Former dragon sees red over mush jibe
HELL hath no fury like a woman scorned, particularly if the female in question
is also a dragon. A war of words has broken out between Rachel Elnaugh, one
of the original judges on Dragons’ Den, and Theo Paphitis, one of its
current stars and her former fellow panellist. The owner of Ryman’s
stationery shops, Paphitis, recently gave a newspaper interview where he
argued that women’s brains turn “to mush” when they become pregnant. His
comments were regarded by some as refreshingly politically incorrect, but
they did not go down terribly well with Elnaugh, who felt compelled to pen a
riposte on Paphitis’s views in one of her regular blog updates. “I really
couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the comments made by Theo Paphitis. The
sheer arrogance of the man,” exclaimed Elaugh, before calling for women to
stop patronising his businesses. “I’d like to urge ALL women who are
customers of the Paphitis related brands (currently Ryman, La Senza,
Contessa, Partners and Red Letter Days) to withdraw their considerable
purchasing power by boycotting these brands, in protest at these
outrageously outdated and sexist remarks,” wrote a clearly upset Elnaugh.
The row is given an extra frisson by the fact that Red Letter Days, the
“experiences” company, was, of course, founded and owned by Elnaugh, before
falling into administration. It was rescued by Paphitis and one of the other
Dragons, telecoms entrepreneur Peter Jones.
Given that Elnaugh apparently still regards Red Letter Days as her baby, it
seems a bold move to advocate a boycott of the business, or is she simply
trying to hit her former television colleague where it hurts?
— THERE have been some rather unusual appointments to the boards of public
companies – former newsreader Anna Ford becoming a non-executive director at
J Sainsbury, the supermarket, for example. Now XP Power is getting in on the
act. The company has hired legendary explorer David Hempleman-Adams as a
non-executive. This is the man who became the first human to scale the
highest mountain on every continent. In between his various escapades,
Hempleman-Adams has found time to forge a career in business, and chairs
Global Resins, a privately owned manufacturing company.
So while it would be easy to make jokes about XP needing someone who can help
navigate its share price north after a 55% fall in the past year, we
wouldn’t be so childish.
Virgin chief’s flight of fancy
NOT too many complaints about the rigorous new dress code at Royal Ascot this
year, and it would be hard to argue with the ban on poorly applied fake
suntan. One of the sartorial high-lights of the week was the Ascot fashion
show, which featured catwalk displays from designers including Philip
Treacy, the hat maker. One of the luckiest punters of the week may have been
the Glaswegian who won £20,000 from Ladbrokes with his £200 free bet, but
Stephen Murphy, the chief executive of Virgin Group, parent of Virgin
Atlantic, also had a result. Scanning the racecard, the airline boss
struggled to find a backable horse on Wednesday until alighting on a nag
called, appropriately enough, Mr Aviator, which started the race at 25-1.
Imagine Murphy’s pleasure when it romped home, netting him a handsome return
on his £5 each-way bet.
City’s salad days
IT seems the City can’t get enough of healthy food – and not just in workers’
lunch hours. Hot on the heels of Pod, the fledgling sandwich-bar chain that
recently raised £1.5m of fresh funding to finance its expansion, Jasper
Wight, founder of Chop’d, the salad-bar group, is also looking to raise
fresh funds from the Square Mile. He has opened talks with various
investment funds to raise £500,000 to complement a similar sum raised from
business angels. Is this an example of the green shoots of success?
AN article in the latest edition of Real Business, a magazine aimed at
small and medium-sized companies, may serve as a sign of the times. This
month, it runs a story headlined “27 Things You Can Learn From Del Boy”,
offering a series of tips, culled from readers, on how budding entrepreneurs
might be able to benefit from the philosophy and experiences of everyone’s
favourite trader, Derek Trotter, from the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.
The bons mots include “Be a wheeler dealer” and “Be Real” – because
“no one likes ruthless, self-serving egomaniacs”. Another suggestion is
“Don’t employ plonkers” and the article concludes by advising “Money isn’t
everything.” Mange tout, Rodney, mange tout.
— SOME of the parties vying for the insurance arm of Royal Bank of Scotland
may think they have an advantage over rival bidders. Zurich Financial’s head
of European operations is Annette Court, who was previously chief executive
of RBS Insurance. Meanwhile, Allstate, the US firm trying to buy the
business, is working with Lehman and Fenchurch Advisory Partners. Ian
Chippendale, a former chairman of RBS Insurance, is a senior adviser at the
latter. Those two must have a fair idea of RBS Insurance’s worth, but if the
Scots are afraid it will mean low-ball offers, they are not showing it.
“They know the true value of the business,” one insider soothes.
prufrock@sunday-times.co.uk
phone 020 7782 5804 fax 020 7782 5765
