Hamish Champ: Punch Taverns and its 'chief executive replacement' conundrum
Succession planning is a thorny issue for any organisation, especially so if the main man has been in situ for a long time.
Heaven knows - though frankly I couldn't care less - who'll replace Alex Ferguson at Manchester United when he finally decides to bin the chewing gum and the hairdryer.
Closer to 'home', after nearly a decade in the driving seat Giles Thorley's imminent exit from Punch Taverns throws up no less a set of head-scratching conundrums.
Finding the right man - or woman - for the top job in any company is the most important appointment of all. Given the economic pressures on the pub trade, the potential for political interference in the sector, plus the demands of shareholders, Punch's board of directors will be intensely aware that Thorley's replacement will be absolutely key to the company's future. No pressure there then.
But people at - or aspiring to get to - the top of the corporate tree thrive on such pressure; to wit, Roger Whiteside, who heads up Punch's leased pub arm, revealed last week that both he and Mike Tye, his opposite number at the group's managed pub business, have both thrown their hats in the ring.
This is the first potential headache for Peter Cawdron, the group's chairman. If either applicant gets the nod from the board, would the other really want to hang around, reporting to a former equal, following orders and making the tea? I think it unlikely.
Conversely, if Cawdron and his boardroom buddies opt for an external candidate he - or she - will naturally want to make their mark on the business as early as possible, a situation which might see recently-implemented initiatives being suspended or thrown out altogether. At which point Messrs Tye and Whiteside could take umbrage and head for the fire exit themselves.
Of course an alternative strategy would be to simply appoint an executive chairman and leave Whiteside and Tye to carry on as they are, as has been suggested by at least one leading Punch shareholder, Andy Brough of Schroders, the investment bank. Interesting times.
Still on the subject of Thorley's departure, I put it to Roger Whiteside last week that I thought the long-standing boss would have stuck around long enough to steer the company out of the recession. My observation was given short shrift. He'd put the balance sheet back on an even footing, said Whiteside, for which enormous credit was due. Job done, seemingly.
All of Punch's debt problems have gone away, its balance sheet is now as shiny as a new pin, and the group's bondholders are happy as Larry. Is that it? "Yup", is the shortened version of the answer that followed.
So, after 18 months of financial turmoil and collapsing share prices, during which time some of its senior management trousered huge sums by cashing in stock options, it seems Punch's financial nightmare is finally over.
If Punch's debt hangover has indeed been cleared up with the financial equivalent of a packet of Nurofen Plus, a warm bath and an early night - and it has to be said there are those who remain to be convinced this is indeed the case - it will seriously hack off all those expecting to see the company collapse any time soon.
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The recent Icelandic volcano ash thing caused a lot of grief for some people, but there was one upside. It was nice to look up into a clear blue sky devoid of vapour trails criss-crossing from one side of the horizon to the other.
And in a frightening development I found myself agreeing with TV designer and professional fop Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen, who was caught up in the travel chaos, the poor lamb, bless his - doubtless silk - socks, etc, ad nauseum.
Chatting to waiting media at an airport last week our Lol opined that one of the things that struck him about the situation was that it illustrated that long-haul air travel was a privilege, not a right. For once I think the man had a point…
