Business Diary: June 7

The Scandinavian country is home to Carlsberg, the brewery group behind the famous advertising slogan.

But the chief executive of Arla Foods UK isn’t particularly patriotic when it comes to beer.

He told Diary: “I like the English beer, I always have done.

“Theakstons is a nice pint. Black Sheep too. Carlsberg is too gassy. I prefer smooth bitter.”

People are people

SPEAKING of beer, corporate lawyer Sean Lippell is another real ale fan and is a regular visitor to The One-Eyed Rat, a pub in Ripon. This week, Mr Lippell has announced his retirement from Addleshaw Goddard and will stand down at the end of the financial year.

A usually effervescent character, Diary caught him in philosophical mood in an interview. Mr Lippell said: “What you are going to remember just before you go is who you have met and the people you have experienced rather than sitting there in a completion meeting.

“You can’t like and love everybody you meet, but whether you like them or not, if you meet stimulating people who give you something and you can give them something, even if you can’t necessarily measure it, that’s what I remember.

“What I do is serious. You can’t be a jack-a-napes. You can’t be a court jester the whole time.

“But I think people should do their jobs consistent with their personalities so not try to be something they are not.”

He added: “You can be successful – however you measure success – but you don’t have to be miserable.”

The poetry flows

Last week the Yorkshire Post hosted a round table discussion with Yorkshire Water to chew over the key challenges, threats and opportunities facing the water industry over the coming years.

It was a diverse debate, featuring incisive contributions from industry executives, public servants, Opposition spokesmen, engineering consultants, academics and journalists.

Professor Adrian McDonald of Leeds University won the award for most poetic contribution though with his summing up remarks at the end of the debate.

He said: “Water’s a pleasure, Water’s endearing

“Water is far from pure engineering,

“Water’s a pasture for science to forage in,

“Water’s a sign of our dubious origin, So studies of water, though free from aridity,

“Are not without a great deal of turbidity.”

Turning a new page proved a headache

LORD Heseltine found that changing your technique after more than half a century of public speaking does not serve you well.

Losing his place in his speech at the University of York last week, he looked up concerned as the audience pondered whether they had heard a non sequitur in his peroration on stimulating enterprise.

“For the first time in my life I have used a double-sided speech and I have gone from page five to page seven.”

The former deputy Prime Minister, now chairman of the advisory panel to the £1.4bn regional growth fund, avoided any embarrassment, however.

“The trick is to own up before anyone spots what has happened,” he said to laughter.

Just the juice to take the stress away

feeling hot under the collar?

Well, it seems a glass of pomegranate juice a day could keep the doctor away.

Researchers at Queen Margaret University, in Edinburgh have studied the effects on 60 people of daily consumption of 500ml of pomegranate juice over a two-week period.

The results found that pomegranate juice could be just what stressed workers need.

The study concluded that daily consumption caused a significant reduction in the level of stress hormone cortisol in saliva and a drop in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in all volunteers.

After consumption of pomegranate juice most subjects reported that they were “more enthusiastic, inspired, proud and active and all reported that they were less distressed, nervous, guilty and ashamed”.