Business Diary: Three lords-a-flying

No one can accuse the trio of lords who now run the Department of Business of holding back in their mission to scour the globe for opportunities for Britain. As Lord Mandelson was arriving back from a trade trip to China, Lord Hunt was just departing for Kazakhstan and now Lord Davies is off to India too. Their globetrotting knows no bounds.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks

Careers advice for free from the Bank of England Governor, Mervyn King, to the students of today. Asked by MPs yesterday whether he was learning Chinese – a back-handed question about China's growing economic power – Mr King replied: "If I were a young man, which sadly I'm not, then I would".

Cyber criminals lead by example

Budding entrepreneurs could learn from the rogues of the hacking world. Sophos, the anti-virus IT company, warns that within hours of Patrick Swayze's death on Monday, hackers had set up fake tribute sites with built-in data-gobbling viruses. Once you've logged on, the site tells you that you're in danger of getting a virus unless you download its special software (which contains the real bug). Reprehensible, yes, but give them credit for their enterprise.

A whole new currency for South London

Brixton has always had a strong sense of community and now shops in the south London area hope the locals will pull together to support local businesses in these difficult times. To help, Lambeth town hall last night hosted the launch of the Brixton pound – a new currency that can only be used locally. Each note features a figure of local prominence, including the artist Vincent van Gogh, who apparently once lived in the area.

Nomura finds Lehman staff online

The rise of social networking sites continues. When Lehman Brothers went under a year ago, its talented graduate trainees lost their jobs well before Nomura came on the scene as the saviour of certain parts of the business. So how did the Japanese bank track down these staff, many of whom it was keen to rehire? It stalked them on Facebook of course.

Number of the day: 8,283

Complaints about Barclays received by the Financial Ombudsman in the first half, more than any other bank.