Pembroke: Dogged by misfortune

Business priorities clashed with domestic arrangements at SG Warburg on Sunday, when top staff were in the office to sort out the BT3 share allocations.

Vanessa Yeo, who was running the UK retail tender, was forced to bring her fluffy white poodle, Archie, into the office because she couldn't find a dog-sitter.

All went well until Ms Yeo had to go into a meeting and, feeling it improper to take a poodle along, popped it in a spare office. This room, alas, was the one chosen some time later by two Warburg directors looking for a quiet spot for a tete-a-tete, and their entry provided the opportunity for a relieved Archie's prompt and high- speed exit. Precious minutes were then lost as highly-paid City folk chased round the dealing room trying to catch the little tyke.

You'd think that Eurotunnel, co- ordinator of that long-running farce the Channel tunnel, would be too busy to worry about one of its managers becoming an aristocrat. But no, we are duly informed that Tony Gueterbock, Eurotunnel's UK public affairs manager, should now be referred to as Tony Berkeley or, if we are being posh, Lord Berkeley, as he has just inherited, unusually, a seat in the Lords from his Aunt Mary. His colleagues say this will not matter as he will still be plain old Tony to them.

Much fun was had at the Legal & General family fun day at Kingswood, Surrey, at the weekend when insurance types availed themselves of a bouncy castle, jugglers and other jollies.

Serious competition took the form of a boules contest. Wooden spoon for the lowest score went to Dave Hudson, an insurance analyst with Credit Lyonnais Laing.

However, when chief executive David Prosser went to the caterers to find a wooden spoon to award to the luckless Mr Hudson he was told that they are no longer used as they are against EC regulations. He had to make do with a stainless steel one instead.

Staff at DSC Communications, a telecommunications company at Weybridge, Surrey, have proved it pays to put your money where your job is. A year ago, when the Nasdaq-listed parent company was on the ropes, 35 staff invested pounds 83,000 in the company at dollars 4.30 a share. Since then the share price has rocketed to dollars 52 and the workers stand to share in a dollars 1.5m windfall.

'A few have already spent it in their minds,' says Barrie Lawson, the managing director. Sadly, Mr Lawson will not have that opportunity. He only joined the company in October and so missed out on the scheme.