Fingleton's job fears

Will John Fingleton, the crusading former chairman of the Competition Authority, be the winner or loser from the British government's decision to axe quangos? Fingleton landed the plum role as boss of the Office of Fair Trading, a consumer rights watchdog, a few years ago and has had some notable successes in busting cartels.

The British government, as part of its deficit-slashing plans, said last Thursday it wants to merge the OFT with its Competition Commission. The big question now is who will get to head the merged organisation.

Given his experience with the Competition Authority here and as the OFT is the larger body, Fingleton should be the obvious choice. But he also has the distinction of being the highest-paid boss of a UK quango – €319,000 a year – and with the objective of the merger to save costs, Fingleton may pay the price.

Drug deal for directors

Drug distributor Uniphar may have lost nearly €8m last year but there was plenty of cash for departing directors.

The company's latest accounts show €472,000 was paid to directors as compensation for loss of office. While there was a fair turnover of non-executive directors during the year, the payout is likely to have been made to Jim Canavan, the former chief executive, who retired last July.

It's been a rough few years for the company after the collapse of IPOS, a scheme it backed to help pharmacists set up their own shops. On top of that, the price paid to drug wholesalers has fallen because of price cuts imposed by the Department of Health, hitting profit margins.

There were pay cuts for Uniphar's directors, with total compensation falling to €525,000 from €729,000.

Secret semi-state sell-off

The review by economist Colm McCarthy of which semi-states are worth flogging off is continuing but we know little about what the companies themselves make of the proposals.

And according to our sources in semi-state land, that's the way they want to keep it. Anyone wanting to make a submission to McCarthy had until the end of September to make their views known.

We understand there were plenty of responses, including the companies that were potentially on the block, but just what those involved think of being sold off or broken up is likely to remain quiet as their submissions are stuffed full of confidential figures.

C&C power crosses pond

It's a further sign of the shift in power at drinks group C&C when its management team decide to hold its first-half results press briefing from London rather than Dublin last Tuesday. Since John Dunsmore and other members of the company's top brass (imported from brewer Scottish & Newcastle) spend most of their time in the UK, it's hardly surprising. It's also a sign of the Irish interest in the company waning as the conference call with the media lasted barely 20 minutes.