Business Diary: M&S boss Rose gets his fellowship

Congratulations to M&S boss Sir Stuart Rose, who has been awarded an honorary fellowship by the Marketing Society (for services to the marketing industry and the society itself, since you ask). That should be one in the eye for cynics who keep banging on about how Sir Stuart hasn't really managed to rescue the bellwether retailer.

Sky on the wrong side of watchdogs again

Poor old Sky TV doesn't have the best of times with advertisers. Having taken a whacking from Ofcom over premium rate sports content earlier this year, it now finds itself at odds with the Advertising Standards Authority, which rapped it on the knuckles for an advert that took a swipe at BT and Virgin.

Duncan's selective career history

Channel 4 was keen to send off its chief exec, Andy Duncan, with a tribute yesterday, issuing a handy primer alongside a release detailing his departure from the broadcaster. The notes on key moments and financials mention the eight Oscars C4 amassed this year and its sales growth since he arrived in 2004. Oddly, there was no mention of the Celebrity Big Brother racism row, or C4's falling revenue in the past year.

Citigroup boss finds time for another job

Best of luck to Dick Parsons, the Citigroup chairman who is joining a private equity company part-time. Presumably he'll be giving up his role at one of the world's largest banks, which is still trying to steer itself out of the financial crisis? As it turns out, no – Parsons thinks doing both jobs is no problem.

Drinks boss is loose with his words

Threshers, the off-licence group, had planned to terminate a five-year distribution deal with Norbert Dentressangle but has recently changed its mind. Bruno Kusters, the COO, let staff know about the decision in an email this week. "This is very much 'breaking news' and some of the finer details are still being worked through, so we would appreciate if you keep this information within the company for now," he said. Probably unwise to have sent it to the whole business then.

Number of the day: 50%

The pay-out rate increase on Premium Bonds unveiled yesterday by National Savings – from 1 to 1.5 per cent.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk