Pembroke: Cleaners collared for charity

ANYONE desperate for a last- minute Christmas present could do a lot worse than turn up at Leadenhall market in the City next Tuesday lunchtime. Jeeves of Belgravia, the London dry cleaners, will be holding its second tie auction in aid of Crises at Christmas, a charity for London's homeless.

Signed ties have been sent in from Sir John Harvey-Jones, Peter Wood of Direct Line insurance (a Gucci number) and Naim Attallah, chief executive of Asprey the jewellers. Mr Attallah has contributed two items of flamboyant neckwear, including 'For Love', a heart-covered tie he bought for Valentine's Day.

The auction will be hosted by the actress Jenny Seagrove. 'We got a tie from Michael Winner last time but we're not sure if anything will be forthcoming this year,' said a Jeeves man.

LLOYD's of London has clearly taken its financial troubles to heart: the insurance market is cutting back on its Christmas card budget. Previous offerings have needed weightlifting experience to lug through the door. This year a rather forlorn card has arrived: plain white, little crest and just four inches square. 'I'm surprised it didn't come with an invoice,' said one broker.

ONE OF South Africa's three business musketeers has made another career move. Sir Sydney Lipworth, who created Allied Dunbar with his compatriates Sir Mark Weinberg and Joel Joffe, has been appointed chairman of the Financial Reporting Council.

After-dinner speaking may not be his forte - guests once started taking bets on how long one marathon effort might last - but as a former head of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, he knows a thing or two about watchdogs.

He is modest too. The man who says one of his pleasures is having friends to dinner omits to mention that the parties are often for 200 and held by the swimming pool in his conservatory.

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THE WOMBLES are back. With renewed popularity, courtesy of TV repeats on Sky and Channel Four, the Wombles of Wimbledon - Orinoco, Tobermory, Great Uncle Bulgaria et al - are poised to follow Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet as a cult success. Storm Group, the merchandising company, has licensed deals for T-shirts, key rings and mugs.

Chairman Jim Driscoll is clearly enjoying himself. 'People keep coming up to me singing 'underground, overground, Womble-ing free'.'

GORDON BANKS, the former England goalkeeper, has saved his job by buying his company from the receivers. Gordon Banks Promotions, a corporate hospitality firm, was part of the Swithland Group, a chain of motor dealers that shunted into receivership last month.