What The Sunday Papers Said

The Independent on Sunday: Executive pay votes ‘will curb the fat cat excesses’

Vince Cable has vowed that “shareholders will no longer be kept in the dark” over executive pay, ahead of the introduction of binding votes this week. The Business Secretary told The Independent on Sunday that the votes on pay will be a “powerful tool” in clamping down on the corporate excess, which led to last year’s shareholder spring of pay revolts that claimed high-profile scalps.

The Sunday Times: Pawnbroker scrambles to secure cash lifeline

Britain’s second-biggest pawnbroker is to be rescued with an emergency injection of cash after being laid low by spiralling debts and the collapse in the gold price. Albemarle & Bond, whose shops are a fixture on the high street, is understood to be finalising a bailout that will be announced this week alongside its delayed annual results. It may need to raise between £15m and £20m.

The Mail on Sunday: Top aide to Cable warns of Lloyds sale disaster

Selling Government-owned shares in Lloyds Banking Group could prove as big a mistake as Gordon Brown’s ill-timed gold sell-off of the late 1990s, a senior adviser to Business Secretary Vince Cable warned. The alarm has been raised by Lawrence Tomlinson, a multi-millionaire adviser to Mr Cable. He will issue the warning at the Conservative Party Conference today.

Guy Hands pulls plug on £1.25bn Odeon float

Private equity veteran Guy Hands has pulled a planned £1.25bn float of the Odeon cinema chain amid weak trading in its Spanish business. Mr Hands, who controls Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group through his Terra Firma funds, has decided to maintain control of the business until trading improves. It is the second time in three years Terra Firma has pulled a proposed sale.