Compiled by
Laura Slattery
In Numbers
Winfrey sizzle
1
Tablespoon of oil used to fry food by the electric fryer T-FAL Actifry, according to Oprah Winfrey, who tweeted that it had changed her life. “And they’re not paying me to say that.”
5.2
Percentage jump in the fryer’s French manufacturer, Groupe SEB, on the Paris stock market in the hours following the broadcasting entrepreneur’s endorsement.
6
Months since Groupe SEB last enjoyed that kind of spurt in its share price, as the stock exceeded its average daily volume in the space of 2½ hours.
Image of the week Glassy eyed
Available in charcoal, tangerine, cotton, shale, sky, Google Glass is the already-irritating name for the smart glasses under development by Google. As shown in a YouTube video uploaded by Google, this augmented reality eyewear features a small, translucent square in the top right of the field of view which provides an interface to features such as map directions and photography.
Not only that, the innovation is set to facilitate the reinvention of gaming, which is something we’re sure we saw happen in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation more than 20 years ago, and it didn’t end well then either. So yes, resistance is futile. Yes, we will need to update the rules of the road. No, they don’t come cheap.
Getting to know: Malcolm Walker
The Iceland chief executive found himself in hot water with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland earlier this week after making dismissive comments on their efforts to ensure beef is beef. (“That’s just the Irish, isn’t it,” was his line, in case you missed it.)
One look at Walker’s corporate bio on the Iceland website will tell you that this is just how he rolls. “Malcolm has only ever had three paid jobs, and so far he has been fired from two of them,” it notes.
It’s all part of his man-of-the-people selling point. Married to Rhianydd for more than 40 years, the Yorkshire man “still can’t pronounce her name”, the bio continues.
In his spare time, he has abseiled down London’s tallest building, the Shard. “The idea is to do a bit of window cleaning on the way down.”
The Lexicon Youth guarantee
Ireland hasn’t got a Youth Guarantee, but it should do, the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has declared. So what does a Youth Guarantee do when it’s knocking about at home?
“A Youth Guarantee would ensure all young people under 25 are offered continued education, an apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed,” explained the committee vice-chairman, Labour’s John Lyons.
It works in Finland, apparently.
The good news is there’s some money on the table in the shape of an EU pilot programme, to which Ireland has applied. The bad news is there’s not much point in guaranteeing to provide actual jobs if they don’t exist.
The List Executive nicknames
The man – or woman – at the top might cut a scary figure, but their minions and adversaries have a time-honoured method of dealing with the fear: give them a nickname.
1 The Grizz:An alternative name for Maurice Taylor, chief executive of US tyremaker Titan, who is in the news this week for slagging off the French work ethic. It apparently refers to his bear-like gruffness.
2 Slasher Walsh: IAG boss Willie Walsh was given this nickname by trade unions during his cost-cutting days at Aer Lingus.
3 Fred the Shred: Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Fred Goodwin saw his knighthood for services to banking fed into the shredder last year.
4 Le Cost Killer:Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive of Renault, was given this nickname by the French media in the late 1990s for his downsizing talents.
5 Nuclear Wintour: A nickname that combines Vogue editor Anna Wintour's surname with the fact that she's not the kind of boss who wants to be everyone's best friend.
