City Diary: Tesco boss laid out Co-op's turnaround plan in the 1980s

“You’re going back nearly 40 years here!” splutters a spokesman.

Coping with change

Clarke revealed his co-operative past at yesterday’s Retail Week Live summit, where one panellist was notable by his absence.

Co-op’s newly departed chief Euan Sutherland, originally billed to speak alongside Dixons Retail boss Sebastian James, was, sadly, “unavailable”.

“It’s terribly sad to see a great institution in the state that it is,” was Clarke’s informed view on the no-show.

But the Tesco boss was in less co-operative mood when Elaine Robinson, a consultant employed by M&S, asked a question from the floor on how Clarke’s grocery group is coping with the retail industry’s “dramatic change”.

“Your business knows it more than mine, as it happens,” came Clarke’s waspish reply.

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With the entertainingly named Richard Pennycook poised to become head chef of the Co-op’s books, it seems apt to revisit another accountancy whizz running an ethical mutual organisation.

Diary presents Robin Fieth, the newly installed chief of the Building Societies Association, which is proud to represent mutual lenders and “deposit takers” across the UK.

In more senses than one, some might say, given Fieth’s anagram potential.

Sacred shale

It seems at least some sites are sacred in the Government’s dash for shale gas.

Dart Energy, which holds the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s petroleum exploration licence for West York, has confirmed it has no plans to frack under York Minster cathedral.

Hallelujah, say the anti-shale brigade.

However, Dart is less forthcoming about whether it could carry out exploratory drilling at nearby Sutton Park, the home of David Cameron’s father-in-law, Sir Reginald Sheffield.

Given the PM’s famously pro-fracking stance – “get on board” was his latest rally – a Dart spokesman was understandably cautious.

“Whatever we might say … could, and in my experience will, be taken out of context and abused.” Surely not.

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Scotland, stay with us, said singer David Bowie, via supermodel Kate Moss, last month.

Now the City is sending out pro-Union smoke-signals too – albeit through the less glamorous medium of stock exchange updates.

Scotland-based Murray International Trust, a fund managed by Aberdeen Asset Management, has used its latest circular to warn that September’s referendum is creating “uncertainty” in the markets.

“The Board considers that a 'yes’ vote, in favour of independence, may prolong this uncertainty,” it advises.

It seems Aberdeen’s Scottish-raised chieftain Martin Gilbert agrees.

City slickers back in the running

Boardroom high-fliers never knowingly miss an opportunity to boast about their 5am starts to train for the latest ultra-marathon.

Now fitness-first financiers have the chance to prove it. Entries are open for this year’s Standard Chartered City Race on July 10, the annual charity canter around the Square Mile.

But will it be a tough enough test for the City’s competitive sorts?

The course is a mere 5k, which means that, based on his marathon personal best, hotelier Sir Rocco Forte could be back at his desk within 22 minutes.

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harriet.dennys@telegraph.co.uk

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