The dastardly Mr Deedes
French energy firm EDF’s bland chief Vincent de Rivaz, who’s responsible for the construction of the £24bn Hinkley Point nuclear power plant, is keen to ingratiate himself with locals. He informed the British Chamber of Commerce yesterday that all bacon sandwiches consumed by the 1,200 builders working on the Somerset site come from locallysourced pigs. Some are predicting pigs will fly before EDF makes its scheduled 2025 completion date.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s sober boss Andrew Bailey has, by all accounts, performed admirably since taking the reins at the City regulator last summer. Some regard him as a shoo-in to replace Mark Carney as Bank of England governor in 2019. Just as long as he can last the trip, that is. I’m told he’s prone to burning the midnight oil. Says my FCA mole: ‘It’s quite common for us to get emails from Andrew well past midnight.’
Dogged, self-made property tycoon Irvine Sellar, who has died aged 82, takes one of the great mysteries of the City to his grave – whether his elegantly permed grey locks were his own. Despite his repeated denials, there remained strong suspicions he wore a wig. It’s claimed he sometimes wore a shorter toupee to effect visits to the barber, but I have no idea if this is true.
Goldman Sachs intends to move into its garish new headquarters in Farringdon in 2019, according to a regulatory filing. The bulk of its London staff are housed in Peterborough Court, an imposing art deco building near Fleet Street, once home to the Daily Telegraph. The paper’s remote proprietor Lord Hartwell occupied an oak-panelled eyrie on the fifth floor, which boasted a roof garden complete with a neatly-manicured lawn.
Vodafone boss Vittorio Colao delayed a briefing with journalists yesterday at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. He needed a moment to recuperate after trying out a virtual reality racing car simulator which left him feeling queasy. Would it surprise you to learn that Colao, 55, was once a truncheon-wielding officer in Italy’s fearsome Carabinieri?