Company AGMs are often destinations for the awkward squad or eccentric, and directors frequently face questions that might be described, at best, as peripheral.

That was true of international DIY giant Kingfisher’s meeting last week. The ‘best’ question, our mole tells us, came from a Toujours Provence type who asked why Kingfisher’s French stores don’t have English signage.

“I have a holiday home in France and I can never understand a word,” he explained.