Summary
The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, statistics and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies.
Evan and a panel of guests from the worlds of spirits, security and digital publishing discuss the special relationship between the two people at the top of a company: the chairman and chief executive. Is it a recipe for tension, or a sensible balancing of responsibilities?
The panel also discusses the merits of youth versus experience in the workplace. What qualities do young people bring to a business compared with their older colleagues - or is there no difference?
Evan is joined in the studio by Séamus McBride, President and Chief Executive of spirits company Bacardi Ltd; Nick Buckles, Chief Executive of security company G4S; Anthony Habgood, Chairman of digital publisher Reed Elsevier and the hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company Whitbread.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a download from the BBC. This edition of The Bottom Line, Radio 4's Business Discussion Program, was first broadcast on the 28th of October 2010. Here's Evan Davis. |
| 0:12.1 | Hello and welcome to the bottom line. It's been described as sacred and secret, the relationship between the chairman of a company and the chief executive. |
| 0:21.8 | Well, we have two chief executives and one chairman who can tell us who's the real boss. And now that the country |
| 0:27.7 | is run by people in their 40s, we'll also talk about the merits of youth and those of age. |
| 0:33.4 | But before we do any of that, let's spend a few minutes meeting each of my three guests. |
| 0:38.8 | And first is Seamus McBride, Chief Executive of Bacardi. |
| 0:43.0 | Which Seamus, we should say, sells a lot more than the rum, which carries its name. |
| 0:46.5 | What else have you got? |
| 0:47.8 | Yeah, we have Grey Goose, which is the world's leading super premium vodka. |
| 0:52.7 | We have martini, the iconic Italian vermouth. We have |
| 0:56.0 | Dures Scotch, which is the number one Scotch in America. We have Bombay Sapphire, the number one |
| 1:01.0 | premium gin, and a number of other brands. So broad spectrum of spirits. The company has its origins |
| 1:06.9 | in Cuba, doesn't it? Yep. The company was founded almost 150 years ago, 1862 in Santiago de Cuba, by Don Foucundo |
| 1:15.4 | Buccadi Maso, who invented the famous white rum, stripped it of all the unnecessary, sugary content, |
| 1:21.6 | and provided a light base for cocktails to follow, and what followed was Cuba Libre and Dacari and Pina Calada |
| 1:29.1 | and the like. And it's still, we should say, a family business. So it's actually the biggest |
| 1:32.7 | private spirits company out there. And your company chairman still carries the name Bacardi. |
| 1:38.5 | Yes. Our company chairman is Fekundo Buccardi. He's the great, great grandson of Don Facundo. |
| 1:43.9 | It must be terrible carrying the weight of all this family history on your shoulders. |
| 1:47.2 | He takes a huge interest, as he should, and as we love him to do, in the brand that carries his name right across the bottle. |
| 1:53.7 | Just run us through your big markets for Bacardi spirits. |
| 1:56.6 | Our biggest market is the USA, followed by Spain, where the Bikadi family originally hailed from. |
... |
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