Law and Stanners out in board coup.(Andy Law, Kate Stanners resign St. Luke's Communications Ltd.)

The St Luke's founding partner and chairman, Andy Law, and the deputy chairman, Kate Stanners, have resigned following a long-running dispute over the company's future strategy.

The joint managing directors, Neil Henderson and Phil Teer, have won the battle to lead the agency after a bitter row erupted last month (Campaign, 2 February).

The rift centred on divided opinion about opening an overseas office and Law's involvement in the creative media company Artist Network.

The resignations have come following a series of discussions by the St Luke's board made up of Law, Stanners, Henderson, Teer, the finance director, Neil Thompson, and Al Young, the executive creative director.

Law said: 'Although I founded St Luke's, I don't own it. I'm a shareholder like everyone else and it was always meant to survive beyond me. I feel like a dad whose kids have just gone to university.'

Henderson said: 'Andy spent most of his time doing international consulting and writing his book so Phil and I have been running the company since last April.'

St Luke's was set up in 1995 using a co-operative structure, which Henderson defended: 'Our model has been spectacularly robust and a lot of it is conventional. We have a board and they make decisions which are legally binding.'