Spot the difference: It’s Donald Pleasence, left, the late actor who played über-villain Blofeld in the James Bond movies, and Rich Ricci, investment banking boss at Barclays. One is an acclaimed front man who is known for his manic urge to rule the world stage. And the other is…
Labour high-flier silenced by Neil
Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary who is increasingly seen as a serious contender as Labour’s next leader, saw some of the sheen come off his glowing reputation during an awkward interview with Andrew Neil on the BBC’s Sunday Politics.
“Tony Blair said that Labour can’t go into the next election without the support of a single chief executive from a big company,” said Neil.” Can you name the boss of a big major company who is backing Labour?”
Umunna responded by naming the Labour peer Lord Alli, and said he was chairman of online fashion retailer Asos.
When pressed, Umunna added that the firm “may be or it may be just outside the FTSE 100”.
Wrong! Alli stepped down earlier this year, and Asos isn’t in the FTSE index, it’s on the junior market, AIM.
Neil didn’t bother bringing this up with Umunna, asking instead for more names of Labour supporters in the City apart from Lord Alli.
“Any others? Any others?” asked the BBC presenter. The shadow business secretary was forced to stonewall, saying: “I know where you’re going with this.”
For once, smooth-talking Umunna was speechless.
* Who would have guessed that shop-leasing clerks could have gone on to such great things in the world of property? Property agencies CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle have both got shop-shifters as their new UK bosses.
Ciaran Bird, who was head of retail, will become UK managing director at CBRE in the new year while Jones Lang LaSalle’s shop expert Guy Grainger has just been announced as the US firm’s UK boss, to take over next month.
Lightweight Lego just fuels pester power
There is good and bad news from retailer John Lewis about the biggest-selling item so far this Christmas. The good news is that the Lego Minifigures start at just £1.95. The bad news is the packets only contain one item, which means that pestering kids are likely to want more, and more, and more...
* John Lewis has got into the Christmas spirit by putting two life-size reindeer in its Oxford Street store. They have been popular with children and adults alike. The problem is that huge numbers of people appear to have been touching the reindeers’ plastic noses, and their black schnozzles are now a little wobbly. Maybe it’s time for the department store to call in Rudolph.
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* Furious passengers on South West Trains who were delayed by snow and ice last week were unamused by the rail boss who apologised to them. He is Tim Shoveller.
