Business Diary: 22/08/2009

Buchanan gets a pat on the back from the boss

If you're a small company, what better way to tout for new clients than with testimonials from FTSE 100 bosses? No wonder Buchanan Communications is so keen to quote Sir Martin Sorrell, boss of the media giant WPP, on its website.

"It brings an expertise which I have found invaluable for WPP," Sir Martin says of the PR firm. Oddly, he neglects to mention that WPP actually owns the business.

Chelsea transfer Bernau may regret

Is Stuart Bernau ruing his move from the super-safe Nationwide Building Society to rival mutual Chelsea? Since arriving six weeks ago as Chelsea chairman, Mr Bernau has lost a chief executive and a finance director, and revealed a £41m loss thanks to mortgage fraud. Not the warmest of welcomes.

Going AWOL at just the wrong moment

Still on Chelsea, the society just doesn't seem to quite get it. It might have anticipated that its announcement of a £41m impairment for fraud yesterday was likely to provoke the odd inquiry from journalists. Strange then, that the voicemail of Jeremy Hicks, the mutual's head of press relations, was telling people he was on holiday.

Bright future for a bowling entrepreneur

One sometimes wonders what professional sportsmen could possibly do when their careers are over. Not so with the Sussex bowler James Kirtley. Sussex's 20/20 victory last weekend gave Kirtley two reasons to smile – in addition to the victory, Kirtley knew the team was wearing kit supplied by his company MKK, which will now get a world showing at the Indian Champions League in September.

Budget hotel for the banking summit

Good to know that the central bankers attending the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming this weekend are a parsimonious bunch. The hotel they're staying in is currently offering a budget $79-a-night deal, which ought not to stretch their travel budgets too far. The room rate jumps to $189 a night later this year when the ski season gets going, but for now it's cheap.

Number of the day: 50%

The Government's cut in the cost of the trade credit insurance it has begun offering. Just a handful of companies have taken up the Budget initiative.