Business Diary: UK Coal sets the pace on green issues

UK Coal has qualified for a Carbon Trust Standard after cutting its emissions by a very impressive 45 per cent. The award, handed out by an organisation of the same name, rather neglects any consideration of the carbon footprint of UK Coal's end product, but the company itself has indeed managed to reduce its emissions, so they get the gong. What a shame there is no award for corporate irony.

Is the PM in the market for a new job?

Morrison's the supermarket group was chuffed to have Gordon Brown visit one of its stores to open a giant new training scheme yesterday. No news yet on whether the Prime Minister has put his name down for a place should he decide to change career next year.

It's bad news when the sun goes down

An imaginative new way to describe closure comes our way courtesy of The Guardian, which is shutting down its Guardian America web service. Actually, to use its phrase, it has decided to "sunset" the service. It's been a good week for sunsetting at Guardian News and Media, with two senior board members suffering the same fate as the web page following a restructuring.

Clarke recalls his good old days as a postie

Not much sympathy for striking posties from the Shadow business minister Ken Clarke, who took to the airwaves yesterday to tell listeners about his days as an occasional postman 40 years ago when he was a student. Mr Clarke seems to have based his views about the industrial action on the fact that he and his colleagues at the time didn't have to work particularly hard.

John Lewis throws out the gatecrashers

John Lewis's new homewares store in Poole, Dorset, is clearly going to be a success if its reception is anything to go by. Staff turning up to get the branch ready for its opening yesterday had spent much of the first half of the week turning away would-be shoppers anxious to steal a march. And before the doors finally opened at 10am yesterday, 100 people tried to storm the staff entrance.

Number of the day: 14%

The increase in the cost of the average car insurance policy over the past year, according to the AA.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk