More directors abandon Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace

prince andrew

The boardroom exodus from the Duke of York’s flagship corporate project is to continue with the imminent resignations of two more of its directors.

It is understood that Martin Dunnett, a private equity executive, and Alex Johnston, an app developer and investor have both tendered their resignations from Pitch@Palace.

Sources said their departures were likely to be confirmed in filings in the coming weeks.

Mr Dunnett and Mr Johnston are understood to have decided to step down in order to enable “fresh pairs of eyes” to decide on a future direction for Pitch@Palace.

The initiative, which has been caught in the fallout from Prince Andrew’s decision to step back from public duties in the aftermath of his disastrous BBC interview last month, says it has helped nearly 1,000 start-ups since being set up in 2014.

If their resignations are confirmed, Mr Dunnett and Mr Johnston would become the fourth and fifth directors to quit since the row over the duke’s friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was reignited.

Mark Eaves, Hanadi Jabado and David Stern, a German-born investor, have already stepped down from Pitch@Palace.