Charles Allen has poured cold water on Fru Hazlitt’s plans for GCap – which were intended to fend off a takeover by his company Global Radio.

GCap’s chief executive yesterday announced how she hoped to raise its game, mainly by reducing investment in DAB.

The restructuring proposals were aimed at preventing Global, which offered £313m for the company last month, from completing a deal.

Allen has insisted he still believes his bid is valid, however, offering more to shareholders than Hazlitt.

“There needed to be pretty significant growth plans, so we were surprised not to see a strategy for growth outlined in the presentation,” he said. “It seemed not to answer the question of, ‘If DAB is not your digital strategy, what is?Â’”

He added: “You can’t shrink your way to growth. The announcement lacked the passion that’s needed to win people over.”

Analysts told the Financial Times that the Hazlitt plan was seen as sensible but not necessarily a defence from Global, which has been told to make another move by March 5 or stay away for six months.

“I think Global may still need to raise their offer, but not by as much as we might have been thinking last week,” said Grant Goddard of Enders Analysis.