Business Diary: Little Chef banks on a high

A memo to Little Chef. While giving the chef on your logo a name and then producing a range of branded goods, from mugs to t-shirts, must have seemed like a brilliant idea in the marketing department's brainstorming session, a little bit more thought might have been wise. There is just a small risk that the "I love Charlie" slogan may be misunderstood by those who have a passing familiarity with drugs slang.

Double home run for RBS

Let there be no sneering about baseball being "just like rounders" in the dusty halls of Royal Bank of Scotland. Not only does Boston Red Sox owner John W Henry look as if he will pay off the loans that RBS unwisely advanced to fund the current owners' purchase of Liverpool, but its sponsorship of Citizens Bank Park is also looking good. The Philadelphia Phillies (who play there) are fancied to make the World Series for the third time in three years, which means RBS's Citizens Bank brand is going to be plastered all over US newspapers and prime-time TV for several weeks to come.

Changing of the Maitland guard

Public relations is sometimes regarded as a soft discipline, but the power struggles at these businesses can be asbitter as anything seen at the companies they represent. Just ask the good folk of Maitland, one of the City's top agencies, where a bloodless coup seems to have taken place overnight. Out goes Philip Gawith, the chief executive, after 12 years at the firm. The new headhoncho is Neil Bennett.

M&S marketing push is pants

Marc Bolland seems to have hit the ground running at Marks & Spencer but he could learn a bit aboutmarketing from Sir Stuart Rose, his predecessor. M&S is launching a new range of underwear for men that is supposed to flatten out the wobbly bits – Bolland had to concede yesterday that he hadn't thought of sending a free pair to TV presenter Jeremy Paxman, who famously complained about the quality of the retailer's boxer shorts last year.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk