But will that appointee be someone to keep the seat warm or the person who will oversee a fundamental overhaul of the financial regulation structure?There are other difficult calls, such as whether to do Henley or the men's semi-finals at Wimbledon But no one said running the country was easy. Welcome to the real world.Raising the stakesIT IS no coincidence that this week sees the publication of The Stakeholder Corporation by David Wheeler and Maria Sillanpaa. Regular readers have had a flavour of this excellent book in articles penned for us by the authors over the last three weeks. Stakeholding is one of the New Labour mantras but this is a business book not a political tract. However, on the assumption that stakeholding will underpin much of the new government's policy-making in the commercial sphere, The Stakeholder Corporation's appearance is timely.Appealingly, it adopts the tone of practical guide rather than moral lecture.
Its aim is to assist businesses rather than shame them into action. Most crucially it demonstrates that there is no conflict between the stakeholder and the shareholder. Maximise the value of the former and you maximise value for the latter. The book provides compelling evidence that businesses run with the broader stakeholder in mind ultimately succeed in increasing long-term shareholder value.But the authors do much more than float this as a tantalising proposition. Extensive case studies along with what is in effect a how-to-do- it manual make it the ideal companion for any executive interested in transforming their business.Unfortunately there is no quick- fix solution for the lazy company The stakeholder corporation requires energy and commitment. But by the end of the book it is difficult to question the value of making such an investment. It is well written, well structured and well worth taking the time to study.The Stakeholder Corporation, by David Wheeler and Maria Sillanpaa, is published by Pitman at pounds 19.99..
David James, the company "doctor" brought in by Sears to stem increasing losses in its high-street shoes business, is likely to earn far more than the pounds 500,000 reportedly being paid to departing Sears chief executive Liam Strong. "I have arranged a fixed fee for one year with Sears," said Mr James, who discloses his daily rate is pounds 5,500 a day. "My Sears fee is consistent with that." He has been charged with stemming the losses - through reorganising, selling or closing all or part of the shoe operation. The division has sales of over pounds 400m but the losses are worsening. "If you include interest on the money lent by the Sears parent, the loss is pounds 20m to pounds 25m - not the pounds 9m normally mentioned," said Mr James.Neither Mr James, who cheerfully calls himself a "one-man hit squad", nor Sears will elaborate on his payment.
"We might disclose it later, but not now," said David Defty, Sears' finance director.But Mr James said he had agreed with Sears chairman Sir Robert Reid to "devote about half my week to Sears" in return for the fixed payment. "If I have to work longer than that then it's my loss," he said.If Mr James, an opera lover, works a two-and-a-half day week for 52 weeks and receives his normal daily rate the total would exceed pounds 700,000.Mr James disclosed that Sears had "a call option on his services" if one year did not prove long enough for the job. "If Sears wants me to stay on, they have a right to retain me and I can't refuse."Sears sells 60 million pairs of shoes a year. It has two upmarket outlets, the 125-shop Dolcis and the 24-shop Cable chains.The bigger problems are at Shoe City and Shoe Express, into which Mr Strong poured tens of millions in the vain search for a profitable downmarket chain. The property portfolio is worth around pounds 80m, including a warehouse of 1 million square feet in Leicester that Mr James said was "more than half empty".He said that Sears womenswear division would like Sears to keep Dolcis and Cable. "But I have complete autonomy in suggesting a strategy to the Sears board, and the best thing might be to include Dolcis and Cable as sweeteners to tempt somebody to buy the whole of the shoes business."He is putting a three-month deadline on finding a buyer for the whole operation but he would consider selling a minority stake. "If another shoe company wants to buy in, we would consider that provided it keeps a minority interest only." Mr James has already hired Price Waterhouse.
