Damon Buffini, managing partner of UK-based private equity firm Permira, will come under personal attack from disgruntled former employees of the AA, a vehicle breakdown service, in a nationwide campaign starting in London tonight.

The GMB, a trade union which was de-recognised by the AA last year after many of its members left to form a new union, has organised 24 public meetings around the country, where they intend to highlight the "greed" and "blatant asset-stripping" by the company's private equity backers. Permira, led by Buffini, and fellow buy-out firm CVC Capital Partners bought the AA from utilities company Centrica for £1.75bn (€2.6bn) in July 2004.