James Moore: No place to hide so the wheels came off for Wild
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Outlook So David Wild is on his bike because he didn't sell enough of them to other people. Yesterday trading statement showed Halfords' troubles are two wheeled (the bit that deals with four is doing fine).
The weather, the company whined. But there's more to Halfords' trading troubles than a damp summer. The business has been showing signs of stress for a while now, and excuses won't do.
Mr Wild has given his investors quite a wild ride as chief executive and it's mostly been in the wrong direction. He's come to the end of the road. His problem really is that Halfords isn't a big enough business for someone other than the boss to take the blame when things go wrong. It's not like an M&S, where chief executive Marc Bolland was able to blame subordinates for shoddy shops and disappointing sales.
Nor is it like the banks, where bosses usually argue they couldn't have known about problems regulators seem to be able to turn up by the week and where it takes no less than the Governor of the Bank of England to prise them from their limpet-like hold on power.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments