MAARTEN van den Bergh is the
most powerful figure in British
business, according to the
substantial and independent
Power 100 research undertaken by
The Times into who is
who, and who knows whom, in the
top echelons of business.
However, although van den
Bergh is chairman of Lloyds TSB,
and a non-executive director of
BT, British Airways and Shell,
few people this side of the
Channel would even hazard a
guess at his identity. Beyond
those whose interests lie in
City and commercial circles,
only a small number would be
able to place him. A vanishingly
small number of people could put
a face to the name.
The relative anonymity of
Maarten van den Bergh may raise
questions about the methodology
used to create the list. But
unlike many such registers of
the great and the good, it leans
for its results not on the
subjective opinions of a panel
of judges or some sort of self-
defining electorate. The market
is the arbiter of who is in
The Times Power 100.
It is the market,
ultimately, that decides who is
fit to run our largest companies
and the market that decides
whether they are qualified to be
a chairman, a chief executive or
a part-time non-executive
director. It is also the market
that decides how much those
companies are worth. And it is a
scoring system carefully aligned
to these criteria that whittles
the 2,722 directors of larger
quoted companies down to the
Power 100.
Maarten van den Bergh is a
good winner, and a deserving
one. He comes out as top dog
because he has more
directorships of larger
companies than any of his peers.
In it instructive to note,
however, that van den Bergh also
comes out top if employee
numbers, rather than market
capitalisation, is used as the
calculation cornerstone.
This friendly, unassuming
but determined, capable and
dedicated Dutchman has control
over more capital value than any
other director of a
London-listed company. He also
leads, or helps to lead, the
largest workforce.
So what makes van den
Bergh so special? What qualities
do any of this year’s Power 100
have that set them apart from
lesser corporate mortals? Some
observers will assume that the
movers and shakers owe their
good fortune to the smooth
workings of the old boy network.
The Power 100 research certainly
indicates that an embracing and
dynamic network of relationships
binds together the senior
directors of British quoted
companies. If you listen
carefully, you may be able to
hear the sound of backs being
scratched. Wisps of cigar smoke
may be seen wafting from
oak-panelled rooms. But you must
be determinedly cynical, and
perhaps blinkered, if you assume
that all the people who create,
exchange and use the world’s
wealth are co- signatories to an
immoral, or even evil,
capitalist conspiracy.
Yes, of course, these
giants of business make sure
that they know plenty of people,
but they also make sure that
they know plenty of things, too.
One of the enduring
testimonies to emerge from three
years of Power 100 surveys is
that successful business people
are very often loyal. As you
read the biographies of the
Power 100 constituents, you will
notice time and again that the
men and women who succeed
dedicate the majority of their
careers to a single company or
institution.
Van den Bergh is a case in
point. He was 32 years with
Shell before spreading his
wings. Sir Tom McKillop, last
year’s winner and in second
place this year, has dedicated
the greater part of his working
life to AstraZeneca — and its
forerunner companies Zeneca and
ICI. Ditto, John Buchanan,
ranked third. Like McKillop,
Buchanan is in the Power 100 top
ten for the third successive
year. He spent most of his best
years with BP before giving
Vodafone, AstraZeneca, BHP
Billiton and Smith & Nephew the
benefit of his experience.
Lord Sharman was a KPMG
accountant man and boy before
rising to sit on the boards of
six leading British companies
active in fields as diverse as
advertising, insurance, gas,
security guarding and brewing.
Rob Margetts, the former ICI
employee of 31 years’ standing,
is now chairman of two FTSE 100
companies and a non- executive
director of a third.
Everywhere you look in the
Power 100, you see canny
business people who have helped
to create significant and
sustained wealth in an
organisation. It is these people
who, when they reach their late
forties and fifties, are
identified by others as being
best qualified to help them to
guide other businesses to
sustainable success.
Yes, it is important to
know people. However, it is more
important to be an experienced
manager and engineer or
scientist, accountant, banker,
civil servant or marketeer. And
which are the companies that
feature again and again as the
breeders of our finest managers?
It is the BPs, GSKs, HSBCs and
Unilevers of this world. It is
the likes of Shell, Barclays,
Tesco, British Gas, Vodafone and
Rio Tinto that breed
wealth-creating and job-creating
talent. It is these companies
that also recycle and share that
talent.
