Business Diary: Dudley follows Hayward's lead
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Your support makes all the difference.So farewell Tony Hayward and hello Bob Dudley. The outgoing and incoming BP chief executives have one thing in common already: just as the bookies took large bets on Hayward being forced to quit, so too are punters backing Dudley not to last. Ladbrokes has just cut its odds on Dudley not surviving in his new role for more than two years from 8/11 to 4/9. "To say the role is a poisoned chalice is an understatement," says the bookmaker's spokesman Nick Weinberg.
BP's cards spell it out
If only Mr Hayward has paid more attention to his company's core messages, things might have worked out so differently. Attendees at the oil giant's results presentation yesterday were given swipe cards for security purposes. On the back of the plastic, BP lays out its priorities for the way it does business. Safety and limiting damage to the environment topped the list – seems like someone didn't quite follow the script.
Stress tests don't impress Rogers
Jim Rogers knows a thing or two about finance, having co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros, written a series of best-selling investment books and made a fortune from commodity trading. So what's his verdict on the stress tests conducted on Europe's leading banks last week, which saw only seven out of 91 institutions fail? "It was a public relations exercise just as was America's," Rogers says. Not reassuring.
The fuel that never runs out
Planning on filling up your car? Soon you may be able to do so by spending a penny, rather than a small fortune. Researchers at the University of the West of England have won a £500,000 grant to look into whether urine might be a suitable fuel for fuel cell technology. "Urine is chemically very active, rich in nitrogen and has compounds such as urea, chloride, potassium and bilirubin, which make it very good for the microbial fuel cells" Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, the head of the team, says.
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