THE WEEK

IT WAS was a week for downsizing. Alcan, the Canadian aluminium group, put up for sale its downstream UK operations, which employ 4,200 people and could fetch about £200m.

Nurdin and Peacock, the cash-and-carry group, pulled out of the US-style warehouse club concept when it sold its three Cargo Club outlets to J Sainsbury for £45m. It claimed to have enough members in the scheme, but they were not spending enough to justify continuing.

Prudential Assurance appointed Peter Davis, the former head of Reed Elsevier, as its chief executive. NFC, the haulage firm, named as its chief executive, Gerry Murphy, boss of Greencore, the Irish sugar group.

The London Stock Exchange proposed to require market makers to disclose holdings of more than 3 per cent in FT-SE 100 companies, following disclosure of Swiss Bank Corporation's 8 per cent holding in Yorkshire Electricity.