Being immensely good at one job in the City doesn’t mean you’re going to be good at

Being immensely good at one job in the City doesn’t mean you’re going to be good at anything else. I mean, can you name even one?” Teacher, I think, conjuring up a vision of my maths mistress on the rampage. “What other careers? There can’t be that many jobs that allow you to shout and wave your arms around all day Not in this country, anyway. “Gives them all a chance to find another career if they want it.”Jane laughs.

well, life, really.”They’re an endangered species, of course,” I remind Jane “We should be feeling sorry for them.” I pause. It is, after all, quite an effort to feel sorry for anyone who left school at 16 and still earns loads more than you.Still, it’s a big, bad, brave new world opening up out there for them, and adjusting to trading on computers instead of by open outcry is going to be a massive struggle for many “Just as well it’s being phased in gradually,” I continue. That wouldn’t have been so bad, I suppose, if their conversation had been remotely interesting; as it was, it was mostly stories about girls, drugs and money, and the occasional pun on “Liffe” and “life” Enough to put you off futures traders for … “Do you remember that ghastly duo, what were their names? You know, we met them in Barbados,” Jane suddenly says, confirming my third guess.She’s talking, without a doubt, about Darren and Bobby, who were so used to being in the pit that they couldn’t talk at a normal volume any more.

It may be because she was actually wanting to see The Matrix, which was sold out, and she may be suffering from not having a Keanu Reeves fix.There again, it may be that bank collapses aren’t really a spectator sport and she wishes she’d been watching paint dry for the past two hours instead.Or it may be that she’s thinking about all those times she’s encountered futures and options traders in the past – and not one of them was as presentable as Ewan McGregor. It seems a bit harsh to condemn them all just for a bit of dodgy dress sense.”
I’m not quite sure what’s brought on Jane’s uncharacteristic post-film grumpiness. We have just been to see Rogue Trader – it’s practically compulsory, like reading The Bonfire of the Vanities was in the Eighties – and we’ve retreated to a nearby cafe for a well-earned Sunday afternoon slug of red wine

“Hmm,” I say. “To be scrupulously fair, there are an awful lot of people who wear silly jackets to work, and most of them have never even threatened to bring down any financial institution. “IT SERVES them right for trusting someone who wore a stripy nylon jacket at work,” says Jane, in a less-than-charitable moment. Mark Lynch, food producer analyst at Warburg Dillon Reed, says: “The key to outperformance is top-line growth.”. I think he has done a great job,” says Mr Van de Walle.CITY VERDICT: The appointment of Mr Van de Walle is viewed positively by the investment community Shares in United Biscuits have traded around 180p to 200p.

I am very impatient.”MOST ADMIRES IN BUSINESS: Antoine Ribaud, President of BSN, the French food company whose brands include Danone. Mr Ribaud was a glass manufacturer who decided 25 years ago to be one of the top European food producers “He has great vision. The company is moving from private label production and putting more emphasis on growing its own brands. There is a greater focus on customers and anticipating their desires. “We need to learn a new way of doing business,” says Mr Van de Walle.MANAGEMENT STYLE: Mr Van de Walle describes himself as “demanding but realistic and hopefully fair”, adding: “People can add a lot of value but they have to deliver.