Two board members of Shelter who have links with the Grenfell Towers fire tragedy have resigned, according to a report in The Guardian.

The newspaper says the two who quit are Shelter’s chairman Sir Derek Myers, a former chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea council, and the trustee Tony Rice, who is chairman of Xerxes Equity, the sole shareholder in Omnis Exteriors – allegedly the company that sold the cladding used on the tower. 

The Guardian says that on Friday afternoon, Shelter confirmed the pair had resigned from the board but offered no reasons for their departure.

A statement from Shelter’s interim chief executive, Graeme Brown, says: “Tony Rice has resigned as a trustee of Shelter and the chair of the board of trustees, Sir Derek Myers, has also resigned. The role of trustee is entirely voluntary and unpaid, and we wish them the best for the future.”

The Guardian also reports that it has seen an internal staff email from Shelter union representatives sent last week, suggesting that although Shelter’s frontline services had been quick to provide practical help to those affected by the fire, many staff had expressed discontent that the charity “had been slow to speak publicly about the event”.

Shelter has moved much of its focus in recent years from campaigning on homelessness to campaigning against what it sees as poor private rental sector provision for tenants.