Businesses will go to great lengths to keep mergers and acquisitions from prying eyes and ears. Backchat was particularly impressed, however, with the efforts of Stuart Alexander chief Stuart Reid, who managed to keep his deal with AXA secret from even the most tenacious insurance hacks.
How did he do it? Reid took the rather extreme step of moving his HQ from Fenchurch Street to serviced offices on the outskirts of the City in order to keep the army of lawyers and accountants out of view. And, in a move echoing allegations in the current cash for honours scandal, he also set up a second email system for secret communiqués.
Rumours that Reid is actually working for MI5 have been denied.
