Hung out to dry by insuro-speak

When is a promise, guarantee or pledge absolutely nothing of the sort? The answer (obvious, really) is when it is provided by a life insurance company.

Standard Life's decision to abandon the mortgage promise it made four years ago to endowment holders is a shabby decision that has little to do with the members who own the organisation and everything to do with pleasing the City investors who will soon be Standard's shareholders.

It is also another massive blow to the reputation of the insurance industry, which will further undermine the government's attempts to encourage individuals to save and make more adequate provision for their retirement.

Standard's bosses have taken advantage of the 600,000 customers covered by its pledge. These customers have been, in effect, locked in by the insurer's weasel words.

Who would have cashed in their policy - despite falling bonus rates - if there was a pledge of no shortfall when it came to repayment?

They are still locked in - because of the potential windfall payments offered when Standard eventually floats.

There is no indication of how big these payments might be, so who knows whether it is worth sticking around waiting?

Needless to say, yesterday's announcement from Standard was an exercise in obfuscation.

Its briefing note was largely impenetrable insuro-speak with no examples of what it means in pounds and pence.

Why were we not surprised?

Looking smart


Moss Bros - so recently one of the last names anyone might associate with a) fashion or b) financial success - seems to have found a whole new reason to exist. The Moss Bros brand name, which will be forever linked with top hats and white ties, now runs (in case you didn't know) a "multi-brand emporia" in stores that provide an "eclectic backdrop" for knocking out designer suits, shirts and strides.

The fascias - Moss, Cecil Gee and Boss - are precisely targeted - and sales at all three are on the up. The hire business still provides the trussed-up togs for Ascot, but thanks to its scooter-riding chief executive Philip Mountford's "thinking outside the box" it offers Ted Baker lounge suits and its market share has doubled to 25%.

What was a tired, loss-making, family-run business has become the business equivalent of a rather natty dresser.

And the man behind this astonishing transformation? A big hand please for Mr Shami Ahmed, the founder of Joe Bloggs jeans, who is having a little local difficulty with the law (he has been charged with conspiracy to impersonate a customs and excise officer).

Nearly three years ago - with Moss Bros heading for a £7m loss and the shares languishing about 30p - Mr Ahmed took a tilt at Moss Bros, despite the founding families owning more than a third of the shares. Three times he rattled their cage before the Takeover Panel issued one of its put-up-or-shut-up orders, which led to Mr Ahmed selecting the latter.

His presence prompted action from chairman Keith Hammill, who hired Adrian Wright to turn around the chain. And he was doing quite a good job until Mr Hammill decided what was needed was a bit more flash and dash - in the shape of ex-Versace man Mr Mountford.

Yesterday, announcing a first-half profit and an interim dividend after a five-year drought, Mr Mountford was in a tiggerish mood, but keen to stress that current trading - with like-for-likes up 18% - was unsustainable because the numbers had been boosted by last year's poor sales and store upheavals.

The Moss store revamps, which are generating sales uplifts of 20%, are not even half finished and a move to more own-brand items will boost margins.

And just to make it all a little more interesting, with Kevin Stanford waiting in the wings with a 5% stake and a load more contracts for difference, there is always the chance of some more takeover action.

Swiss accuracy


This month Ofcom will give the telecoms industry the first true indication of the direction it wants regulation to take in this country. As BT and its myriad of rivals pour over the finer details, one thing is likely to get lost. This has taken bloody ages and even at the end of it BT will have a major say in what happens with its connection to every house in the country.

Yesterday the lower house of the Swiss parliament offered a glimpse of how things could have been so different. In one swoop Swiss MPs ended the hold of Swisscom, the country's equivalent of BT, on the local telephone network or local loop.

Initially it had been left to the country's telecoms regulator to try to liberalise the market based on technical considerations. But that process got bogged down in UK-style bickering.

Fearing that the economy could be left behind, Swiss MPs voted to end Swisscom's monopoly. If only the UK government had been proactive five years ago, we might all be enjoying cheap multi-channel TV, very high speed broadband internet access and free local and national calls right now.