Bid may mean long wait at Carpets site

THE Tapis Saint-Maclou bid, announced yesterday, makes sure that Allied Carpets chief executive Geoff Brady stays a very busy man.

He is fairly new to the job but already this month has tied up a leaseback deal, published a new strategy and issued trading and full year statements.

On top of all that, who needs a Department of Trade and Industry investigation? Not surprising, therefore, that he has yet to get a website up and running although www.alliedcarpets.co.uk has been reserved and sits waiting to be launched into cyberspace. It might just be a long wait.

MORGAN Crucible has an interesting approach to investor relations if www.morgancrucible.com is anything to go by. Apart from this corporate site, the group boasts a further two dozen for its subsidiary companies. All well and good but with Monday's half-year announcement looming, shareholders may feel left out in the cold. The company merely directs you to six third-party sites providing a range of company financial news and information to see if you are able to ferret out anything with a few Morgan Crucible numbers in it.

Some investors might regard it as a total cop out.

RUNNING rings around many other Footsie companies is Blue Circle Industries, the country's largest producer of cement, whose half-year figures are also scheduled for Monday. The shareholder information at www.bluecircle.co.uk is detailed and accessible, there are email addresses for key contacts and navigation around the site is easier than most. Then again, when it reveals that the advisers to the company include Lazards, Cazenove, Slaughter & May and Brunswick, it must have an above-average chance of getting things right, albeit at some cost.

TUESDAY sees half-year figures from Kingfisher, the Woolworth, B&Q, Comet, Superdrug and many more group. You can read its site at www.kingfisher.co.uk in French or English and, if you have the right gear loaded on your PC, keep yourself amused for hours on end.

This trainee information overload enables you to check your shareholding, watch and listen to slide presentations and videos, and read a comprehensive list of shareholders' most frequently-asked questions. A site for sore eyes.

Whittard's late serving

WHITTARD of Chelsea has a site - www.whittard.com - so attractive, give or take the odd typographical problem or three, that you can almost smell the wondrous aroma of freshly ground coffee. If your taste is more Earl Grey you are also catered for. But don't expect to look at the company's full-year figures as you sip from delicate fine bone china. You should find those here on Monday. Deputy managing director Simon Hill-Norton, above, told me: "I agree with you - we should get the financials on the site, after all, I am a bit of a Net person myself. We will have them on within a month." Just like that.

DO YOU know of a business-related website that is topical, informative, amusing or just downright awful?

Reveal all by email to jdbiznetjd@hotmail.com

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.