Bobby Moore's son finds a new home at Chelsea

People & Business

Every schoolboy knows that the great Bobby Moore, captain of England's triumphant World Cup soccer team in 1966, played for West Ham. Now I hear that Bobby's son, Dean Moore, has been made publican of the Chelsea Gate, a pub slap bang opposite Chelsea's ground at Stamford Bridge.

Mr Moore jnr has been assigned this pub by The Magic Pub Company, which acquired it with a bundle of other boozers last year from Greene King for pounds 200m. Can this Chelsea appointment be a practical joke at the young Mr Moore's expense?

Mounted police are stationed outside the doors of The Chelsea Gate on match days. Whether this is to prevent angry Chelsea fans from wreaking revenge on the son of their former East End rival remains a mystery.

The bitter-sweet news reaches us that Sam Jaffa, noted BBC journalist, has leapt the fence to become head of media relations for Price Waterhouse, the big-six accountancy firm.

Hymning the joys of audits and corporation tax will be quite a contrast to Mr Jaffa's 17-year sojourn at the Beeb. He has reported on the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Zeebrugge ferry disaster and the Wapping print riots, to name just a few.

He is also famous for having been introduced by a presenter when he was in Belfast with the line: "Sam Jaffa was with the Orangemen."

So why the change to accountancy? "I know people think it's selling out, but I look at it as selling in," he says. "It was time for a change, and PW came up with an attractive offer."

A jovial and sociable 44-year-old from Leeds who now lives in Chelsea, Mr Jaffa was known for throwing parties for fellow journalists during the lengthy Blue Arrow trial in the 1980s. The football-playing racehorse part-owner also covered a large chunk of the Maxwell affair and published a collection of anecdotes called Maxwell Stories.

He's got another book out in April, Safe as Houses, which traces financial scandals from the South Sea Bubble to the present day. In it he devotes a chapter to BCCI, the corrupt international bank which was closed by regulators six years ago. The auditors of BCCI, who were much criticised by regulators after the closure, were none other than PW. No doubt Mr Jaffa's new employers will find his book gripping.

Michael Toulmin, who lost the job of chief executive at United Provincial Newspapers last year, has now been relieved of the chairmanship and has left the group, part of United News & Media, with a pay-off of more than pounds 400,000 after 36 years' service.

He has gone abroad to ski and ponder his future, armed with an antique barograph, presented by his successor as chief executive, Stephen Grabiner, a framed cartoon and a mock-up front page of tributes, a part of every departing journalist's leaving ceremony.

He was also paid glowing tributes by his successor, by Lord Stevens, the chairman of United News & Media, and by Dugal Nisbet-Smith, the recently retired director of the Newspaper Society.

But he left no doubt that his departure was not voluntary and he has no firm plans for the future. "At the tender age of 53 I am fortunate to have this change thrust upon me when I can still look forward to putting in a few more years broadening my experience elsewhere," he told his colleagues.

He had been chief executive since 1985 and chairman since 1988. He was on a two-year contract and his remuneration in 1995 was pounds 205,311. He also holds options on around 183,000 shares. Mr Grabiner, 38, was formerly managing director of the Daily Telegraph and joined UNM last year as executive director with responsibility for all the group newspapers, including the Express titles, and as chief executive of UPN, which is being refocused on its heartland in Yorkshire and the North of England.

Returning to East End sporting heroes for a moment, former heavyweight pugilist Henry Cooper will be among those playing at a charity golf tournament, the City Open, organised by Reuters in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The first stage in April involves 40 pairs per day at 10 golf days, most at the London Golf Club near Sevenoaks. Each pair pays pounds 200 to enter the knock-out round, and the finalists will play in the Bahamas at the end of May.

The organisers aim to raise pounds 10,000 for the charity.

More details can be found on Cityscreen on Reuters by typing in KIDS and hitting enter.