Business Diary: July 5

Charles Glover, chief executive of Atteys Solicitors in Doncaster, was one of the first mobile phone salesmen in the country in the mid-eighties when the phones were literally the size of bricks. “I remember selling what was a transportable phone to a doctors’ practice in Lichfield in Staffordshire,” he told Diary. “This thing was the size of two or three house bricks. It was just under £2,500 and it revolutionised the on-call system for doctors there.” But coverage left a lot to be desired. “It was so bad that I remember taking my car from Sheffield to somewhere near Nottingham on the M1 to show my girlfriend at the time the phone actually worked,” he said. Taking the plunge at Birdman challenge Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s Skipton Building Society’s employees trying to cross the river at Broughton Hall in a flying machine. The team was taking part in the Birdman Challenge, sponsored by the society, at the Broughton Game Show, which offers a £1,000 prize for the first non-powered flight across the river. Skipton’s building services staff built the machine and Jenny Murphy, from the society’s corporate communications team, leapt from the platform and, like all the other competitors, landed with a splash in the river. Chief executive David Cutter said: “Sadly Skipton didn’t manage to cross the river with our flying machine, but we were very proud to take part and provide some entertainment for the huge crowds.” Halifax’s relaunch means Howard’s end Following the announcement that Lloyds Banking Group is to rebrand Halifax in September with a spanking new image and advertising campaign, there has been much speculation as to what new chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio has up his well-tailored sleeves. He wasn’t giving anything away at the announcement of his review after 122 days in the job, but Diary surprised him with the question of whether Howard would be making a return. It probably says all you need to know about the former Halifax TV advertising campaign featuring flexible bank employee Howard that Mr Horta-Osorio had never even heard of him. Once Mr Horta-Osorio’s right-hand man, PR guru Matt Young, another former Santander employee, had explained who Howard was, Mr Horta-Osorio was adamant that no, Howard would not be making a return. We can only hope that call-centre worker Thomas, another Halifax “star” will also be sticking to the day job. Bankers escape another grilling The British Bankers’ Association has a unfortunate habit of booking its annual conference in a sweltering venue on the hottest day of the year. Not so this year. Instead of plumping for its usual venue of the Merchant Taylors’ Hall by the Bank of England, the industry organisation chose the airy opulence of the Guildhall. The BBA conference also narrowly avoided the hottest day of the year, as temperatures peaked two days before the conference. “This year that was Monday and today the competing attractions are Wimbledon and Athens,” said BBA chief executive Angela Knight smugly. “Two-love!” Famous faces at the cricket Spotted among the crowds at Headingley for England’s one-day international against Sri Lanka were Sir John Major, Geoffrey Boycott, TV anchorman Harry Gration and one of Yorkshire’s most successful entrepreneurs, Peter Wilkinson. Also among the many businessmen was a director from one of the taxpayer-owned banks, who was enjoying the free hospitality on offer. Shouldn’t he have been looking for viable businesses to lend money to? Manner of speaking Diary shared a taxi into Leeds from Headingley with some cricket fans from Hull. During some friendly joshing about regional accents, one of the passengers shared a joke about the dialect. Question: What’s the difference between a camera and a sock? Answer: One takes photos and the other takes five toes. Tip: Now say it in a local accent.