Credit crisis diary: Winners don't always have to come first
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Your support makes all the difference.More proof that bankers are competitive. To launch the Standard Chartered Great City Race – a very worthy charitable shindig run every year – Richard Holmes, the bank's European CEO staged a race yesterday against England cricket star Alastair Cook. Holmes was a very creditable 13 seconds behind the professional athlete over the 1km race, but nonetheless felt duty-bound to mention afterwards that he had been hampered by a minor hamstring injury. Richard, it's for charity, for goodness sake.
Very funny, unless you lost a packet
Who knew the Department for Business had a sense of humour. Announcing the successful prosecution of a director of a bed company, who got a suspended prison sentence after creditors lost close to £200,000, the funny folk at DBERR offered up the following headline: "Bed Company Director gets Rude Awakening". The creditors probably aren't laughing.
Bad news hidden under the pillow
Kids, don't fiddle with those loose teeth until the recession is over (and look away now if you still believe in the tooth fairy). The Children's Mutual, which specialises in child savings plans, has been surveying parents during the downturn, and reckons the fairy has become decidedly less generous in these hard-pressed times. A tooth is worth, on average, £1.15 these days, down from £1.22 a year ago.
Brown asks the experts for some help
With all that fuss about expenses for doing up second homes, more MPs will be doubtless be going in for some DIY. That may explain why Gordon Brown was so keen to visit his local B&Q store in Kirkcaldy, just ahead of its official opening on Friday. The folk at B&Q are tight-lipped on what, if anything, the PM bought, but no doubt he got a few handy tips about how to update an old-fashioned Cabinet on a tight budget.
Love conquers all, even Sir Alan
What do Sir Alan Sugar and his colleagues know? When the lovers' lead – a device that allows couples to walk their dog together – appeared on BBC's The Apprentice a few weeks ago, it was slated. Now the company behind the lead – it has one end for the dog and two handles for the lovers, you see – says it has sold 2,000 of the things since the show was aired.
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