23 JUNE 1984, Page 19

Lean and hungry rrhe chairman pulled at his ci g ar, and

asked me whether he dared continue to describe his company as leaner and fitter. 'It's not just us,' he said. 'In the last three years, the average business's profits have gone up by 40 per cent, even allowing for inflation, and there's no doubt where it's come from.' He brooded: 'Say what you like about the Prime Minister, her achieve- ment has been to move unemployment off the factory floor and into the streets.'