Flash Mania

His key paper on the subject, which came to be known as Conformational Analysis, was published in 1950 and led directly to the 1969 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, which he shared with the Norwegian physical chemist Odd Hassel.On his return to the UK he moved to Birkbeck College, London, first as Reader and then, at the early age of 35, as Professor. This was soon to prove a blessing in disguise when, in 1948, during the tenure of an ICI Research Fellowship, he published calculations on the preferred three-dimensional shape of an organic molecule.His critical moment of insight came in the following year when he was a visiting lecturer at Harvard and attended a seminar in Professor Louis Fieser’s group where discussions centred around unusual reactions of steroids. He disagreed with the conventional explanations, and recognised, because of his calculations, that there was an “obvious” relationship between the preferred shape of a molecule and its reactivity. From 1942 to 1944, he was employed in secret wartime research and liked to hint that he developed a new range of invisible inks for use on human skin.He was married in 1944 to Jeanne Wilkins and, after one year in the chemical industry with Albright and Wilson in Birmingham, he returned to Imperial College as assistant lecturer. To his dismay, he was required to teach, not as an organic chemist but in the more mathematical realms of physical chemistry. He was awarded the top first class honours BSc in 1940 and completed his PhD studies some two years later with Professor Sir Ian Heilbron.

You should only work on reactions that are potentially important and that you do not know how to do.”Barton was educated at Tonbridge School in Kent, and, after deciding that he did not want to follow his father into the family carpentry business, he enrolled to read Chemistry at Imperial College, London, because “the fees were higher and thereforeit had to be better”. The areas which he left behind were always, of course, well ploughed by others.
He considered originality to be the most important quality. His advice to younger scientists was simply stated: “If you know, in the academic world, how to do a reaction you should not do it. THE NOBEL Laureate Sir Derek Barton’s published scientific works in organic chemistry spanned 58 years and ranged over vast areas of the subject He was one of the greatest chemists of this century. Unlike most scientists who prefer to remain as specialists, Barton had a mastery of both physical and organic chemistry and a breadth of interests which enabled him to turn to new fields, moving between topics, using the information gained from one study and then applying it to another, and then returning with more new ideas to the first.

The payment comes on top of Mr McNulty’s total pay package of pounds 425,176 for the year to October.
Larry Kaplan, another director of Shandwick, received almost pounds 500,000 on leaving the group and can cash in options worth in excess of pounds 120,000.He received pounds 195,895 last year including a bonus of pounds 22,320 relating to the performance of the group’s North American division.. DERMOT McNulty, former chief executive of Shandwick International, is set to receive a package of more than pounds 2m from the PR firm despite presiding over a slump in the value of the group and being forced out of his job. He received a pay-off of almost pounds 1.2m, according to the group’s annual report published yesterday, and is also entitled to cash in share options which are currently worth more than pounds 400,000. Bluebird said it had received the offers since the GPG bid was announced on 19 January, but offered no further details. A

further announcement will be made as soon as possible, it said.. Bluebird said it continued to urge shareholders to reject a bid from GPG, adding that GPG told it last week that it had received acceptances of its bid representing only 0.05 per cent of Bluebird.

THE WAGE bill for the executive directors of Northern Rock, the former building society which floated on the Stock Exchange in October, soared by almost 40 per cent last year to more than pounds 1.4m. The two companies are understood to have reachedan agreement on price.Flextech shares closed up 29p at 535p.. The second will be a sports entertainment channel carrying quizzes and gameshows.Flextech said it was still in negotiations with BSkyB, the satellite operator, about a deal which would offer all Flextech’s channels to subscribers to BSkyB’s digital service, which launches in June. The first, called UKFM, will be a music channel similar to MTV. He said Flextech had chosen travel because many viewers already use Teletext when planning their holidays.
The announcement was made as Flextech announced a net profit, before exceptionals, of pounds 1.9m for 1997, compared to a pounds 15.6m loss the previous year. The profits were struck before exceptional costs of pounds 7m related to the start-up costs of UKTV, Flextech’s joint venture with the BBC, and the costs of relaunching Flextech’s own channels.The company said it was planning to launch another two UKTV channels. Brett Harman, managing director, said the channel was likely to be one of many based around home shopping.

FLEXTECH, the television programming group, yesterday unveiled plans to launch an interactive travel television channel which will allow viewers to order holidays while watching programmes about their destinations. Providing companies with more highly skilled workers can only increase levels of dissatisfaction when those workersare employed in poor quality, low-paid jobs.”The paper, “Was Ratner Right?” recommends a dual policy of encouraging businesses to opt for the high-value strategy at the same time as improving standards of education and training.Companies would also have to switch to patterns of work organisation that allowed employees to use their skills, and improve employee relations to improve trust and motivation.It concludes that this “poses a major challenge to policy-makers for whom upskilling has for too long been a convenient ‘magic bullet’ solution”.. That will also depend on companies aiming to sell higher quality goods and services, according to a new report from the Employment Policy Institute. Many British businesses opt for what the authors identify as the “Gerald Ratner strategy” of competing on the basis of low price and low quality.
When the former head of the bargain jewellery chain described its products as “crap”, he might have been foolish but he was honest, according to Ewart Keep of Warwick Business School and Ken Mayhew of Pembroke College, Oxford.Their research suggests that many British companies opt for this strategy rather than developing high-quality products that require skilled labour.This can make sense for businesses that do not have a wealthy customer base or do not have the internal organisation to move upmarket.Given this pattern, improved workforce skills will not by itself guarantee a more competitive UK economy.Mr Keep said: “For many British companies, competitiveness lies not in upskilling workers to make quality products but through price.

Neither director will receive any pay-off following their resignation.Outlook, page 23. IMPROVING the skills of the workforce might be at the top of the Government’s jobs agenda, but it is no panacea for improving Britain’s economic performance. It wants to expand its mail order operation and is considering setting up new stand-alone retail outlets.Freddie Fletcher, group chief executive, said the controversy surrounding Freddie Shepherd and Douglas Hall had damaged sales. However sales of replica kits and merchandise were disappointing.
Newcastle wants to expand its retail operation from the North-East, where it has reached saturation. Participation in the European Champions league contributed pounds 5.5m, compared to the pounds 3.6m from the UEFA Cup the previous season. Operating profits rose 56 per cent to pounds 10.3m for the six months to January, thanks to a strong rise in television revenues.

Its X-ray business will continue to suffer this year from a price war in the US.
A slimmed down pharmaceutical business is showing better returns following a sharp cut in the research and development budget. The real driver to growth, however, will be its life sciences business, which specialises in developing ways to speed up the development of new drugs.The shares slipped 59p to 2271p yesterday on US trading and currency fears. But the group will have to start producing strong organic growth to justify its rating. Underlying earnings per share, perhaps the best way to measure the growth in the business, jumped 41 per cent to 90.1p. The share price has reflected this great performance, rising strongly since last Autumn.

The new group has only just started to reap the benefit of cost savings, which should rise to pounds 70m by the turn of the century. NYCOMED Amersham has had a hectic year, completing not one but two mergers to create a real force in the worldwide healthcare market Both deals have been a real success for shareholders. This could be Ottakar’s using Barnes & Noble’s expertise in developing larger stores.Mr Heneage admitted that there was nothing to stop Barnes & Noble buying a stake in the business after its float.Mr Heneage was speaking as Ottakar’s published its pathfinder prospectus, which showed pre-tax profits last year rose 77 per cent to pounds 2m Sales grew 63 per cent to pounds 38m.. James Heneage, the managing director, said: “There was no approach for the business, nor will there be.

We will remain independent and we will float.”
It is thought that they centred on a possible joint venture in certain aspects of the business. The company is coming tothe market next month via a placing with institutions that will raise pounds 18m and value the 47-strong chain at pounds 30m. Studies suggest they have tilted borrowing towards long-term loans.Private capital flows to developing countries reached a new record last year of $256bn (pounds 155bn). The rich OECD members cut their aid budgets from $59bn in 1996 to $55bn in 1997 or 0.25 per cent of GDP.. OTTAKAR’S, the book retailer, yesterday confirmed it had held “informal discussions” with its American rival Barnes & Noble “about mutual areas of interest” but said it remained fully committed to its stock market flotation.