City Diary: Activists up in arms at defence giant's investor day

Having talked extensively about ethical business, Sir Roger was keen to ensure the protester’s safety.

“Be careful on that chair,” cautioned the head of the world’s second-biggest arms dealer. “It’s a health and safety hazard.”

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Ironic timing from the Rochdale Observer, the local paper for the birthplace of The Co-op Group.

As Lord Myners yesterday called the mutual “one of the great national business calamities” in his corporate governance report, the paper reprinted an article from its edition of 100 years ago about a meeting of the Co-operative Men’s Guild.

One speaker said the Co-op “laid too much emphasis on ideal”, and urged recruitment of the “best brains in business” to drive the movement forward. As one reader pointed out: “It’s sad the century-old message is still relevant.”

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Financier Guy Hands said US lawyer David Boies was the “obvious choice” to deliver last night’s Hands Lecture on human rights at Oxford University, thanks to his extensive CV of “famous cases”.

Indeed he was.

What the Terra Firma chief didn’t mention as he namechecked the “highly regarded” litigator’s finest moments, was that Boies represented Hands on the Stateside leg of his ongoing battle with Citigroup over his discordant deal to buy music company EMI.

Perhaps the pair’s history was kept quiet because Team Hands lost the original US appeal. Although, with the action set to move to Manchester later this year, there’s everything to play for.

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Should the Government’s Help to Buy scheme be rebranded “Help Bankers to Buy”?

It’s aimed at struggling first-time buyers, but Diary hears one investment banker, formerly at Credit Suisse, used the latest phase of Help to Buy to secure a 95pc loan on a £500,000 property in leafy Kingston, West London.

With his £200,000 annual salary, the deal-maker could have afforded something more spacious – but Diary hears he preferred to invest £250k of his disposable cash in a wine bond instead.

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Not everyone is impressed by the recent flotation frenzy.

Colin Calder, the boss of energy-saving company PassivSystems, has put his Aim IPO plans on ice citing “congestion” in the technology sector. “Certain high-profile IPOs have disappointed investors post-listing,” he sniffs.

Diary is sure newly public internet darlings Just Eat and AO World won’t take it personally.

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The cult of Bloomberg continues to thrive in London, after the US media giant earmarked the ancient site of the Temple of Mithras for its towering new European HQ in the City of London.

The financial newswire yesterday unveiled its “Bloomberg Hub” media suite at London City Airport, designed to keep jetsetting deal-makers up to speed with “market-moving news” as they wait for take-off.

It’s all about making the business traveller’s journey more “productive” and “efficient”, says Bloomberg.

Nose to the grindstone, in other words.

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harriet.dennys@telegraph.co.uk

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