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- A reader has e-mailed me after my piece on Saturday about the resignation of Sir Andrew Likierman as a director of the Bank of England to chair the National Audit Office. He points out that Sir Andrew is also chairman of Applied Intellectual Capital, an incubator company that floated on AIM at 95p in January 2007 and saw its shares shoot up to 300p amid high hopes for a "clutch of exciting ideas". Alas, those ideas have come to nought and the shares have fallen to just 2and a quarter p. Sir Andrew, who is Professor of Management Practice in Accounting at the London Business School, must be pondering the merits of associating with such an outfit.
- A fascinating piece in yesterday's London Evening Standard about the banking crisis by Jim O'Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs. In early editions, he refers to "the Lehmans CEO Lloyd Blankfein". This is possibly not the best way to endear oneself to the boss.
In the running to run Whitbread
In the blue corner: Patrick Dempsey
Speculation has been gathering pace in recent weeks over who will succeed Alan Parker as chief executive of Whitbread. OK, I confess, the speculation has largely been propagated by me, though I am convinced that the Premier Inn and Costa coffee operator has definitely started doing a spot of succession planning.
Not that Parker, who is 62, is showing any sign of wanting to relinquish the reins, with some commentators reckoning that he could stay on until he's 65.
But yesterday's elevation of Patrick Dempsey, managing director of Whitbread's hotels and restaurants division, to the main board from January 1 is, to my mind, a clear signal that the process has started in earnest. While Chris Rogers, the group's well-regarded finance chief, is seen as a credible candidate, it is famously difficult for number crunchers to make the leap to chief executive in the same company.
Dempsey, who has just completed a two-month advanced management course at Harvard Business School (another hint that he is being groomed for greatness?), is an experienced leisure executive, having been chief executive of Macdonald Hotels, managing director of Forte Hotels UK and chief executive of Compass Group's Restaurant Associates unit. Looks like a shoo-in.
(From: www.21food.cn)
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