retail banking functions in Germany. The bank was hit earlier this year by revelations that Germany’s banking regulator was investigating its principal finance business, run by the high-profile financier Robin Saunders. Being on the board of a soccer club is something most fans would love to do.

From a personal perspective I am giving up a lot.”Mr Shore is the second director to quit the six-strong board in the past two weeks. The regulator criticised the way WestLB dealt with its risk, leading to the resignation in June of its chief executive, Juergen Sengera.. There was speculation that Lazard had approached Cazenove, which would give it a channel through which it could distribute equities. However, the bank may be more interested in tying up with a larger house whose clients would be of a similar size to its own. Lazard is thought to be looking for acquisitions and would not find it difficult to fund a deal to buy Panmure.

However Durlacher, which has flagged up its interest in growing its business through acquisitions, is believed to have said it would pay more than £70m in a fully funded offer.WestLB’s management board will consider the bids at a meeting on Tuesday, though it may not make a decision about which party to open exclusive talks with at that meeting. As well as Lazard, they are thought to include Dawnay Day, the financial services and property group, Durlacher, the small investment bank, and Bridgewell, the corporate finance boutique.Panmure’s management team, led by Tim Linacre and Jeremy Davies, are also interested in bidding for the business and are backed by the venture capital group 3i.Analysts have valued Panmure, which has halved its headcount to about 70 people and boosted its revenues in the past few months, at about £50m. The German bank WestLB was last night in possession of a handful of bids for its stockbroking business, Panmure Gordon, with Lazard, the independent investment bank, thought to be the most serious contender.
About five bidders made a formal approach by WestLB’s deadline of yesterday. He had spearheaded the review of the business after he was elevated to the position of executive chairman after Mr Stuart’s resignation.The company said it expected the second half of the year would be no better than the first half, when it recorded a pre-tax loss of £1.7m.Mr Bryce, who joined the company as non-executive chairman in 1999, will be replaced by Roger Boyes, who is currently the company’s deputy chairman.. It said it would decide whether it was “possible or appropriate” to pay a final dividend. The company also said its banks had been “fully appraised” of the moves “in view of the substantial sums involved” and the “potential impact” on year-end covenants. It is now in the process of presenting its plans to the banks.The “severity” of the move was behind Mr Bryce’s decision to retire.