THE annual general meeting of Ipswich Town plc takes place in the gymnasium at Portman Road tonight with doors open at 6.30pm and the meeting starting an hour later.

Elvin King

THE annual general meeting of Ipswich Town plc takes place in the gymnasium at Portman Road tonight with doors open at 6.30pm and the meeting starting an hour later.

The format will be the same as previous years with an opening address from chairman David Sheepshanks followed by a question and answer session with shareholders on the accounts.

A vote will then be taken on resolutions. Manager Jim Magilton will then be available to answer football-related questions from shareholders.

Since the Marcus Evans takeover last month, the plc owns a 12.5 per cent stake in the club. Martin Pitcher, who will be Marcus Evans's representative on the plc board, will be present and he, Sheepshanks, Kevin Beeston and Richard Moore are up for election.

The plc board is made up of what was the overall club board until the takeover.

Pitcher, who along with Ian Milne and Jonathan Symonds is one of Evans's representatives on the club board, qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, working for them in London and New York in their audit and transaction services divisions.

The 40-year-old moved on to the Marcus Evans Group three years ago and is currently their director of corporate development, which means he is responsible for start-ups and acquisitions.

Town's 2006/07 accounts show that the club made an operating loss of £2.32 million, but after £3.52 million in profit on player sales (including the £2.58 million from the Darren Bent top-up) are brought into consideration the Blues made an overall profit of £174,000.