The ONLY deal for HBOS

Your headline of September 23 read, "Hornby: I Hold My Hands Up." Quite so.

Unfortunately, this was quickly followed up by Mr Hornby's letter in Thursday, September 25 "Your say" entitled "Right deal for HBOS."

In the opening paragraph of this prose of corporate spin, Mr Hornby makes reference to HBOS being "acquired" by Lloyds TSB, but thereafter the talk is mostly of "merger" and "deals."

It is quite clear that HBOS will be firmly acquired by Lloyds TSB and it was not so much a case of it being the "right deal" for HBOS, as the only deal to avoid the organisation collapsing.

Despite Mr Hornby's vague reassurances to the contrary, it is almost inevitable that substantial job losses will result sooner or later.

Make no mistake, should the men in grey suits at Lloyds TSB decide that the likes of Trinity Road and Copley Data Centre offices are surplus to requirements, they will not hesitate to let the axe fall.

Which begs the question, if Trinity Road office were to close, what on earth would become of it!

Perhaps just a decaying monument to bad banking management, complete with tumbleweeds rolling through the building's precincts!

Mr Hornby can talk of "unbelievable circumstances" in the financial markets as much as he likes; it is apparent that HBOS's business and funding model, for which he was ultimately responsible, was a poor one and it was that which left the organisation highly vulnerable and resulted in its demise.

In my humble opinion Mr Hornby did not have the experience for the top position at HBOS when he was appointed in 2006.

Only 39 at the time and lacking substantial experience in the banking sector, it was surely a promotion too far.

However, one cannot really blame him for taking the job; it would have been a very rare man indeed to have determined himself "not ready," when offered the position by the HBOS board.

It would be an equally rare man that now accepted his full responsibility for the downfall of such a large, great and historic institution as the Halifax and tendered h is resignation.

But, perhaps he might yet pleasantly surprise us.

Matthew Barker


Highroad Well,
Halifax

HAVING brought HBOS to its knees, Andy Hornby has the audacity to tell them what to do to restore it.

His rallying call in the Courier, September 25 (click here to read Mr Hornby's letter) gives the impression he has done a good deal, forgetting he is responsible in the first place.

The other guilty people must be the chairman and others who appointed a notice.

While he relaxes on the board of Lloyds many of the employees will be standing in the dole queue. may I suggest that if and when his name comes up for re-election to the board in future, he is given a big x by the shareholders.

R. Barlow