Sir David Arculus said he is confident that, if appointed chairman, he can grow the business and drive up its share price from the current £8 a share to £12.

Sir David says he has been approached by a group of shareholders who see him as a replacement to the current chairman Alun Cathcart if his plans for the business do not succeed.

Mr Cathcart announced last July that directors had embarked on a review of the business and were considering all options – which might include selling off the firm or breaking it up and selling the different parts.

Sir David said: "Emap can be a great company again. I think the board has lost touch with the business and I would like to reconnect it.

"A group of shareholders approached me back in July that they were not happy with the way the company was going and would I be happy to stand in as chairman. I thought about it for a bit and then said 'yes, sure'.

"The current chairman of Emap was approached about this at a short meeting and then a little while later he announced he was breaking up the company."

Sir David added: "Of course I believe I could get the share price up to £12 – I would not be interested in the job otherwise.

"When I was running the company we moved the share price up from £1 to £8 and it has stuck there for the last few years."

Sir David joined Emap in 1972 and rose through the ranks leaving as managing director in 1987. He later became chairman of magazine group IPC and then went on to lead mobile group O2.

He said: "I think Emap is a great company and I would like to see it going forward.

"It has some wonderful publications and great people working for it. In the '80s Emap was a great success story of Peterborough."

An Emap spokesperson said: "Taking the share price up to £12 would be a 50 per cent increase and that would be a big challenge in anyone's book."

She said the firm consulted with shareholders when the review was announced and there had not been any complaints.

The firm will update investors on the review when its interim results are announced on November 13.