Can London be turned around like a troubled company?
Judi Bevan meets Tim Parker, the controversial private-equity player who slashed jobs and boosted value at Kwik-Fit and the AA, and is about to apply his skills at City Hall
Tim Parker, the bubble-haired venture capitalist hired to cut costs at City Hall and make Mayor Boris’s vision a reality, strolls down the curved walkway to greet me smiling widely, just like his photographs. Tall and rangy, this socialist-turned-capitalist, who is to be paid just £1 a year, is all charm and apologies for failing to turn up for our appointment the day before. He takes responsibility like a good leader should, although I suspect the serried ranks of apparatchiks from the not-so-ancien régime of attempted sabotage. They should watch out: while turning round the AA, Parker earned the sobriquet ‘Prince of Darkness’ for his skill at excising surplus staff.
Parker, Boris Johnson’s newly appointed First Deputy and chief executive of the Greater London Authority, built his career and fortune using private equity to sharpen the performance of uncompetitive companies such as the shoemaker C&J Clark, or those that had lost focus, like Kwik-Fit and the AA. In all of them he wielded the axe, selling property, cutting costs and jobs, provoking union anger. He has not always been sensitive — once, notoriously, arriving at a plant in his Porsche to announce job losses — but he has certainly been effective. That is good news for weary Londoners who struggle daily through clogged roads or wait on crowded platforms for unreliable Tube trains. ‘I don’t hear many people in London complaining about paying too much tax,’ he says. ‘But they hate the mismanagement — and that’s why I’m here.’
More articles from: Judi Bevan | this section
Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
Advertisement
Safe as houses: why Nationwide survived
Matthew LynnMatthew Lynn says Britain’s largest building society prospered by refusing to follow fashion — while its bolder, greedier rivals have all gone bust or been taken over
The No. 1 tax detective agency
Ross ClarkRoss Clark takes a look at the TaxPayers’ Alliance
A riposte to the Archbishop
Paul MarshallLeading hedge-fund manager Paul Marshall says Rowan Williams was wrong to scapegoat share traders
‘Business only thrives when society thrives’
Judi BevanJudi Bevan hears the views of Paul Myners, the left-leaning millionaire art collector who has just become Gordon Brown’s City minister
Time to bet against excessive pessimism
Ian CowieIan Cowie agrees with the contrarian investor Anthony Bolton that this is a moment to buy shares, not sell them
The parable of The Golden Calf
Edie LushEdie Lush attends the record-breaking Sotheby’s sale of Damien Hirst’s artworks, and wonders whether it is all a metaphor for the recent madness of financial markets
City Life
Elliot Wilson
The credit crunch reaches the home of the rotten apple and the ‘Rolexo’ watch
Not a scandal but a textbook success
Ross ButlerRoss Butler says MPs’ criticisms of the sell-off of theformer Defence Research Agency are financially naive
Global rules made in London? Brussels sniffs conspiracy
Christopher FildesChristopher Fildes on international accounting standards
Will the wisdom of Warren Buffett translate into German?
Matthew LynnMatthew Lynn wonders whether the world’s greatest investor will be able to pick winners in continental Europe the way he has for more than four decades in the US
Latest blog posts
sponsored links
Sky TV, Broadband & Talk from £16 a Month
Sky TV & free broadband packages available from £16 a month. Choose from a standard free sky box, sky plus or sky hd.
Sky TV, Broadband & Talk from £16 a Month
Sky TV & free broadband packages available from £16 a month. Choose from a standard free sky box, sky plus...
ROME CENTRE
PORTA METRONIA, ROME Standing high on the top of one of the seven hills of Rome- the Coelian- this unique
City Breaks. ROME and PARIS
ROME and PARIS: over 350 holiday rentals apartments listed: visit www.romanreference.com and www.parisreference.com or call +39 0648 903612.
Jewellery. RUFFS (Estd. 1904).
Goldsmiths by Design Welcome to Ruffs! You have found a company of Goldsmiths that specialises in the manufacture, amongst other
Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine
Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms
Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP
All Articles and Content Copyright ©2008 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved
Simon Hall
July 17th, 2008 11:57amWell perhaps Tim Parker is not concerned about taxes that people in London have to pay but I am. The tax burden from local councils is unfairly high - it is time to review the way in which the blunt council tax is calculated.
Damian Hockney
July 17th, 2008 3:36pmThe new administration at City Hall talks about cutting costs but does not answer where the money is going to come from to do all the things it says need doing. Tim Parker may not be bothered at the ever increasing taxes in London, but a main plank of the Tory campaign was the 'unacceptable' massive increase in the Mayor's 'precept' over the previous 8 years. Are we in for even more? Cutting a few staff at City Hall is tokenistic and does not represent one tenth of one per cent of the whole budget.
D Short
July 18th, 2008 2:21amHow can this person claim that he's never heard people in London complain about tax, but then go on to talk about the 'hard-pressed' taxpayer?
Shome mishtake, shurely?