PPL has finally appointed Bill McCall, a former director of Singer & Friedlander, to its board following concerted pressure from key shareholders.

A spokesman for the embattled Dolly the Sheep pioneer said it would be “premature” to assume the firm has decided to soldier on with its one remaining product, the Fibrin surgical wound sealant, rather than to break up and hand back its (pounds) 8m cash pile to investors.

The Edinburgh company’s future has been under review for nearly two months, since it announced plans to axe 90% of its workforce following Bayer’s scrapping of its flagship lung disease project.

Metage Capital, the hedge fund which owns 21% of the company, failed with a resolut-ion to force McCall on to PPL’s board at a stormy annual meeting on June 20.

Metage said then that McCall had pulled out of a meeting with executive search firm Whitehead Mann because PPL was “going out of its way to block” him.

Geoff Cook, chief executive, vehemently denied the allegat-ion.

A spokesman for PPL said yesterday: “PPL were never against Bill McCall joining the board but rather the manner in which that end was being sought. The company wanted his name to go forward to Whitehead Mann along with the other candidates.”

He added: “Drawing any conclusions about the future of PPL from the announcement of his appointment would be premature.”

Daron Sheehan, finance director of Metage, was equally cautious. He said: “No decis-ions have yet been taken. Everything is still up for consultation. We are pleased Bill McCall is now on board.

“He is the ideal candidate at this stage in the company’s development. He will work with the existing board to come up with the best option for both the company and its shareholders.”