Can Allan Leighton keep up to Pace?

Concerns were raised in the City today over the appointment of Allan Leighton as chairman of set-top box maker Pace.

Leighton will take over from Mike McTighe. Pace shares have lost more than 45% of their value in the past three months after it was forced to issue a profits warning.

Some analysts questioned if Leighton could devote enough attention to Pace given his many other roles. He is chairman of Peacocks, deputy chairman of George Weston Limited and Selfridges, chairman of jeweller Pandora and a non-executive director of British Sky Broadcasting.

Ian Robertson, analyst at Seymour Pierce, said: "We note that there are potential conflicts of interest with respect to the British Sky Broadcasting role - it owns Amstrad for a start."

Leighton said: "Any conflict of interest between Pace and Amstrad is immaterial. In four weeks time I will back from Canada and no longer running the Weston's businesses with time on my hands."