Farewell to Abbey Road as EMI's top job crosses to New York

You know EMI – great British music company, Abbey Road, the Beatles and all that. Well, it still is a UK company, but its new boss has decided that the firm's roots in London are not so strong that he must base himself here. Roger Faxon is the latest fellow to get the top job after yet another strategic review under the troubled ownership of Terra Firma, financier Guy Hands's private equity firm. Faxon was boss of EMI's music publishing division based in New York, so perhaps his decision to stay put is understandable. He is an American, after all. The official line is that EMI is a global enterprise that can be managed easily from the US, its biggest market. Yes – but it never has been before now. Faxon's disinclination to move seems to be the real reason. A few EMI jobs, including its global communications office, are being forced to move across the Atlantic and set up shop in an office next to him as a result. Still, at least they bag front-row seats for the real action – Hands's forthcoming legal battle with EMI's banker, Citigroup. Hands claims he was tricked into overpaying for EMI by Citi, which is owed more than £3bn by EMI. The case is to open in New York next month and should provide great sport.