Business Diary: April 6

HE'S more at home on the dance floor than in the abattoir, but celebrity ballroom dancer Anton Du Beke has given Yorkshire posh sausage maker Cranswick something to smile about.

Mr Du Beke handed Cranswick three awards at the recent Bring Home the Bacon competition, run as part of Bacon Connoisseurs Week.

Hull-based Cranswick's new bacon range for retailer Marks & Spencer fried the opposition in three categories. The M&S Outdoor Bred British Smoked Dry Cured Streaky Bacon won the Retailer "Smoked" category and the Overall Retailer category. The Outdoor Bred British Demerara Sweet Cure Back Bacon won the Retailer "Best new flavour" category.

Mr Du Beke said: "All of the bacons really stood out as something special. The mixture of flavours makes them products that deserve recognition from all bacon connoisseurs."

Wedding to remember

PERSIMMON PR ace Marylene Guernier took a week out last week to wed her fellow PR guru fianc James Hill at an intimate wedding in the Austrian Alps.

We say intimate, but the wedding party and subsequent honeymoon did actually involve 30 other people, including our own city editor Ros Snowdon.

The wedding party apparently lasted a whole seven days and by

the end of it we hear a few were a little jaded.

Perfect sense

WE know it's hard for some of you, but don't try to be perfect. This sage advice comes from Brian Brodie, chief executive of HML, during a discussion about leadership.

"If you think about a lot of the people who have been great leaders in the past, take Winston Churchill as an example. He was massively imperfect, with his big 'black dog'. So actually what you need sometimes is to disclose a bit of imperfection for people to see you as a human being. They'll follow. If you try too hard to be perfect, as I've seen many do, people almost see you as being unreal so they won't follow you."

Makes perfect sense to Diary.

In on the act

BIG corporates have a long-standing love affair with Hollywood.

But how many FTSE 100 companies have links with the rising stars of the West Yorkshire amateur dramatic scene?

The drinks were on MYPEC, following Fulneck Dramatic Society's recent production of Frank Harvey's play, Saloon Bar.

MYPEC, the Pudsey-based marketing, events and PR agency, has announced the renewal of its sponsorship of the theatre group.

Fulneck Dramatic Society has been treading the boards for more than 70 years. It's trophy cabinet is groaning with awards.

The group's production of the First World War play, Journey's End, won the best overall play at the 2009 Wharfedale Theatre Festival.

Lee Dunn, a MYPEC director, was in the audience and announced the new deal after the curtain came down on the evening's performance.

Mr Dunn said: "Fulneck Dramatic Society pride themselves on the professionalism and quality of

their productions. That's something we applaud and replicate in

our business.

"The theatre provides a challenging and exciting creative outlet for local people of all ages. It's something that's well worth supporting, hence our decision to renew the sponsorship deal."

Where there's a will...

HERE'S a lesson for today's bankers. The great-grandfather of Mark Oglesby, who owns the magnificent Goldsborough Hall, near Harrogate, with his wife, Clare, made a fortune from selling gripe mixture to small children.

Rather than spending all the money on himself, or leaving it to his children, he left it all to the Church. It's a fine example – but surely the modern Mr Oglesby must wonder how differently his life would have turned out if his ancestor had passed the cash on to the family.