Filling his Boots

Losing billions of pounds as the CEO of a major bank is no obstacle to furthering a stellar business career, it would seem. The Guardian reports that Andy Hornby, former chief exec at HBOS, is to be installed at the helm of major British pharmacists Alliance Boots. HBOS, you may recall, nearly collapsed at the height of the financial crisis last year, was swallowed up by Lloyds TSB, and ended up being bailed out by the British government to the tune of many billions of pounds.

If Hornby’s reputation – bewilderingly – seems to have survived the crisis, his recruitment by Boots looks unlikely to do much for the reputation either of CEOs in general or the banking sector in particular, both of which have suffered in recent years. One of our latest multi-country polls shows that the proportion of the public in 32 countries who think the banking sector is fulfilling its responsibilities to society has dipped sharply since the financial crisis hit last year, whereas the pharmaceutical sector still fares rather better in public esteem. For how much longer, one wonders.