Business Diary: Rich trip down memory lane for Caudwell

Wine producer Penfolds has come up with a novel promotional idea, sponsoring a series of talks at which well-known businessmen will offer up entrepreneurial tips as they describe their "vintage years" (see what they did there?). First up is John Caudwell, the founder of mobile phone business Phones4U. Not surprisingly, he counts his vintage year as the one in which he sold the company for £1.5bn.

The world's favourite airline again?

Breaking news from the World Travel Awards, where the list of nominees for this year's gongs has been published. And who is this in the best European airline category? Why, step forward British Airways – presumably its cabin-crew staff weren't on the judging panel. Still, with 5,000 nominees for these awards, this is hardly the most exclusive of clubs.

BA crew offered a golden opportunity

Ounces to Pounds, the company that offers to buy people's unwanted gold, doesn't miss a trick. It has paid for a gigantic advert in a field on the flight path into Gatwick inviting "battling British Airways cabin crew" to sell it their old jewellery should they need some extra cash.

Left stranded on a tropical island

Finally on BA, the airline has some bad news for holidaymakers in the Turks and Caicos Islands, whose flight back to the UK on Sunday is one of those being cancelled because of the airline's industrial dispute. With only one BA flight off the Caribbean island each week, the tourists are set to be stranded for quite some time. Still, there are worse places to be stuck.

The best temporary job in the world

In the market for a new job? If so, you could do worse than check out the Facebook page of the Bushmills Whiskey distillery in Northern Ireland. It is looking for someone to work with head honcho Colum Egan for a month to create their own blend of Irish whiskey. And while this may be only a temporary position – and there doesn't seem to be any money on offer – it sounds like fun.

Number of the day: £1.85bn

The Government's overpayment of benefits, according to the Public Accounts Committee.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk