The dastardly Mr Deedes
Craggy Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton recently quit the board to devote more time to his charity and catering. He’s also busy on the domestic front. I hear he’s engaged to comely fashion designer Jade Holland Cooper, 31, whose designs are worn by Zara Phillips and tweedy types. Divorce from first wife, Charlotte, forced Dunkerton, 52, to sell £48m worth of shares in the clothing firm, but with £366m in the bank there’s still plenty left in the cookie jar.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has appointed ambitious young shaver James Benford, 35, as his private secretary, an influential job seen as a stepping stone to the bank’s upper ranks. Previous occupants Paul Tucker, 60, and Andrew Bailey, 59, progressed to deputy governor, while Spencer Dale, 51, was made
Lord King’s chief economist, though, crucially, none have risen to the top job. Bailey was hot favourite to succeed Carney, but his agreeing to the thankless running of the Financial Conduct Authority seems to weaken his chances by the day.
Regarding the next Bank of England governor, officials may find a surprising lack of enthusiasm among Carney deputies. I’m told silver-haired Trot John McDonnell’s pledge to move the bank to Birmingham has knocked their conks firmly out of joint, which, one suspects, was rather the point.
Aberdeen Standard Life’s £90m Edinburgh headquarters were opened by Princess Anne this week. Gregarious joint chiefs Martin Gilbert, 62, and Keith Skeoch, 61, presented HRH with a scarf in the company’s tartan. What eventually happens to all these pointless ceremonial knick-knacks, I wonder? Knowing Anne’s frugality, it’s possible she redistributes them around her family as Christmas presents.
Squid-like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance in front of Congress prompts speculation about his peculiar, ‘pudding bowl’ hair style. Some suspect Zuck cuts its himself, while others suggest it’s the result of a hair weave, the costly procedure which, controversially, often uses follicles sourced from poorer nations. Boris Johnson once ungallantly joked Victoria Beckham’s lustrous hair implants had been ‘ripped from the heads of impoverished Ukrainian girls’.