Mr Martin is targeting his expansion across the UK and aims to have 1,500 pubs in the next seven to eight years. But he is also examining the potential for opening a site in France. “We are seeing if there is a closed down Marks & Spencer that we can convert,” he quipped.Shares in Wetherspoon’s fell 3p to end at 387p yesterday.. Stanley Fischer, the second-most-senior executive at the International Monetary Fund, yesterday announced that he will step down by the end of this year. Stanley Fischer, the second-most-senior executive at the International Monetary Fund, yesterday announced that he will step down by the end of this year.
Mr Fischer’s departure will offer the George Bush administration a golden opportunity to leave its mark on the IMF, as the US traditionally nominates the candidate for first deputy managing director.The news followed speculation that Mr Fischer, who joined the IMF in 1994, would step down after losing the top job to Horst Kohler last year. He had been due to serve until 2004.Yesterday the Zambian-born economist said he would remain until his successor had been installed, but “after nearly seven years, I believe it is time for me to move on to other challenges.”It is understood that Paul O’Neill, the US Treasury Secretary, was told about the departure weeks ago and has been considering nominations.

Mr O’Neill has urged the IMF to improve its record on preventing crises rather than bailing out investors after a crash.In contrast, Mr Fischer, 58, was the mastermind behind a series of multibillion-dollar financial rescue packages in recent years, including the 1997 Asia crisis. But Mr O’Neill has shown signs of moderating his criticism ­ especially after US approval of a $10bn (£7bn) IMF rescue package for the Turkish banking system last month.. Confidence among businesses in southern England tumbled to its lowest level for three years as the pace of the global economy hit the UK’s regional powerhouse, leading analysts said yesterday

Confidence among businesses in southern England tumbled to its lowest level for three years as the pace of the global economy hit the UK’s regional powerhouse, leading analysts said yesterday
A combination of the sudden deceleration of the US economy and the impact of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease depressed optimism across the UK, said the Confederation of British Industry.English firms were far more gloomy than their Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish neighbours but the biggest slump in confidence was south of a line from the Severn in the West Country to the Wash in East Anglia. Export optimism for the year ahead also fell “significantly” in these regions, according to the report that was produced jointly with Business Strategies.Peter Gutmann, associate director of Business Strategies, said: “With the downturn spreading to New Economy sectors such as electronics, further widespread job losses are inevitable, and the South of England can expect to share the pain.”The most depressed region was the South-west which, after showing the sharpest rise in business confidence among all UK regions in the previous survey, now recorded the steepest fall.It was followed by the South-east, London and the East of England. There was a large increase in pessimism in the Midlands, Yorkshire, the North-east and the North-west. In contrast there were less pronounced declines in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.The survey will be added to the list of recent data that could justify another cut in interest rates when the Monetary Policy Committee meets today and tomorrow.Sudhir Junankar, the CBI’s associate director said: “This gloomy picture across most regions suggests there is nothing to stop a quarter-point cut.

“A half a per cent cut would probably be an over-reaction, a quarter per cent would be sensible.”The notion of a southern-led slowdown was reinforced by separate figures showing a fall in merger and acquisition (M&A) business in the first three months of the year. M&A business is a reflection of business activity in London and specifically in the City, where the major investment banks are based, National Statistics said.The sharpest drop was in the number of overseas deals by UK companies that fell from 115 to 70, which was the smallest number for 14 years. There was also falls in acquisitions in the UK by overseas companies.. Go Racing, the consortium which yesterday claimed to have sealed a deal for the media rights to horseracing, may yet have its plans frustrated by lack of access to data on the runners and riders. Go Racing, the consortium which yesterday claimed to have sealed a deal for the media rights to horseracing, may yet have its plans frustrated by lack of access to data on the runners and riders.
Yesterday, Arena Leisure launched a £85m rights issue after it and the other partners in Go Racing, BSkyB and Channel 4, signed an agreement over the weekend that formerly brought the new company into existence.But, just as it appeared that the deal had past the finishing post after six months of tortuous “exclusive” talks with Go Racing, it emerged that the British Horseracing Board, the sport’s governing body, has yet to agree to give Go Racing access to pre-race data.

The Go Racing bid, to which 32 of the 59 courses have to far signed up, is conditional on this data being made available. The data provides information on the horses and jockeys.It is understood that the BHB is concerned that courses that sign up to the Go Racing deal could damage their chances of negotiating an acceptable replacement to the betting levy, which is due to be phased out.A source at BHB said: “It is a case of making sure the terms of the [Go Racing] contract are not prejudicial to the interests of the racing as a whole.”BHB owns the pre-race data, which appears on race cards, and has failed to reach an agreement with the Racecourse Association (RCA), the trade body that represents the courses, on its release to Go Racing.It is thought that the BHB is using the issue of the pre-race data as “leverage” to promote its wider agenda. There is also a wrangle over how much should be paid for the data.A Go Racing insider suggested that the issue could be settled in the courts “They could be overplaying their hand. The BHB has, historically, been entrusted with the rights over this data.