25 JULY 1992, Page 26

No comment

Sir: Your panegyric on Sir Michael Richardson ('A handshake too far', 27 June) sadly omitted one of the remarkable statements of the year (made by Sir Michael to the Financial Times on 3 December 1991):

[We] did not make formal inquiries about Maxwell Communications Corporation before taking it on. The fact that I had dealt with the Maxwells for 27 years was a big fac- tor. We certainly didn't put an accountant in and we did not consider it our business to look at the private companies.

C.T.Oram

38 Petersham Place, London SW7