Chief executive says sorry for Irish jibe

STANDARD LIFE chief executive Sandy Crombie apologised to the Irish people yesterday for a jibe he made when referring to a potentially confusing change in its reporting calendar as “Irish”.

Addressing the insurer’s annual meeting in Edinburgh, Mr Crombie said a switch to year-end reporting from mid-November made 2004 a year with 13-and-a-half-months, “if that doesn’t seem too Irish”.

“I didn’t mean to offend the whole Irish race,” Mr Crombie told reporters after the meeting.