It already has deals with off-licence chain Threshers and pub groups Bellhaven and Greene King. A number of other ex-Hanco executives have joined him at Cashbox. He admitted that the sector had suffered from a bad press, but said that he welcomed the comments of MPs in the report published 10 days ago."We have a strict set of rules and will not put machines in places that are questionable, such as lap-dancing clubs," he commented.He added that Cashbox conducts surveys of sites before installing new machines and rejects twice as many applications for ATMs as it accepts.Mr Thomas argues that if an ATM is not going to have sufficient people using it to make it viable at £1.50 a transaction, it should not be installed. Every time someone takes money out, a message goes to their bank, via the Link ATM network, which reimburses the retailer. A fee of around £1.50 is charged, most of which goes to the retailer with a small amount going to Link and about 35p to Cashbox, which maintains and services the machines.The group is run by Carl Thomas, who was sales director of Hanco, the ATM network which was sold to Royal Bank of Scotland last year. Its investment would mean that most ATMs in this country will charge for withdrawing cash.Cashbox typically sells the machines to the retailer, which is responsible for filling them with cash each day. On the back of this growth it plans to float within the next two years.At the moment, 22,000 of the 55,000 ATMs in the UK levy charges for taking out cash.

The practice has come under intense scrutiny and a report by the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee called for controls on how these machines operate.Cashbox, which currently has just 1,000 ATMs, is to install the 18,000 over the next four years, mostly in pubs, off-licences and convenience stores. He would rather be remembered as the guy who fired Richard Baker than the guy who let things drift."Last week's gloomy update from the chain prompted the credit agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade its credit rating, while equity analysts swiftly cut forecasts.It also drew out interest from potential private equity buyers. A spokesman for Blackstone conceded the group was "probably" looking at Boots, while others thought to be interested included fellow US outfit Texas Pacific and UK players CVC Capital, Cinven and Permira. Buyout firm Kolhberg Kravis Roberts is also thought to be a contender. Boots, however, has a market value of nearly £5bn, meaning a consortium bid would be more viable.All this puts even more pressure on Mr Baker, who took over the top job in 2003 after former incumbent Steve Russell quit.. Only days after an influential group of MPs raised serious concerns about the growth of fee-paying cash machines, plans virtually to double the network are to be unveiled. "He will have no qualms about pointing the revolver at Richard Baker: he's not going to give him the benefit of the doubt beyond a certain point.

"The most important thing is the role of [chairman] Sir Nigel Rudd," he said. But now he's reached for the ultimate plan B and is selling off arguably the best part of the business."Valuations of up to £1.25bn have been put on BHI, with giants such as Reckitt Benckiser and GlaxoSmithKline touted at possible buyers.Mr Baker had a tough time ahead of him, the investor added. This view was echoed by a former Boots manager, who said that Mr Baker had six months to start showing an improvement at the retailer before losing the backing of the board. "He's done a lot of simple stuff - he's cut a lot of jobs, for instance - and has done a lot of sale and leasebacks on the property. But many would like to see a valuation closer to 700p.Investors also want to know the structure of any deal.

One said: "Do we want to be stuffed with French paper? The answer is clearly no." But he remained optimistic: "Like it as not, they will structure the deal so a buyback option is offered.". Richard Baker has been put on notice by shareholders after the Boots chief executive issued his second profits warning this year. The cash will then be returned to shareholders.But some investors believe the U-turn - Mr Baker said in January that BHI was a core business - is just a sop to make up for the poor trading.They are also becoming ever more frustrated with Mr Baker's performance."He's in last chance saloon territory," said one. Sir Mark Thatcher was fined and given a suspended sentence in South Africa in January for providing funds for the coup. Sir de Vic Carey and his colleagues said they were unaware of any criminal investigation in the UK, despite media reports that an ATB team has been investigating the coup since last year.Offshore finance expert Professor Prem Sikka is critical of the Guernsey ruling: "The case certainly smudges Guernsey claims of being 'open and transparent', something that it has been vigorously peddling since the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development blacklisted it for banking secrecy and harmful tax practices."The same banking secrecy is now sheltering plotters who sought to overthrow governments for financial gain.". Pernod Ricard and Fortune Brands are set to make an offer of more than £7bn for Allied Domecq as early as this week.