11 MAY 1996, Page 26

Burnt offering

MANY banks, and indeed many business- es, would be better off if their head offices burned down. They would collect the insur- ance, and without, for example, the person- el department (or Human Resources Divi- sion) they could get their work done at less cost and in half the time. The Credit Lyon- nais has had its setbacks, culminating in a £17 billion bail-out, so I note with interest that its head office has caught fire most thoroughly. First reports suggest that it was well insured, though not, for once, at Lloyd's of London.