The corridors of power...

There was no Gus Carter – it is one of those made-up names – and the whole thing had a hallucinatory feel to it. Or maybe that was the Stella – the interview took place in a pub off Fleet Street.

It was all very predictable. No sooner had the Geordie lads got their float away than the shares took a dive (poor results were blamed on ‘lacklustre afternoon racing’ – that’s a new one) and the company was swallowed up by Stanley Leisure. A sorry episode.

I was reminded of Gus Carter when reading about the troubles at Sanctuary Group, the music company behind Iron Maiden and other tasteful acts. Like the Geordies, Sanctuary made a big play of raising its profile with a few select interviews.

It made good copy: Andy Taylor and Rod Smallwood were two mates from Cambridge who had made a business out of heavy metal. After an extended softening-up exercise, Sanctuary came to the market in 1996, triggering multimillion pound windfalls for Messrs Taylor and Smallwood.

It took a little longer, but the Gus Carter effect has kicked in, with four profit warnings this year alone. Sanctuary is currently sacking one in four workers in a bid to bring things under control.

Companies that play off novelty value – such as backing a rock band – are asking for trouble when the worm turns. Journalists are fickle types. So let us recall a few of those classic Iron Maiden numbers: Chains of Misery, Fate’s Warning, Lightning Strikes Twice, Massacre, No Prayer for the Dying, Run to the Hills, The Aftermath…

Sorry boys, but it’s a fair cop.

Jon Ashworth is a freelance journalist and writer