CITY DIARY

Maurice Saatchi's new advertising venture is said to be looking to move out of its cramped Davies Street headquarters to Charlotte Street. Insiders say a logical name change for an anonymous agency would be to "Charlotte Street". However, such a change would cause greater confusion with Saatchi & Saatchi, which has its main offices in Charlotte Street and is colloquially referred to by that name. S&S staff wonder, if the office move and name change were chosen, why former staff ever left the agency.

Philip Shaw, the beer guru with an unmatched expertise in regional breweries, has not allowed the trauma of moving from Flemings to Panmure Gordon upset his rare literary style. A lover of John Betjeman and railways, the amiable analyst is a well-known figure amongst corporate financiers wanting leads on who is taking over whom in the brewing world. His latest research compendium demonstrates an unusual passion for his subject, especially a beautiful pond-side 170-year-old Gloucestershire brewery called Arkell's, described as "the jewel in the crown of British brewing history".

It seems the last to catch on to BT's telephone number change is BT itself. My bill, which arrived yesterday, lists the phone number without the appropriate extra number 1.

Another hat has been thrown into the annual election for sheriff of London. Sir Peter Levine, the chairman of Canary Wharf, has been selected by the Aldermanic court to run as its candidate in the June election.

Liffe members proved a competitive bunch at the annual racing dinner on Wednesday. The young millionaires, desperate to outbid each other, raised an impressive £225,000 for various charities including the British Brain & Spine Foundation.

The favourite prize proved to be three days in the pits at Silverstone with either the Benetton or Williams teams. The winner paid an amazing £25,000.

He did not, however, state if he preferred the patriotic but dull Williams team, whose drivers include Damon Hill and David Coulthard, or if he preferred the more entertaining Benetton team with Michael Schumacher, the world champion, and Johnny Herbert, the promising East Ender with a fine line in wise cracks.

"The bidding was frenzied," said Nick Durlacher, the chairman, who stands down in May.

The Hambro clan were out in force yesterday commemorating the death of Jocelyn Hambro, the founder of JO. Hambro & Co, who died nearly a year ago.

Mr Hambro left the family bank on the eve of Big Bang to set up a fund management company (which, I hear, is set to float some more investment trusts). His sons Richard, James and Rupert, who joined their father's enterprise, accompanied their stepmother, Margaret, to St James' Park, where they planted a tree. Despite the loss of a leg during an assault in Belgium during the war, Jocelyn apparently liked walking in the park to escape from the firm' s Queen Anne's Gate headquarters.

One of the last vestiges of Tony Budge's failed property empire has been disposed of. Tony is the brother of Richard, the king of coal whose successful bid for British Coal's assets is set to become the subject of a Panorama programme. Tony is also the subject of a Department of Trade and Industry inquiry into whether he should be disqualified as a director following the collapse of his company. One such was the 34-box St Leger grandstand at Doncaster racecourse, which he developed with Doncaster Metropolitan Council at a cost of £4m. Mr Budge's 50 per cent share in the grandstand, finished in 1991, has been sold to the council for £1.1m through Dibb Lupton Broomhead. The council is delighted: the development made a profit of £380,000 last year.