Chairman could swap FSA frying pan for the PM's fire

Tag : Magic Slippers

Insurers dogged by awkward cases
Even the offbeat in the consultancy world are seeking insuranceprotection these days. The badger consultant, along with dogpsychologists, embalmers, kosher certification consultants and evenvibration and saddle consultants, are taking out policies to ensurethey are covered against the unexpected - presumably the kosherfood that isn't kosher and the saddle that pinches.
Gary Head, director of business insurance at Hiscox UK, who hasbeen handling some of the policies, is predictably sympathetic. "Intoday's compensation culture, it is unfortunately all too easy toimagine a customer suing their dog psychologist if their dogcontinues to eat their slippers or somebody taking their feng shuiconsultant to court if they're not happy with their homes'energies."
Or insurance policy.
Back to school for Linklaters' staff
It seems that Linklaters, the City law firm whose top-ratedpartners earn more than £1m a year, needs to send some of itsstaff back to school.
Dozens of starry-eyed university students aspiring to pull downthose millions themselves took part in a summer vacation scheme atthe firm's offices near the Barbican Centre expecting to be dazzledby the fearsome attention to detail of Linklaters lawyers.
But according to legal website RollOnFriday.co.uk, they wereinstead presented with a less than impressive memento of their timeat the firm - a Linklaters branded mug with a howling spellingerror.
Adding hot water to the mug, one vacation student was delighted tosee a motto appear on it as if by magic. Sadly, the motto read:"Thirst for knowlege."
The press department yesterday called it "an unfortunate typo". Butwe sincerely hope the spell-checker is better applied for clientdocuments.
Dragons in a tangle get the Boots
Have Theo, Peter, Deborah and those other Dragons made a boo-boo?The makers of the Tangle Teezer, a hairbrush that gets rid of knotsand massages the head at the same time, think so.
In a recent series of the show, the Dragons sent Shaun P, TangleTeezer’s inventor, packing when he asked for £85,000for a 15pc stake in his business. But now the hairdresser is havingthe last laugh.
Retail chain Boots has signed a deal to sell the “unique hairtools” in 600 stores. And hair experts Nicky Clarke and SamMcKnight are apparently raving about the product.
Retail turnover is predicted to almost double next year to£1.5m. “I’ve not had to borrow any money from thebank or go to other investors, the company’s success is 100pcmine,” says Shaun. Ouch.
Golden oldies in the business world
So what are the chances of the Team GB Olympic gold medal winnersfollowing in the footsteps of some of their illustriouspredecessors and achieving the gold standard in the business world?
Stuart Blake, managing director of Bayfield Executive Search andSelection, believes the odds are favourable because athletes andbusiness executives share the same drive, determination and skillsto make them successful - and there's history to prove it.
Dual 1980 and 1984 golden oldie Lord Coe - Seb to hismiddle-distance running friends - tops the list because he's in themillionaire category through his ownership of a string of healthclubs, says Blake.
Adrian Moorhouse - golden Olympic school of 1988 - is listed insecond place by Blake because his performance consultancy Lane 4 isranked second in a newspaper's Top 100 of small companies to workfor.
Then there are Olympic athletes Jon Ridgeon, Edward Leask and AlanPascoe, who sold their Fast Track sports marketing agency last yearto Chime Communications for a reported £43m.
And we must not forget Sir Menzies Campbell who, alas, failed towin a medal in 1964 and then failed to make the running as leaderof the Liberal Democrats.