Citywatch: Croissants and carbonara

They tend to think of it as a land where croissants are served alongside pasta, and where you can expect similar behaviour from Spaniards and Swedes.

Was this a mistake made by building materials giant Wolseley? This week, the £14bn-turnover firm went some way towards admitting just that. To cries of “long overdue” in some quarters of the City, new boss Ian Meakins restructured a board that he had inherited from his two US predecessors. This involved stripping out a whole European layer of management – European chief executive Rob Marchbank, to be precise. The bosses of the French and Nordic businesses will now report directly to Meakins.

As Kevin Cammack at Cenkos Securities said: “Building merchants are such local businesses that you could argue it has been an unnecessary layer of management that has contributed to the underperformance of the European business.”

Finance director Steve Webster also went, as Meakins brought in a former colleague from foreign exchange specialist Travelex. As Liberum Capital analyst Charlie Campbell pointed out, the company has only had two finance directors since the mid-seventies. “Meakins is clearly getting on top of things and bringing discipline to the group.”

Elsewhere, Kier officially presented new chief executive Paul Sheffield to the City on Monday. As one analyst noted: “Paul comes across as very affable, whereas [predecessor] John Dodds could be a bit of a tough cookie.”

One question being asked was whether Ian Lawson would stay at Kier (he is the head of support services that Sheffield beat to the top job). Those close to the situation say there are no hard feelings. One said: “I can’t see him engineering a move out now that Sheffield is in the top job. If a headhunter came along he may think twice, though.”