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Who is Britain's worst boss? Well, the past couple of years have presented many candidates for Britain's worst ex-boss. Lord Simpson, ex-Marconi (LSE: MONI), Sir Peter Bonfield, ex-BT (LSE: BT.A), Allen Yurko, ex-Invensys (LSE: ISYS), Tim Byrne, ex-MyTravel (LSE: MT.), Ian Harley, ex-Abbey National (LSE: ANL) and Bob Mendelsohn, ex-Royal & Sun Alliance (LSE: RSA), could all lay claim to this particular award. But what of Britain's worst boss still in the job? Here are three candidates: Graham Wallace, chief executive of Cable & Wireless (LSE: CW.), must be top of the shortlist. Recruited in February 1999, Wallace's strategy of transforming C&W from a ragbag of disparate telecom businesses into a global data network operator unravelled completely during 2002. Although industry rivals continued to go under, C&W's sales kept on sliding and losses kept on mounting. The infamous cash pile, which once amounted to £6b, looks to have finally evaporated following revelations of restructuring costs totalling £800m and a £1.5b tax liability. When Wallace was given the top job, C&W was worth nearly £20b. These days, it's valued around £1b. Another boss presently clinging to his post is Brian Staples, chief executive of Amey (LSE: AMY) since November 1997. While delays with contracts concerning the London Underground have recently hampered the outsourcing firm, it's continually poor bookkeeping that has left Staples' reputation in tatters. In March 2001, new accounting policies caused Amey to restate a 1999 pre-tax profit of £29m to £20m. But one year on, yet more accounting changes meant Amey restating a £27m pre-tax profit for 2000 to just £6m. Even when Amey declared an interim dividend this year, only to cancel it a few weeks later due to "insufficient distributable reserves", Staples still felt obliged to stay on. During Staples' five-year tenure, Amey shares have lost 66%. (Stop Press: On 2nd January 2003, Amey announced Brian Staples is to leave the company at the end of February 2003).
Finally, Stephen Howard, top man at Cookson (LSE: CKSN), has given his shareholders a tough five years. Between 1997 and 2000, Howard oversaw a £1b debt-funded acquisition spree that changed the former industrial conglomerate into a "focused materials technology" group. However, 2001 was "a year of exceptional turmoil" for Cookson, with ailing profits bringing the company's large borrowings into focus. The downturn left Howard no option but to launch a £278m rescue rights issue earlier this year. Since his October 1997 appointment, Cookson shares have fallen 92%.