Business Diary: How to make money in a recession

More from James Caan, the Dragons' Den judge with a flair for garnering publicity. His latest scheme is the launch of the Entrepreneurs' Business Academy offering the chance to "connect with James Caan and his millionaire team of entrepreneurs, mentors and business owners". The first course is next month – no word yet on the price (the website is under development), but don't bank on it being cheap.

Carr dismisses Cadbury sentiment

Little regret from the former Cadbury chairman Roger Carr in a lecture he gave last night to the Saïd Business School on the UK's takeover rules. Insisting again his job during the Kraft takeover saga had been to secure shareholder value, Mr Carr said the public had "an Enid Blyton image" of the company. "The reality is somewhat different," he added. "Floated on the Stock Exchange in 1962, family ownership was given up half a century ago and family membership of the management team ceased a decade ago."

You can't beat a night out bashing the banks

The good folk at consumer group Which? obviously know how to organise a good night out. More than 300 people turned up last Thursday evening for its "Big Banking Debate" on the future of banking following the financial crisis. A poll taken at the end of the night revealed that 96 per cent of people think banks behave in their own interests rather than putting consumers first. The other 4 per cent had clearly spent far too long at the bar.

Goldman turns blogger to rebut criticism

Goldman Sachs has taken exception to New York Times articles suggesting it has had a troubled relationship with the collapsed insurer AIG. So communications supremo Lucas van Praag has overcome Goldman's usual distaste for publicity to blog a rebuttal on the Huffington Post site.

Neither too hot nor too cold

Recall the Goldilocks economy? Such happy financial conditions are long gone, but the odd company still thinks that way: Rude Health says sales of its porridge are up by more than 100 per cent on last year.

Number of the day: 9 per cent

The fall in graduate recruitment last year, according to employers, much lower than expected.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk