Credit crisis diary: Alexander pulls a fast one on his old pals

Looks like Orange pulled off a coup picking up Tom Alexander as boss after he quit Virgin Mobile. While at Virgin, Alexander came up with the idea of selling handsets out of Virgin Megastores and now he's at Orange, he's signed a deal to do something similar at HMV outlets. The HMV deal looks a good one and all the better for the fact that Orange has pipped one of its rivals to agreeing the tie-up. Alexander's former employers at Virgin in fact.

Coming soon: Wall Street II

Hollywood is notorious for the slow pace at which films are developed and it's been two years now since the first gossip surfaced that a sequel to the 1980s classic Wall Street was being planned – we've had a credit crisis and the beginning of a recession since then. Rumour has it, however, that filming is moving ever closer, with Oliver Stone, director of the original, now signed up, and in-vogue actor Shia LaBeouf on board to act alongside Michael Douglas.

M&S celebrates with an eye on nostalgia

The small matter of a recession isn't going to stop Marks & Spencer celebrating its 125th birthday a bit later this year. The retailer, we learn, plans to launch a range of new 125 collections, with womenswear, accessories and lingerie that reference the decades between the 1940s and 1970s.

The JJB turkeys who voted for Christmas

While the overwhelming majority of JJB's shareholders yesterday voted in favour of its company voluntary arrangement, which will enable it to shed 140 stores and stave off administration, what was in the minds of those who voted almost 47,000 shares against the special resolution? Was it a protest vote or some sort of financial death wish? Maybe the shareholders in question think losing a bit of cash is a small price to pay for escaping JJB, which has lurched from one crisis to another over the past six months, once and for all.

Tesco helps you to clean up your act

Good thinking from Tesco, which has added toilet paper to the list of products that it carbon-labels. The labels give details of the total emissions of carbon dioxide produced during the lifetime of the products in question. For the record, each sheet of Tesco recycled toilet roll uses 1.1g of carbon, compared to 1.8g for Tesco's standard toilet roll. Use it sparingly.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk