A BITTER boardroom spat cost Kent brewer Shepherd Neame more than £600,000, it has been revealed.

The 300-year-old Faversham company, which has just turned in another fine set of six-month results, was rocked last October by the shock resignation of vice-chairman Stuart Neame.

He did not go quietly, firing off a volley of criticism about the direction of the family firm and calling on chairman Bobby Neame to step down.

According to the firm's latest half-year report, the widely-publicised episode cost Sheps £615,000, including £430,000 towards Mr Neame's pension fund.

The rest was made up of what the firm calls "substantial professional fees associated with his departure."

But the bill will go higher. The firm said: "We expect to incur further fees in this area in the second half of the period but no provision has been made for these costs."

Jonathan Neame, chief executive, insisted the row had not harmed business.

He said: "It was a dispute we didn't want to have, we've had it, and we've turned the page. We didn't start the dispute, we wish it hadn't happened, but it did publicly. We have a very united board, united behind the chairman."

He confirmed that Bobby Neame would stay on as company chairman until his retirement in October 2005.

Meanwhile, Sheps reported another profitable half-year, with the company well on course for the 29th consecutive year of profits growth.

Turnover went up by 8.3 per cent to £46.5m, with pre-tax profits up 9.5 per cent to £4.7m.

Once again, sales of its national Spitfire brand grew strongly, backed by the "Bottle of Britain" newspaper and television advertising campaign. Mr Neame said this would resume in early summer.

The brewer, which has a half per cent share of the national beer market, is investing heavily in plant and pubs. A new £1.8m robot-controlled keg plant opens at the Faversham site in July.

The new plant, which Mr Neame said would be 21st century and state-of-the-art, has been made possible by the opening of a new £3.3m warehouse and distribution operation at Oare.

Moreover, the company is investing £7.2m in new pubs and existing pub improvements.

Mr Neame said: "It is a pretty crucial turning point. We wouldn't be committing this investment unless we felt there was growth."

He said it had been a good year so far, with fine weather and the Open Golf tournament at Sandwich helping sales growth.