LUKE’S HARD LANDING

‘PHFFFFFFFF!’ Did I just hear a poorly- timed Patisserie Valerie cake collapse? No. That was the sound of chairman Luke Johnson’s gargantuan ego deflating.

There’s much to admire about ‘Cool Hand Luke’ but little to love. He always came across as, well, pretty jolly pleased with himself.

A reverse takeover of Pizza Express in 1992 for £8m was where he made the big bucks. After rolling it out into a national chain, he sold his share in 1997 when the firm was worth £150m.

Chairmanship of Channel 4 followed. He became an indemand ‘voice’ on the media circuit. After-dinner speeches, self-laudatory books, a weekly ‘This is how I did it’ newspaper column. Not any more.

Right now, the only lecture he’s qualified to give is how he lost 183 large after an accounting error. Actually, that might be worth listening to.