Polman escapes to the UN

MUCH of what Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour says about creating a fairer, more just and greener Britain carries great resonance. The problem is the route he and his acolytes propose to take: nationalisation, state subsidies and the deliberate interference in free markets.

It goes almost without saying that greed in the boardroom, in the shape of Jeff Fairburn at Persimmon and former WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell, is out of hand and supine pay committees have contributed to this.

Too often FTSE 100 directors seem more obsessed with what they can extract in bonuses and rococo expense accounts than what they give to society.

Whatever one may think about rewards for Unilever boss Paul Polman last year, when remuneration rose 40pc to £10.3m, he is at least tuned in to a broader agenda.

He speaks to ethical trading, greener solutions and the importance of quality, innovation and R&D. These considerations were critical in defending Unilever when it came under siege from Kraft Heinz last year.

There can be no real surprise that Polman finds himself, along with world leaders, on the fringes of the annual gathering of the United Nations. His tweets on a moral framework to eradicate poverty, cutting food waste, fighting climate change and better education in Africa are laudable.

Indeed, if more CEOs embraced social justice within their own companies as well as in the countries where they earn their income then Labour’s madcap agenda of disrupting Anglo-Saxon capitalism would be even less credible.

Unilever investors might question whether this is really the moment for the CEO to absent himself. There will be New Yorkbased fund managers for Polman to lobby on the issue of the unification of its Dutch and British arms, the shift of domicile to Rotterdam and better governance. However, the noisiest investors, who have openly opposed Unilever’s migration from the FTSE 100, are in London.

Unilever clearly regards the 35,000 private investors as well as institutions as important to target in favour of the changes as reflected in full-page advertisements in the national press. We can be grateful that Unilever has revived a great old corporate tradition of publicly appealing to investors.

As the 30-day countdown to a retreat to Rotterdam begins Polman should, on this special occasion in the 133-year British history of Lever Brothers, have felt it more politic to be on the frontline in the City.

Fox payday

THERE was always a chance that 21st Century Fox and Rupert Murdoch would choose to remain minority holders following the £30bn takeover of Sky by cable giant Comcast. But it didn’t make much sense.

Fox learnt some time ago that being a minority holder in Sky has not always been a blessing. It may have allowed Murdoch to appoint business allies and inject his son James, first as chief executive and later as chairman. But when push came to shove governance and regulation meant the shareholding was all but frozen.

Embedding the Sky minority in Disney, which is buying most of Fox’s entertainment assets, would have made command and control even more remote. As things turn out the cash injection into Fox will allow debt to be paid down, provide funding for future development of Fox News and free £1.9bn of cash for Murdoch and heirs.

He has many critics in Britain (and the US) for coarsening the media and wielding too much political influence. But in founding satellite broadcaster Sky three decades ago he took an enormous risk. The emergence of Sky as Europe’s lead pay TV broadcaster is a real achievement.

Comcast is now left with the hard grind of justifying the high price. But, like the Murdochs, the controlling Roberts family have an appetite for long-term challenges.

Facts needed

DISCLOSURES of who knew what and when about the wholesale fraud at the former HBOS (now Lloyds) branch in Reading come fast and thick.

There is concern that there was a coverup by previous Lloyds and HBOS management and that the top team, headed by Antonio Horta-Osorio, has been less than frank with its board, shareholders and affected customers.

The Financial Conduct Authority cannot leave this festering wound untreated.