The damned remain united

Having been brutally ousted by Joe Lewis, Simon Laffin's 59 days as chairman of pubco Mitchells & Butlers look like the corporate equivalent of Brian Clough's 44 day reign at Leeds "Damned" United. And just like Old Big 'Ead, he's not going quietly.

On today's letters page of the Financial Times, Laffin writes: "Shareholder activism is, rightly, being encouraged, but has the regulatory framework yet adjusted to this? An activist shareholder, or group of shareholders, with around 40 per cent of the equity can determine the composition of the board and, as we saw last week, effectively select the chairman."

Clearly, it's still a Laffin matter.