No offer had been made to Mr Redman to occupy the new position of non-executive chairman long-term.Mr Redman, who took over as executive chairman in January 1990, was on a three-year fixed contract expiring in May 1997. His salary was pounds 100,000 a year and negotiations on a pay-off are continuing, although it is thought unlikely his contract will be paid out in full.One brewing analyst said: 'I think it is fair to say that Simon is a very nice guy who knows a great deal about the brewing industry, but who never felt totally at home as chairman of a plc.'He said Mr Redman, who did not go into the office yesterday, had probably also taken a lot of flak for Greene King's star-crossed bid for Morland.The group, best known for its IPA and Abbot Ale brands, was left with a 29.9 per cent stake in the Thames Valley brewer following the bid, which it sold for pounds 28.7m last month.Another analyst said the City was likely to see Mr Bridge's appointment as being the installation of 'a safe pair of hands' rather than dynamic new blood.The Bridge family is one of about five or six families reputed to speak for at least 15 per cent of the East Anglian brewer. Tim Bridge's father, John Bridge, is a former chairman of the company.Greene King said yesterday that its underlying trading for the year to date remains satisfactory The shares rose 3p to 519p.(Photograph omitted). PLANS to refocus Lucas Industries on its core automotive and aerospace operations got under way yesterday when the new chief executive, George Simpson, announced the first disposal.

Lucas Management Systems, an 800-employee software business at Slough, is being sold, and a consultancy, Lucas Engineering & Systems, which employs 400 near Birmingham, is also expected to go up for sale. Further news of Mr Simpson's strategic review is likely to be announced when Lucas unveils its full-year figures on Monday. Analysts have forecast profits of up to pounds 80m, but these could be wiped out by write-offs of between pounds 50m and pounds 100m.'This should clear the decks and help Lucas get back to basics,' an analyst said. 'We want to see an improvement in margins and better penetration of high-growth countries in the Pacific region.'It is believed that Lucas's electrical systems division, which comprises such businesses as batteries, ignitions and tacographs, will also be put on the market. Mr Simpson may expand the range of automotive components.Lucas said Mr Simpson's review was driven more by a desire to concentrate on core operations than to raise money. Nevertheless, the sale of Management Systems should raise about pounds 45m and Lucas Engineering about pounds 25m.Mr Simpson joined Lucas from Rover Group this year and until now had given little indication of his plans for the company. Monday's results meeting will be the first opportunity for analysts to talk to him in depth about his intentions.Of key interest will be his plans for the aerospace division, which has been undergoing rationalisation for about two years, especially in the US.Factories are almost certain to be closed in the US, as well as the UK and Europe, with a substantial loss of jobs among the group's 44,000-strong workforce.Lucas's provisions are expected to cover fines imposed by US authorities for quality control breaches at two aerospace operations.

Although the US military is now accepting components from Lucas again, the affair has damaged the company's reputation.. BETTERWARE, the door-to-door household products sales company, yesterday reported a 46 per cent fall in profits from pounds 7.6m to pounds 4m for the 28 weeks to 10 September, writes William Gleeson. The poor performance came as no surprise to the City following a profit warning last month. The shares held steady, closing at 36p, down 1p. Profits were hit by a combination of increased costs from the opening of a new distribution centre and lost sales due to teething problems there.Turnover fell from pounds 34.4m to pounds 31.7m as a result of disrupted supplies to the door-to-door sales force following the opening of the centre. Problems included trouble with a computerised stock-picking system.Peter Hartley, Betterware's finance director, explained that, typically, Betterware's door-to- door sales force was made up of housewives, paid commission only, who needed to boost family income from part-time work.Mr Hartley said the fall in sales cost Betterware pounds 1.3m in profit while the new centre added pounds 1m to costs. 'We are now back on the straight and narrow,' he added.Earnings per share fell from 5p to 2.53p The interim dividend rises from 0.65p to 0.85p.. SUBSIDIES for nuclear power and a government bias in favour of gas threaten the future of the coal industry, according to Malcolm Edwards, chairman of Coal Investments and one of the front-runners to buy part of British Coal, writes Mary Fagan.

Mr Edwards said that for coal privatisation to succeed - the sale is due to be completed by the year- end - the industry must be allowed a free market. He said that the market was deliberately tilted against coal six years ago to promote competition in the electricity market and that the share of the companies that emerge from British Coal will fall inexorably unless the Government acts now to redress the balance. Speaking at a Coal Industry Society lunch, Mr Edwards attacked the subsidy for state-owned Nuclear Electric of around pounds 1bn a year, raised through a levy on electricity bills.. SHOPRITE, the discount food retailer, yesterday issued its third profits warning in three months, predicting that difficult trading conditions would wipe out this year's profits. The share price, which stood at 240p at the beginning of the year, fell 30p to 28p. 'We face an increasingly competitive trading environment,' David Webster, deputy managing director, said.Shoprite was a stock market darling when its brand of tough discounting won favour with shoppers in the Isle of Man and Scotland. Under the chairmanship of Deryck Nicholson, son of the founder of Kwik Save, the company launched an ambitious expansion programme, opening more than 50 stores since 1990.