Business Diary: 24/08/2009

FPB hits out at council treatment

Much consternation at the Federation of Private Businesses, which has discovered a little-known legal requirement for local authorities to help small companies with civil emergencies. The FPB is furious that not one of its members has had any help from their councils over what to do about swine flu. Maybe councils don't know the law either.

Self-defence for nervous City big shots

Those poor bankers must still be nervous about their safety. Kung-fu expert Tim Larkin, right, is holding a class for City workers in Slough next month – and he's signed up recruits from some of London's most blue-blooded investment banks.

BA's flying high – but not because of job cuts

Life isn't easy if you're an online stock-market reporter. Share prices move and you're expected to know why instantly. Our sympathy then to the folk at Sharecast who misunderstood reports about advertising agency BBH shedding 10 per cent of its staff. Some reports on BBH ran with headlines mentioning that British Airways is a client, so Sharecast – and websites – assumed the cost cuts were at BA itself, providing a handy, but totally wrong, explanation for BA's shares rising on Friday.

We're stumped by King's absence...

So why wasn't Mervyn King, right, at the gathering of central bankers in Wyoming at the weekend? His non-attendance couldn't have been connected to an important match at The Oval, could it? We know the Bank of England Governor is a cricket nut, but if it is going to be a long hard slog out of recession as the Governor suggests, surely the meeting is a bit more important?

businessdiary@independent.co.uk