Business Diary: Glencore keeps us waiting – again

Glencore still hasn't got the hang of this transparency lark, it would seem. When it first announced its intention to float a few weeks back, it sort of forgot to appoint a chairman until eight hours after unveiling its IPO. Yesterday saw a similar phenomenon when the pricing of the offer was revealed at 7am. Was there a prospectus to explain what investors were being offered? Of course – but not one that was publicly available until well into the afternoon.

Disney's man with the muscles

Philippe Gas, the chief executive of Euro Disney, is a man who does not know his own strength. The Diary met up with Mr Gas yesterday at the über-posh Berkeley Hotel – and was shocked when Mickey Mouse's boss snapped the arm of one of its expensive-looking chairs while making a point particularly enthusiastically. Has the Disney magic given the Frenchman superpowers? If so, he needs to be a little more careful.

Fidelity's effort just sucks

Ever since Goldman Sachs's Jim O'Neill invented the term "Bric" a decade ago to describe the surging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, rival economists have been coming up with their own clever little sobriquets in the hope of coining a phrase for everyday language too. But we're not sure the team at Fidelity have cracked it with "Mint". Their acronym covers Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey, which Fidelity reckons are the next tier down. Maybe so, but mints just make us want to suck.

When gardeners get angry

More proof that you can't please all the people all the time. In response to a long-standing campaign by business groups, the Government is currently thinking of shifting one of the spring bank holidays to the autumn, where it might be less disruptive. Most of the private sector is in support – but not so the Horticultural Trades Association, which is furious. "May Day marks the time when frosts have diminished and bedding and tender plants can start to be planted outside," it complains. "The long weekend presents an important 'gardening window' that allows the gardening public to implement key spring garden tasks at the time when they need to be done."

businessdiary@independent.co.uk