The Steeple Times

Tag: Chief Executive

  • Gerald Ratner – What’s on your mantelpiece?

    Gerald Ratner – What’s on your mantelpiece?

    A 20-question interview with well-known businessman Gerald Ratner

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

    Road cycling.

     

    “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    Don’t give up. Failure is the route to success. You will fail many times before you succeed so embrace failure.

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2016?

    Mark Carney is a mine of misinformation. He said interest rates would go up for the last five years and scared the sh*t out of us on Brexit.

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    Running a big company.

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    I haven’t got all that much wealth, but, as you get older, you appreciate your health more.

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?

    Business requires endless cash and if you can’t raise it anymore, that has a negative effect on the economy.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

    Starting every sentence with ‘So’.

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    I support animal charities but I don’t like the aggressive approach to fundraising by certain charities and their endless shock adverts on television.

     

    The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    I hate people screaming down them in public.

     

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    Robin van Persie (my all time hero), David Tang (stylish and witty) and Mark Carney (so I can throw him out the window).

     

    Gerald Ratner – What’s on your mantelpiece?
    Gerald Ratner

     

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    The Waterside Inn at Bray. I would order a magnum of Château Latour.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    During the week: At nighttime.

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    A double espresso.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    One that ends early.

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    My dog, Bear. He thinks he is human.

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    Cigars.

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    I hate tattoos.

     

    If you were a car, what marque would you be?

    I was a Ferrari. Now, I’m a Volvo.

     

    Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    I never called my jewellery ‘crap’ in that infamous speech. I described it as high quality but unfortunately I called a sherry decanter ‘crap’.

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    A picture of my dog.

     

    Gerald Ratner is the former chairman and chief executive of the Ratners Group. He is now a keynote speaker.

     

    Follow him on Twitter at @Gerald_Ratner.

     

    Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:[wysija_form id=”2″]

     

  • Brian Clivaz – What’s on your mantelpiece?

    Brian Clivaz – What’s on your mantelpiece?

    A 20-question interview with bon viveur, chairman of L’Escargot and chief executive of Devonshire Club Brian Clivaz

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

    The Sermon on the Mount – Ask, Seek, Knock. (Matthew 7:7).

     

    “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    “Rise above it”.

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2016?

    Sam Allardyce as England Manager. He’s a nice guy, but I mean, really?

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    My father. He died two years ago.

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    A verdant tropical island.

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?

    Crisis, what crisis? The bankers seem to be doing all right to me.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

    “Toilet”.

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    Give it all away: You can’t take it with you. I support the Royal Academy Schools, the RSPB, the RSPCA and the Terrence Higgins Trust.

     

    The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    ‘Irritating gadgets’ are essential tools for modern life; but please keep your voice down and learn how to put it on silent.

     

    Brian Clivaz – What’s on your mantelpiece? A 20-question interview with bon viveur, chairman of L’Escargot and chief executive of Devonshire Club Brian Clivaz
    Brian Clivaz

     

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    The French rugby team.

     

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    Terrine of foie gras, lobster thermidor, roast grouse, raspberries and cream and stilton and digestives. I would eat it in my cell.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    Bollinger at breakfast is a good mantra.

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    A Negroni but please don’t muck around with it and add all those mad “hone-made” vermouths and botanicals. Give me equal measures of Campari, sweet martini and Plymouth or Beefeater gin. Serve in a big glass with plenty of ice. I’m ambivalent about the orange slice.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    David Morgan-Hewitt’s annual birthday party in the penthouse at The Dorchester is the best as there is free flowing Krug to start and Château D’Yquem to finish.

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    Tony Buzan, the creator of “mind-mapping”, is a seriously positive person and always recharges my synapses.

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    Roquefort and McVities.

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    A bulldog, although I’m more of a hippo, I’d go for a bulldog as I have a lovely bitch called Doris.

     

    If you were a car, what marque would you be?

    A Jaguar MKII 3.4-litre with overdrive.

     

    Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    I live in Brixton and travel around London on a Vespa.

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    A “waterfall” clock given to me by my late grandmother, a pair of vases and a couple of Roja Dove aoud candles.

     

    Brian Clivaz was born in Brighton and started his career at The Dorchester. He then worked throughout the world until launching the Home House private members’ club in 1998. Clivaz then revived and relaunched Mayfair’s Arts Club and as well as being chairman of L’Escargot in Soho has just opened a new private club in the City of London named Devonshire Club.

     

    Follow him on Twitter at @BrianClivaz.

     

    Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:[wysija_form id=”2″]

     

  • Bloomberg blooms

    Bloomberg blooms

    Michael Bloomberg back at the helm at Bloomberg

     

    Billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg is to unexpectedly resume control of his eponymous financial data and media company at the end of the year just eight months after ending his final term as New York’s mayor. (more…)

  • Diageo dives

    Diageo dives

    Alcohol giant Diageo reports on a disappointing year

     

    The drinks titan Diageo have blamed the Chinese government cracking down on the gifting of expensive whiskies to officials, a fall in demand for the Chinese spirit Baiju and beer drinkers trading down to cheaper brands in Nigeria and Thailand for a disappointing set of results. (more…)

  • Rich Ricci

    Rich Ricci

    Rich RicciThis “ebullient” American’s name is most apt. A former Barclays bank executive who likes to wear sunglasses come rain or shine, Ricci retired to a Kentish mansion at 49 and supposedly travels by private jet to Dublin every weekend as he “just love[s] Irish racing”. With 40 horses in training and a take home total of £44 million in 2010 alone, he needn’t and doesn’t do things by half and even once named a horse Fatcatinahat in honour of an article The Independent ran on him. Whilst Bob may have had the Diamond position during their days at the bank, it is Ricci who remains truly Rich.

     

  • Murdoch takes a slice of Vice

    Murdoch takes a slice of Vice

    Rupert Murdoch invests $70 million into Vice

     

    Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. has just taken a slice of Vice. No, the billionaire’s not put his money into prostitution but instead – for those who haven’t heard of it – he’s invested in a local magazine business that has grown into an alternative media empire now valued at $1.4 billion. (more…)

  • Chaneling charity

    Chaneling charity

    Charities need to rethink how they pay their executives

     

    It’s hardly news that many charity bosses (AKA ‘charitycats’) are earning in excess of £100,000 a year but once again the toothless Charity Commission is bleating instead of acting. (more…)

  • Diamonds Aren't Forever

    Diamonds Aren't Forever

    The resignation of Bob Diamond

     

    Today, Bob Diamond finally bit the dust and resigned as chief executive of Barclays in a dramatic move designed to save the bank from further embarrassment in the wake of their having being fined a record £290 million last week for attempting to manipulate the interbank lending rate, Libor, between 2005 and 2009.

     

    Bob Diamond, centre, with John Varley and Marcus Agius

    Of his decision, Diamond commented:

     

    “No decision over that period was as hard as the one that I make now to stand down as chief executive. The external pressure placed on Barclays has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise – I cannot let that happen.”

     

    Meanwhile, George Osborne MP added:

     

    “We now have an opportunity to fix what went wrong and move on.”

     

    The Chancellor’s attempts to sweep this scandal under the carpet illustrate how out of touch he is with public opinion on this subject and Gina Miller, founder of the True and Fair campaign, raises a far more valid point in her statement on the affair:

     

    “Bob Diamond’s departure and the Libor scandal shows lack of oversight, accountability and regulation in the City. Current industry self-regulation, overseen by the FSA, has been widely abused by the financial services industry and has failed to protect consumers or provide a level-playing field for the more responsible financial services companies.”

     

    With an inquiry looming next into professional standards in banking, one has to wonder which other heads will roll next. As someone said to me in a Facebook message this morning: “Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank; Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.”

     

    For more information on the True and Fair campaign, go to: http://www.trueandfaircampaign.com

  • What next for Battersea Power Station?

    What next for Battersea Power Station?

    The sale of Battersea Power Station to SP Setia and Sime Darby

     

    Battersea Power Station has for so long has been the saddest landmark in London. Since it was decommissioned as a power station in 1983, this Grade II* listed building designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott has rotted and various regeneration proposals have floundered.

     

    Battersea Power Station

    Described by selling agents Knight Frank as: “The last large development site in prime central London,” it was announced on the 6th June that the joint receivers had entered into an exclusivity agreement with Malaysian property developers SP Setia and their partner Sime Darby.

     

    In the course of marketing, the selling agents showed the site to almost a 100-interested parties in just two months. Of this, Stephan Miles-Brown, head of residential development at Knight Frank, commented:

     

    ”We were always quite positive but now we are more positive than when we started the process. What has surprised us has been the numbers, there have been an enormous number of individual visits.”

     

    A proposed design for the redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station site

    Amongst the other bidders were Chelsea Football Club but sadly their proposal to develop a 60,000-seater stadium on the 39-acre site was rejected along with 13 others. SP Setia and Sime Darby have agreed to pay £400 million for the site and will have to build a new underground station as part of their scheme.

     

    Worryingly, on 11th June 2012, however, Liew Kee Sin, chief executive of SP Setia, stated:

     

    “We don’t know what will happen over the next 28 days.”

     

    Though Knight Frank are incredibly positive about their negotiations, one must ask: “Will progress really occur with this scheme or will this just be yet another white elephant?”

     

    For further information about the sale, contact Stephan Miles-Brown of Knight Frank on: +44 (0) 20 7861 5403. Information can be viewed at: http://search.knightfrank.com/gb0412

     

    For further information about SP Setia, go to: http://www.spsetia.com.my

     

    For further information on Sime Darby, go to: http://www.simedarby.com

  • Sara Murray OBE

    Sara Murray OBE

    This Lancashire born entrepreneur founded the price comparison site Confused.com and is now a member of the government’s Technology Strategy Board. Murray has deservedly won countless accolades for her achievements and is also known for her love of helicopters.