Gardner is said to be behind moves for Centrica to dump big city firm Cazenove.
From The Observer:
Centrica, the British gas giant, is to ditch Cazenove as its broker in the next few weeks, and possibly Hoare Govett, too. Centrica is currently the client of both houses as part of a co-broking agreement established several years ago.
But City sources said this weekend that Centrica chief executive Sir Roy Gardner is set to give Cazenove 'the order of the boot' after it played a key role in Malcolm Glazer's £800 million bid for Manchester United, where Gardner was chairman.
Last November Cazenove gave up its independence to form a joint venture with JP Morgan, the US bank. JP Morgan backed Glazer's bid for United by lending him £300m.
Gardner was said to be furious and ordered a 'beauty parade' of rival houses that have been pitching for the contract in recent weeks. These include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup.
A source said: ' You can bet that JP Morgan Cazenove will shortly be out of the picture at Centrica.'
Centrica’s move will be a big blow to Cazenove and will further demonstrate to city institutions that getting involved with Glazer can seriously damage your wealth.