City & Business: Germany isn't perfect

THE German way of doing business has always had a fascination for the British. If it's not the merits of the independent Bundesbank we're applauding, it's the success of the Mittelstand - the army of medium-sized manufacturers that have driven Germany's economic miracle. Now Labour wants to import German-style two-tier boards.

The timing seems perverse. German companies seem more interested in adopting the UK's unitary board structure than vice-versa. Perhaps the recent mega-losses on derivatives trading at Metallgesellschaft, the metals group, and the embarrassing collapse of the Schneider property group, are beginning to convince companies that the two-tier board is not the best way of keeping close tabs on over-ambitious executives.

British business is going to take a lot of persuading.