Business Diary: February 2

The backlash against Skipton Building Society's mortgage rate increase is gathering pace.

The society's decision to raise its standard variable rate from 3.5 per cent to 4.95 per cent from March 1 saw it roundly criticised for breaking a guarantee to borrowers.

Now, after being given a kicking in the Press, the online community has joined in the fight.

Angry borrowers have set up a Facebook group, Skipton Building Society Mortgage Borrowers Against SVR Rise.

"(It) signals a worrying trend in the financial sector," said its founders.

"If they are allowed to get away with it any consumer financial agreements may be hit next and that will affect every single one of us."

With about 64,000 borrowers affected, this is one debate which looks unlikely to fade away quietly.

Sex and bugs and rock 'n' roll?

Which Yorkshire plc chief executive was most disappointed by Status Quo's decision to postpone their Harrogate show for the second time?

The fortysomething CEO, who asked to remain anonymous, moaned about the withdrawal ruining his plans for a great Tuesday evening.

"Whatever happened to the tag of wild boys of rock 'n' roll?"

The concert was cancelled at short notice after keyboard player Andrew Bown was struck down by the winter vomiting bug.

The frail rockers had cancelled earlier shows in December after Francis Rossi caught bronchitis.

Great expectation?

We all have a book inside us.

The latest businessman to explore his literary hinterland is Terry Hodgkinson, who will be stepping down as Yorkshire Forward's chairman later this year.

Later this year he is producing a book– Beyond Expectation – and an accompanying DVD which charts his rise to the top.

He's telling his life story in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. Diary bumped into Mr Hodgkinson, who will moving on later this year after six years with Yorkshire Forward, at the Leeds Chamber Annual Dinner in the Queens Hotel, Leeds.

In a promotional card to go with the book, Mr Hodgkinson says: "This book identifies people, places and events in my life that have helped me to develop, grow and achieve.

"There have also been times when I have been the catalyst for change in others. There are moments in everyone's life that effect change in us, some by design and some out of circumstances, but it is the subsequent actions we take that determine out growth and ultimately our destiny."

The book will describe how a boy who once sold Wagon Wheels in the school playground grew up to chair an organisation with a 350m annual budget. For more information visit www.beyondexpectation.org.uk.

Railing against trains

Lord Kirkham may be weighing up the sale of his Doncaster-based furniture company DFS, but that doesn't mean he hasn't got time for a good moan.

While weekend reports noted that private equity firm Permira and veteran retailer John Lovering were planning a buy-out bid for the sofa chain, Lord Kirkham was busy ranting about the state of the nation in his Retail Week column.

Apparently the recent snow and its subsequent effect on the nation's transport have really got his goat.

The Tory sympathiser said: "We have become a nation of wimps led by chimps."

He notes that the nation managed to maintain public transport during the Blitz while the Japanese had trams running in Hiroshima the day after the bomb dropped.

But on a delayed train to London, he was just as irritated by his fellow passengers' laid back attitude. "They didn't give a toss," he says. "I never heard a complaint, a raised voice or a grumpy comment. Perhaps they were on Prozac. En masse, they just didn't care."

Maybe Lord Kirkham will use the millions from DFS to help improve the Yorkshire to London route. Then again, maybe not.

Dress code alert

Now there is one more reason to dread the return of the snow. If the stinging cold and painfully slow traffic aren't bad enough, now you could be in trouble for wearing the wrong clothes to work.

The bad news comes from lawyer Rob Riley, a Leeds based employment partner at Addleshaw Goddard. He warns that while dress codes may be relaxed slightly in bad weather, most organisations still expect workers to meet them. So next time you are tempted to clump into the office wearing Ugg boots or clobber from Field and Trek, think again.