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Who's in and who's out?
Gideon Spanier, Evening Standard25 Feb 2008
The energy of London is nowhere more reflected than in the shifting balance of power among its thoughtmakers, trendsetters and leaders. Every week, Gideon Spanier looks at who's in and who's out.
IN: BANKING
RON SANDLER, 55
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, NORTHERN ROCK
This Zimbabwe-born friend of Gordon Brown ran straight into trouble with his £90,000-a-month salary, making him Britain's highest-paid civil servant. Sandler's non-dom status adds to the intrigue, even though he will pay tax on UK earnings. The stakes are high and he faces having to axe thousands of jobs at the Rock and sort out a complex web of finances which extends deep into the offshore tax haven of Jersey.
WOBBLER
NEW MEDIA
BLAKE CHANDLEE, 41
Recently appointed boss of Facebook in Britain, he has seen the website lose five per cent of its audience in the last month. It's still the number one networking site in Britain, but sceptics wonder whether this is proof the phenomenon is a fad. Chandlee, an American who has spent 20 years in advertising, arrived from Yahoo's British operation last autumn. He'll need to work harder now to keep advertisers on board.
MAKING MOVES
BUSINESS
ROGER CARR, 60
"Five-jobs" Carr has landed yet another top City role as chairman of Cadbury. Critics have raised eyebrows as he is already busy chairing British Gas owner Centrica, which has announced a 500 per cent leap in profits, and struggling pubs outfit Mitchells & Butlers. He also advises private equity firm KKR and is on the Bank of England Court of Directors. Carr says his favourite Cadbury product is the Creme Egg - spoken like a true salesman with Easter coming.
UP AND COMING
TV
STEPHANIE FLANDERS, 39
Business news on BBC1 will suddenly be more eye-catching with Oxford and Harvard-educated Flanders taking on the job of economics editor. Arguably now BBC1's most senior female news reporter, she marked her appointment by attacking the lack of older women getting jobs in TV. Famously unmarried, mother-of-one Flanders put David Cameron on the spot last year by questioning his plans to favour married couples. She says she won't be spending time in underground car parks, digging out Watergate-style scoops. Well-connected Flanders believes she can afford not to.
FILM
GARETH LEWIS, 35
Director who recruited his older and equally red-headed brother, actor Damian, to star in his debut movie The Baker, which premieres at the Ritzy in Brixton on Friday. Lewis, who is married and lives in Queen's Park with his three flamehaired daughters, also wrote the comedy thriller, which was filmed in Wales and features a cameo from Michael Gambon. One to watch.
GROWING IMPACT
THEATRE
POLLY STENHAM, 21
Ice-cool blonde playwright who has sold out the Royal Court with her first play, That Face, at the tender age most would-be stars are still in the university footlights. Named as an up-and-coming star on our Influentials list last autumn, Stenham's play is to have a prestigious West End transfer to the Duke of York's Theatre in May. Her next move is to adapt That Face for cinema.
