Payzone post no sweet job

One More Thing:IT IS 18 days since electronic payments group Payzone publicly dumped its chief executive John Nagle and still we await the appointment of a replacement and the resumption of trading in its shares.

With UK-based Bob Thian expected to stand down as chairman shortly, the company is thought to be looking at appointing an executive chairman who would effectively fill both roles.

A number of names have been linked with the post, but the latest to emerge is that of David Dilger, who steps down as Greencore boss on Monday.

It is understood that Dilger was approached earlier this month, with Payzone putting an attractive offer on the table.

Payzone ditched Nagle and finance chief John Williamson at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in Dublin on March 10th, while the shares have been suspended since January 17th. A trading update is long overdue.

When contacted by The Irish Times, Dilger declined to comment on whether or not he had been approached by Payzone and said he wasn't going to consider any other post until he retires from Greencore.

Dilger would not be an obvious choice to lead Payzone, which handles electronic payments and operates a network of ATM machines in the UK.

Then again, how tech-savvy do you need to be to run a company like Payzone?

It needs someone with a strong finance background and good leadership skills to help blend the old Alphyra and Cardpoint businesses - which merged only last December - into a cohesive unit.

Dilger's time at the helm of Greencore makes him an old hand at running a public company.

He has many years' experience of fighting fires at Greencore, where he had to deal with bolshie farmers, interfering politicians, disgruntled workers and mouthy shareholders.

His time there saw him close factories, downsize business units and flog underperforming divisions.

Dilger also helped to transform Greencore from being a predominantly sugar and malt producing business into one of the world's biggest makers of convenience foods.

But does he want to jump straight into another plc top job, and especially one that badly needs to be turned around?

Payzone has to fill its top job soon. It will be interesting to see if Dilger answers the call.