Weir blocked in move for B&Q top job

KINGFISHER finance director Helen Weir quit because she was blocked from the top job at B&Q, say company insiders.

The group, which embraces the DIY chain and its French counterpart Castorama, said last week that Weir, the highest-paid woman director in a FTSE-100 company, had resigned 'to seek a more operational management role'. She does not have a job to go to.

It is understood that she had signalled that she wanted to be B&Q's chief executive, replacing Bill Whiting, who is retiring.

But it was agreed that Weir, 41, did not have the experience to take on the role. Instead, B&Q's current managing director, Rob Cissell, was chosen to replace Whiting.

As finance director of Kingfisher, Weir was paid £576,000 in salary and bonuses last year, plus a £334,000 relocation allowance, to cover her move 11 miles closer to the head office in London.

While Kingfisher was planning last year to split itself into two, with the DIY businesses being separated from electrical retailers Comet and Darty, Weir approved a plan to take bets on the foreign exchange markets.

The move was intended to protect Kingfisher against the financial impact of a sharp movement in sterling against the euro ahead of a planned flotation in Paris of the electricals arm.

In the end, the Paris flotation was abandoned and the euro climbed against sterling. Unravelling the currency deal cost Kingfisher £120m.