25 JULY 1998, Page 24

Minding the shop

HIS bank does not say so. It does not say anything much except that nothing has yet been decided. Three new directors have just come on board and the others are get- ting to know them. One of them is Lord Blyth, who has made such a good thing of Boots the Chemists by moving all the stock around, so that customers trying to find what they want can be tempted to buy something else. This is thought to have made him the board's favoured candidate. Now, though, they are told that if they must have a new chairman next spring, Lord Blyth might not be free to take over. He would still be minding the chemists' shop and choosing its new manager.