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Rudd stays loyal to Tories despite Dave and Boris
Evening Standard 19 Aug 2008
Sir Nigel Rudd finds it hard to conceal his irritation if something disagrees with him. In a rare TV interview, it was Tory leader David Cameron who caused the BAA chairman's knuckles to twitch - in particular Cameron's failure to support Heathrow expansion. Cameron didn't even understand the concept of a hub. Had Rudd been to see Cameron? asked the BBC's Robert Peston.
"I have asked to see him. He's a very busy man. So he hasn't been able to see me yet," replied the irascible Rudd. As for Boris Johnson's idea to move Heathrow "down to Kent or somewhere" that was quickly derided by the corporate titan, who is deputy chairman of Barclays and on the board of BAE. "You do wonder about that sort of proposition ... just not feasible, not feasible."
Rudd's support for the Tories, however, remains unflagging: "I wasn't born a Conservative. But I joined the Conservative Party when I was 15 and I'll die a Conservative."
* What with merger talks for Tullett Prebon and a takeover on the cards for Collins Stewart, City Spy was sent scurrying back to Accounting for Growth, the 1992 book that made the reputation of Terry Smith, who is at the helm of both firms, This gem leapt out: "Definition of a recession: a time when money is returned to its rightful owners."
* How much do those Olympic golds cost? There was £250 million of Lottery funding spent specifically to help Britain chase medals in Beijing. So that works out at about £20 million each so far...
The day the crunch began...
Was it 9 August or 7 August 2007 when the credit crunch began? Most commentators settle for 9 August, when BNP-Paribas shocked the market by revealing subprime losses and central banks were moved to intervene. However, Wharton business school lecturer Kenneth Thomas argues for two days previously. In a letter to the Financial Times, Thomas claims that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke failed to recognise the severity of the subprime crisis and do something about it. Meeting on 7 August, his Federal Open Market Committee concluded that inflation was a greater threat to the US economy than tighter credit.
* Proof that business is not booming in the City. Broking firm WH Ireland - in which Carphone founder David Ross, Finsbury PR man Roland Rudd, Wigan Athletic owner David Whelan and ex-Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe recently bought a chunky stake - reports a big drop in profits for the six months to the end of May. WH Ireland blames the credit crunch, of course. "There were just 54 AIM flotations in the first five months of 2008 compared to 30 in the month of December 2007 alone and 284 for the whole of 2007," it says. No wonder business has been slow. In his chairman's report, Lowe is positive but warns gloomily about the general market turmoil: "This not only resulted in a loss of confidence but, as there remains significant risk of bad debts as the leverage which has built up is unwound, it is difficult to see an early end to the current malaise." In contrast, investing in the bottomless financial pit that is a football club must seem almost sane...
* Clever Tesco is claiming it can feed a family of four for less than a fiver a day. The supermarkets group says one of its chefs created a seven-day meal plan that was nutritionally balanced and gave the family their five-a-day, all for £32.68. But Tesco priced the menu by weight - and not by the packs required to produce the ingredients. When the cost of buying the packs was totted up, said The Grocer magazine, the bill was £42.32.
Pubs count cost of Sky footie
Sky reckons it's doing its bit for cash-strapped pub landlords by not putting up subscriptions this football season. "Trading conditions are difficult for landlords, with rising utility bills and drinks prices and the credit crunch and smoking ban reducing customer demand," says a spokesman. "To assist publicans, we've kept our prices frozen at the September 2007 level." So it only costs pubs £13,000 a year to show the football. No wonder they're going out of business.
Wanted: better value from non-execs
Bless. PricewaterhouseCoopers has found that pay rises for non-execs have slowed - while at the same time companies expect them to do more. Over the past year, fees rose 15.6%, against 16.7% in 2006-7 and 25% in 2005-6. Why are they not so great? Er, because companies are questioning what they actually do for their money. "The rate of fee increase is levelling off as non-executive directors and the boards that employ them are working harder to balance fees with responsibilities that come with the role," said Sean O'Hare, a partner at PwC. "As fee increases become more moderate, we can expect more focus on the disclosure of non-executive directors' effectiveness rather than just what they earn." Welcome to the real world, boys and girls.
* Joyce McKinney - she of the raped Mormon bloke chained to a bed, skiing down Everest in the nude with a carnation up her nose, and more latterly cloning her dog - is accused of persuading a young boy to burgle a house so she can get the money to buy a false leg for her horse. (City Spy knows it's a lot to take in, but that's Joyce for you). But who sells such things? Study of both eBay and Google reveals a gaping hole in the market...
* Is the endgame in sight for BP as it grapples with the thorny problem of its Russian joint venture? The suggestion of face-saving is in the air, with the oil company able to retreat with honour if it decides not to push for Robert Dudley to continue running TNK-BP on the grounds that he has done four years so now is the natural time for him to go and meanwhile, BP agrees to an IPO for the Russian company...
* The decision of Brit Insurance to appoint Ernst & Young to advise it on a possible move outside the UK for tax purposes raises eyebrows. Brit is the sponsor of the Oval cricket ground - indeed the Test match venue is known as the Brit Oval. But not so Brit if the company is based in Switzerland, Cayman or wherever.
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