THE DAILY BRIEFING
SPECIAL DELIVERY Troubled model train maker Hornby has appointed a Post Office chief to its board as it undergoes a major turnaround plan.
Martin George, chief commercial officer at the Post Office and chairman of Grays International, is joining as a non-executive director.
Charlie Carminada, who is also on the board of Shoe Zone, is stepping down as a non-executive.
REFINERY SELL-OFF Oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell has completed the sale of its 51pc stake in a Malaysian subsidiary for £53.8m.
The Shell Refining Company (Federation of Malaya) has been sold to Malaysia Hengyuan International Limited. The group is undergoing a major sell-off following its takeover of British-owned BG Group for £34bn.
Shell said it would maintain supply to its retail and commercial customers, and honour all current commercial arrangements. MAGIC ROLE Merlin Entertainments has appointed Fraser Montgomery to its executive board.
Montgomery, 46, who is in charge of the firm’s commercial operations, joined its subsidiary Tussauds Group in 2000 from Marks & Spencer. PLASTIC UPTURN Consumers spent a record £55bn on credit and debit cards in October, up 0.8pc on the previous month, with almost a quarter – £12.9bn – spent online.
Total purchases rose 0.9pc to £1.3bn. MINING TRIAL Harvest Minerals has been awarded a trial mining permit in Brazil.
The firm is digging for fertiliser ingredients at Arapua in the nation’s southeast. Shares in the AIM-listed business rose 8.8pc, or 1.75p to 21.75p. DEAL PROVISIONS Dairy Crest has agreed a research partnership with innovation firm Danisco Animal Nutrition to help product development and trials for animal feed. FINANCE BOSS Insurer Legal & General is hiring a top consultant to be its finance boss on a pay packet worth up to £2.5m a year.
Jeff Davies, a senior partner at accounting giant Ernst & Young, will join the company with a basic salary of £500,000, a possible bonus of up to £750,000 and up to £1.3m of shares under a long-term incentive plan.
He spent 12 years at EY after a career at Swiss Re Life & Health. L&G shares rose 0.3pc, or 0.7p to 246.2p. CONTRACT UPLIFT Airbus has struck a £14.6bn deal to supply 100 planes to Iran Air.
It will begin delivering aircraft at the beginning of next year, providing a boost to Iran’s post-sanctions economy. The contract includes single-aisle A320 and A330 jets and wide-body A350 XWB planes.