Birch voted off Dorchester board

Dorchester shareholders yesterday voted against the re-election of former Finance Minister Bill Birch and chairman Murray Radford to the board of the financial services group.

Investors Rod Petricevic and Hugh Green voted their combined stake of more than 30 per cent against the appointments.

Dorchester founder and managing director Brent King said the vote was a surprise.

"Murray Radford has given outstanding service to the board. The company is 10 times the value it was when he joined."

A new chairman will be appointed at an upcoming board meeting.