Extraordinary items - Jilted Kingfisher faces questions.

Bad enough to be jilted at the altar. Worse still to suffer teasing questions from the bride’s uncle. Our unique UK plc board meeting (see page 34) took place on the morning of Thursday 10 June, and was superbly chaired by Kingfisher chairman Sir John Banham. But it was ironic that the first question from the audience was put by Lord Walker, former Conservative minister and current chairman of Deutsche Bank in London. This was because Deutsche Bank was, at that very minute, advising Asda on its secret plan to ditch its merger with Kingfisher and tie-up with Wal-Mart instead. Irony number two is that Sir John Banham and Asda chairman Archie Norman are ex-McKinsey management consultants. Final irony? Archie Norman was FD of Kingfisher – Woolworth’s, as was – from 1986 to 1989. ?: