Round-up, 4 September 2010

I don't know whether other business leaders do what Emma Harrison does: scatter self-promoting articles around the internet. The latest can be found on the Niche Volumes site and on a number of other obscure sites. But there's a glaring typo in the title - the "a" has been missed out of "Harrison" - which no one seems to have picked up on, and this rather detracts from the purpose. One can't imagine the bosses of Serco, Capita or the rest seeking the limelight in this ham-fisted way.

Emma told the Guardian that A4e finds "hidden jobs". Perhaps she had in mind a part-time job held by Mark Lovell, A4e's group Chief Executive, pointed out by the latest edition of Private Eye. Lovell is a non-executive director of the Sheffield NHS Board. The Eye says that the board meets 11 times a year, and members like Lovell are paid £7,800 p.a. Assuming that each meeting lasts 7 hours (which it almost certainly doesn't), that's £101.30 per hour. Not bad. And what do they do? "In close partnership with doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff and by listening to you, NHS Sheffield decides how best to spend nearly £1 billion every year. We do this with the aim of providing better health and better healthcare for the population of Sheffield."

Meanwhile A4e's chief salesman, Roy Newey, has been in Latvia. He tweets, "Latvia lovely, honest people who share a vision to reduce unemployment and poverty. Set up in 2011" and " Great visit to Latvia. Fine buildings, good people and warm welcome for A4e unemployment solutions. Thanks". Latvia is a small country (population 2,231,503) with a struggling economy. But every little helps.