The abrupt defenestration of Richard Brasher did not stop the recently deposed UK boss of Tesco from turning up at Twickenham on Saturday to cheer on England’s 30-9 destruction of Ireland. My spies say that he was spotted in the supermarket chain’s corporate box.
Tesco’s hospitality was formally hosted, though, by its finance director Laurie McIlwee. It’s good to be clear about that: after all, as Mr Brasher declared last week, you can’t have two captains on the same team. Tesco says the invitation was a long-standing engagement and that Mr Brasher doesn’t leave until July. There was one engagement, however, that he didn’t fulfil: speaking at Retail Week’s annual conference the morning after being elbowed aside by Philip Clarke.
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Travellers flying Finnair from Helsinki to Shanghai next month are in for a treat. It will give business-class passengers a “bright light” headset from Valkee, a Finnish company, which channels light into the brain via the ear canal (I’m not making this up), supposedly making it easier to adjust to jet lag. Yours for a mere £185.
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• The barroom brawl over the pub where Jeffrey Bernard was famously unwell is coming to a head. When Fuller’s bought the Coach & Horses in Soho last summer, it threatened to evict the landlord unless he renovated it to meet health and safety laws. The lease expired in January, but Greg Stewart, the tenant, has applied to Central London County Court to extend his tenure. Fuller’s said, with the works yet to be completed, it had “no choice” but to oppose his application. It said it was “willing to offer [him] a new lease” as long as the works are done. Perhaps they should review it over a pint.
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In the blue corner: Guy Hands
Guy Hands is not an obvious cheerleader for banks, given that Citigroup wrested control of EMI from his private equity group Terra Firma last year. Yet the financier is nothing if not pragmatic. “It is important to recognise that just as the banks helped bring our economies to their knees, their success is essential for any sustained recovery,” he writes in a blog. Mr Hands urges George Osborne to announce measures to ensure banks start lending more. “A Budget for banks may not be a popular rallying call, but it is essential.”