Blog: Has Biba found its valentine in Steve White?

At the time there was a joke among some the industry as to whether they were Team Steve or Team Graeme, in honour of messrs White and Trudgill, the organisation's head of compliance and training and head of corporate affairs respectively, who were considered among the original front runners.

That was until rumours gathered momentum that the headhunter filling the position had an offer on the table of upwards a quarter of a million pounds and the net was being cast much further than Bevis Marks.

Since then a whole host of industry names have been linked with the job. They range from the currently employed; Aviva's Janice Deakin, the soon-to-be-retired; Allianz's Chris Hanks, the possibly retired; Broker Network's Grant Ellis and the actually retired; Andy Homer.

But each one to a man, and woman, has apparently turned it down - more than once on some occasions if the rumours are true.

Which leads up back to square one. Are you Team Steve or Team Graeme?

In a way it feels similar to a football team initially linked with every manager from Pep Guardiola to Jose Mourinho giving the job to the youth team coach. Blackburn fans know what I'm talking about.

That is not to do Trudgill and White a disservice, both have given their all for the Biba cause in recent years and it should not be forgotten that both Pep and Jose were promoted from within at Barcelona and Benfica to get their first taste of first team management.

As to which direction Cupid's arrow is currently pointing, one senior source has insisted that it is towards White. So we asked Steve whether there was any truth in the rumour. His answer: "We believe in internal promotion."

Has Biba at last found its perfect valentine to replace Galbraith?