John Mortimer, MD of secretarial recruiter Angela Mortimer, has resigned his position as an elected director of the REC.

At a board meeting on 12 September, several directors expressed concern that Mortimer had publicly opposed board policies. Mortimer had written letters to REC members that expressed views and recommended actions that were contrary to agreed REC policy, the REC said.

Over the last six months Mortimer has been an outspoken critic of the EAA Regulations. ‘The REC welcomes a diversity of views in our policy discussions,’ said REC chairman Keith Faulkner. ‘John Mortimer expressed a number of interesting ideas and could have made a valuable contribution. Regrettably he appeared unwilling to accept a democratic policy-making process when the outcome did not accord with his views.’

The REC has chosen to influence the government over the EAA ‘through reasoned argument and active dialogue, rather than through confrontation', said the trade body. In view of Mortimer’s ‘stated unwillingness to work within REC policy and to accept collegiate responsibilities as a director’, the board has accepted his resignation.

See our 14 November issue for a full interview with John Mortimer.