Business Diary: Do what we say, not what we do

Good to see the Treasury Select Committee taking the issue of sexism seriously. It opens an inquiry into women's representation in the City today. Still, maybe it ought to look a bit closer to home if it has worries about women not getting a fair crack of the whip. Labour MP Sally Keeble is the only woman on the 14-strong committee.

Orange goes on the pull with Vodafone

Is Vodafone running scared? The mobile phone giant has moved around 200 senior staff to a new office in London's Paddington Basin complex, just across the Grand Union canal from Orange's HQ. Orange staff promptly challenged their rivals at Vodafone to a tug-of-war across the water – the challenge has been turned down.

How to terrify the kids this year

Bernie Madoff has a new claim to fame. The fraudster's face adorns the world's fastest Hallowe'en mask according to American retailers. One specialist, Rubie's Costume Company, which makes a rubber Madoff mask, has sold 15,000 already and expects the rush to continue in the weeks ahead, according to AP. If the UK needs an alternative to Madoff, who better to base a mask on than Sir Fred Goodwin, our country's poster boy of the credit crunch?

They won't get rich quick with Tesco

Tesco Bank has been talking to the nation's kids and has discovered they're a cheerful bunch – 51 per cent of six to 10-year-olds reckon they'll be millionaires one day according to the survey. Presumably these are kids who don't put their pocket money into a Tesco savings account, where the top interest rate payable is currently just 3 per cent.

Diageo workers have a lot of bottle

Look out for trouble at today's Diageo AGM, where furious workers are staging a protest to complain about the closure of the Johnnie Walker site in Kilmarnock. The plan is to present Diageo boss Paul Walsh with a "message in a bottle" containing outraged comments from the workers' supporters.

Number of the day: 200

The number of aircraft that the Irish budget carrier Ryanair is planning to buy before the end of the year.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk