Now around three-quarters of contracts require one year's notice or pay in lieu of notice."When an executive goes, payments should be made monthly, as normal pay is, and as soon as that person gets another job, these should stop," Ms Edkins said."The principle that should be applied here is mitigation. We would also encourage remuneration committees to negotiation the level of payout hard where there has clearly been underperformance," she said.Ms Edkins said that "change of control" clauses in contracts also needed to be addressed because, in the case of Billiton, for instance, directors received massive pay-offs last year when it merged with BHP, despite the fact that they would run the enlarged company.Peter Montagnon, head of investment affairs at the Association of British Insurers, said that his organisation would soon begin an investigation of pay-offs, to see if executive employment contracts could be structured in a way to avoid the more "absurd" examples, citing Marconi."The problem lies with the contracts. Usually when someone is severed, there is a contractual obligation that the company has to live up to. There is rarely any discretionary element," Mr Montagnon said.He pointed out that, in the case of Marconi , which caused an outcry, Lord Simpson was legally entitled to £1m and it was only reduced when he agreed to take £300,000 instead.. The building equipment leasing firm Speedy Hire moved a step closer yesterday to the number one slot in the tool hire business with the acquisition of 37 hire shops from Jewson, the do-it-yourself chain, for £13.5m.

It brings its total number of hire outlets to over 250 across Britain. Neil O'Brien, Speedy Hire's finance director, said: "It takes our UK market share up to 16 per cent, putting us just behind the market leader, HSS, which has 17 per cent."The 37 Jewson depots supplied tools to the building trade rather than to DIY enthusiasts. They are expected to boost Speedy Hire's turnover by about £15m, or 10 per cent, the company said. Jewson, which is owned by Saint-Gobain of France, will continue to supply its building merchants with tools. Mr O'Brien said the acquisition marked a change in the company's expansion strategy from opening branches from scratch on greenfield sites. He said the deal made Speedy Hire "truly national" although he added that he saw further opportunities in Scotland and London.

The company said the deal, which is payable in cash on completion, was expected to close by 6 January. However, the sum is subject to adjustment following a stock take, it added.The bulk of Speedy Hire's customers come from the construction industry, making it relatively immune to any slowdown in the housing industry Its shares rose 2.5p to 295p.. The mobile phone company mmO2 yesterday confirmed plans to tap bond markets in an effort to refinance some of its existing bank debt. The roadshow, which will determine demand as well as set the price, is expected to take a week.

Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney are managing the issue."We always said we aimed to come back to the market and refinance," an mmO2 spokesman said, adding: "The roadshow will enable us to assess the demand and appetite for the issue and to price it accordingly."The current £3.5bn facility for mmO2, arranged last September before it split from BT, is divided into two equal tranches. The first tranche expires five years after the date the deal was signed while the second £1.75bn portion terminates one year after signing.It is the second tranche of that facility that mmO2 plans to part-refinance with the new bond issue. The company's debt is currently rated BBB- by the credit rating agency Standard & Poors and Baa2 by the rival group Moody's.The group, which split from BT in November with around £500m of debt, has been given a lukewarm reception by the stock market and is widely viewed as a takeover target.. Shares in European Telecom, a distributor of mobile phone equipment, were suspended from trading on the Alternative Investment Market yesterday after the company breached stockmarket rules. The delay, which breached AIM rule 16, led to its shares being suspended at 8p each. AIM-listed companies must publish their financial results within three months of the end of the period they cover.European Telecom said it now expected to announce its figures for the six months to 30 September "later this month". A spokesman denied there was any cause for alarm, putting the delay down to the company having undergone an exceptionally busy few months involving a restructuring and a fund raising as well as getting its latest acquisition signed off.European Telecom also said it was buying Philips's French GSM handset configuration and distribution business for €500,000 (£304,000).