The dastardly Mr Deedes
Former Treasury egghead John Kingman is mooted as the next chairman of insurer Legal & General, for which he would be paid £340,000 for a three-day week. But balding, bespectacled Kingman, 47, a ferocious gourmand and dedicated opera lover, is no idle slouch. He spent a trying year serving as press secretary to Gordon Brown. Like his ex-boss, he’s barely seen outside a suit and tie and loathes taking holidays. Financial glamourpuss Robin Saunders, 53, once dubbed ‘Queen of the City’, appears in front of MPs today to answer questions about her advisory role in the BHS sale. Some of us might prefer to hear about the perky Texan blonde’s past friendship with loutish stove jockey, Marco Pierre White. Marco’s fiery Spanish wife Mati once accused the pair of having an affair. Both denied any impropriety. Re BHS, I’m told Pensions Select Committee chairman Frank Field plans to dress head-to-toe in BHS clothing when he quizzes its thrice-bankrupt owner Dominic Chappell tomorrow. So stand by for some serious grandstanding from schoolmasterly Field. Employees at investment manager M&G are excited to welcome its new boss, exAberdeen Asset Management executive Anne Richards, who starts this week. She replaces lofty grandee Michael McLintock, 54, the firm’s long-serving chief with a liking for fine wine and country sports. Fragrant mother-of two Richards, 51, a former nuclear physicist, is a woman of more modest pursuits. Friends say she drives a Kia Picanto and spends weekends tending to her allotment. As well as taking a 75pc pay cut, Burberry’s out- of-his- depth boss Christopher Bailey appears to have eschewed his generous clothing allowance. Last year, he was awarded £440,000 to keep himself festooned in fashionable togs. The Dandyish northerner, 45, must have creaking wardrobes which would shame Liberace. Royal Bank of Scotland’s rugby-loving chief executive Ross McEwan, 58, says the troubled bank will at last relinquish its 13-year sponsorship of Six Nations rugby next year. The bank paid £43m to extend the longrunning deal in 2013, despite racking up consecutive annual losses since its £45bn taxpayer-funded bailout in 2008. Let’s hope the bank’s palatial hospitality suite at Wimbledon – cost last year £350,000 – finally gets the heave-ho too.