Among the Scottish business leaders, Andrew Flanagan at SMG, Bill Allan at Thus, Stuart Ross at Belhaven and David Goode at Scottish Radio Holdings will be under pressure to retain their companies’ independence.
All four could face bid activity, though each has the potential to thwart his detractors. Flanagan has firmly resisted calls for a break-up and insists nothing is for sale. Allan is fighting a rearguard action after issuing two profit warnings that lost him some friends among the telecoms analysts and saw a private equity group increase its stake.