IS ANDY HORNBY THE RIGHT MAN FOR ALLIANCE BOOTS?
GAVIN GEORGE ERNST&YOUNG
Alliance Boots will be looking at the top heavy-weight contenders for the role. But the problem is there aren’t that many experienced retail chief executives who are available on the market. Despite HBOS, Hornby’s reputation remains undiminished in retail circles.
JOHN STEVENSON KBC PEEL HUNT
Hornby’s Asda background definitely lends itself to the Boots role. An issue for Boots has always been availability and stock control, even when you walk round there’s lots of empty shelves. With Hornby’s experience he will probably take it back to basic shop-keeping.
ROGER LAWSON UK SHAREHOLDER ASSOCIATION
Hornby certainly knows more about retail than he does about banking. After the HBOS fiasco he clearly shouldn’t be moving back into the financial world. But he obviously does need a job as he lost a lot of money on the HBOS shares and waived his bonus.