Me and Mrs Jones

For Bob Ivell and his team, this was the wrong result.

They had wanted a venture capital outfit that would give them their head.

Now, although Northampton is saying the mix is still a good one, nevertheless integration within a rival, and they would say less successful managed group, creates uncertainty as new teams are selected.

It's unlikely Ivell and Jones will be working in harness in the new set up: even the new company is not big enough for the two of them.

Already Ivell is being touted as the new Whitbread chief executive when David Thomas steps down next summer.

Ivell spent 13 years at Whitbread, but he remarked wryly on Tuesday "my career seems to be being mapped out for me by everyone else at the moment".

For Karen Jones, the 46-year-old who's been running Punch Retail/Spirit since 1999, the capture of S&N Retail seals her progress from waitress/bar operator with Café Rouge to the most senior managed job in the industry, and by a mile the most senior woman.

An English graduate from the University of East Anglia, and married to licensing lawyer Hamish Easton, Jones has battled to transform the old Allied estate and has won over sceptics who doubted her staying power.

Embracing "change management programmes" and "best value organisation goals" has marked her out as not your average pub boss ­ but how many could have achieved what she has since 1999?

Each week Jones leaves a personal voice message for all her managers, which normally starts "Phew, what a week!"

It will be interesting to see what this Friday's message says.