Gossip from the industry - Are you tough enough?

Contemplating the economic turbulence that is shaking world markets and seems set to worsen, Jonathan Davey, who has recently returned to SSP as a director, voiced his beliefs that brokers are some of the most resilient businesses in the world: "I don't mean to be rude but a chief executive once told me about his belief that the only things to survive nuclear war would be brokers and cockroaches. I agree with this to some extent; brokers are showing how tough they really are in the current market." Meanwhile, South African-born chief executive Laurence Walker admitted to finding British people "truly strange and fascinating" and to having a deep-seated fear of the London Underground after having had a close shave in the bombings of July 7, 2005. Whoever said that technology specialists are boring has obviously never met the SSP senior management.

On a recent visit to London, Provident director Mike Smith revealed that, despite working most of the time from Provident's head offices in Halifax, his weekend base is in Tunbridge Wells, meaning that he has to face a 4am start every Monday to get to the office on time. Perhaps it is time for him to move house?

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Finally, we are looking forward to seeing you at one or more of the four PB Management Events this month in Bolton, Harrogate, Weston-super-Mare and London.

Find out more and register for free at pb-managementevent.co.uk.