Business burden 'penalises good guys'

The administrative burden on businesses ‘penalises the good guys and doesn’t
stop the bad guys,’ the group finance director of British American Tobacco has
said.

In an interview with The Times, Paul Rayner was asked what one thing
in the business environment he would change.

‘I’m tempted to say stop the increased administrative burden on business,
which just penalises the good guys and doesn’t stop the bad guys. A more
realistic one, however, is to have a telecommunications system in the UK that
works,’ he said.

Rayner adds that headhunters have stopped calling him and that he was not
interested in applying for Sir Roy Gardner’s role at Centrica. He also says he
thinks people working in finance should all experience some mergers and
acquisitions work.

‘You don’t really understand what a business is worth until you’ve actually
started buying and selling them,’ he said.