The City Diary

Big Brother wannabes flock to follow Rachel on to the celebrity Z-list

As Rachel Rice follows all the previous Big Brother winners into obscurity, having been bled dry by the tabloid vampires, it seems that some of the younger generation just will not learn. According to new research from Alliance & Leicester, 14 per cent of 16-to 21-year-olds want to be a celebrity or socialite, while a quarter of them fancy a career as a pop star. Unfortunately, cracking the credit crunch or tending to the poor is just not for them, with a mere 1 per cent interested in a career in politics or charity work. As we face the reality of evenings without a round-up of 24 hours in purgatory, it seems that the chance of instant fame still appeals. 'Big Brother 10' beckons, no doubt ....

Knowingly oversold

Retail bellwether John Lewis has signed up Karen Elson, the British supermodel based in the US, to be the face of its biggest advertising campaign to date, which launches next week. And it seems the new recruit is entering fully into the contract. "I was reading something about John Lewis and think it's a really interesting company," Karen tells us. She goes on: "When I told my family I was coming over to the UK for a fashion advertising campaign shoot, they thought it was going to be for a high-fashion luxury brand but they were much more impressed when I said it was John Lewis!" Of course they were, Karen.

Out of the souk and into the car showroom

If you thought the art of haggling had died out, think again. Hard-pressed 21st-century Brits have taken to bargaining for their goods. As the crunch bites, 57 per cent of adults are apparently more ready to haggle than they were last year. A report by CreditExpert.co.uk has revealed that when it comes to the power of persuasion, girls are no match for the blokes, who saved an average of £343 when buying a car, compared with £217. Nor is the cockiness of youth any guarantee of success, with the 18 to 24s managing to knock just £171 off the car purchase, the lowest national average.

You're never too old to have to bail out your kids

Thought that your time as a cash cow was going to stop when your offspring flew the nest? You were mistaken, according to new research. A report from insurers LV has shown that 46 per cent of the over-70s are still supporting their adult children financially. Handouts to "big kids" cost an average of nearly £22,000, including cash given for weddings and first cars. Nigel Snell from LV said: "More than ever, it's true to say that having children means signing up to a lifetime's financial commitment." Maybe that long-looked-for retirement won't be so relaxing, after all...

Rock's customers stand firm

Dealing with Northern Rock would, you might think, be as appealing as a pub crawl with Amy Winehouse. Apparently not, according to the bedraggled bank's own customers, 47 per cent of whom are more than happy to recommend its mortgages to others. Findings from Maritz Research suggest that 70 per cent of Nationwide customers would recommend the building society's mortgages to others. HSBC was the next most popular mortgage provider, at 66 per cent, with Cheltenham & Gloucester on 63 per cent. Given the current lack of economic exuberance, a referral to the Rock may prove puzzling to buyers browsing the mortgage market.

The eternal sunshine of a spokeswoman's mind

It's raining outside, the credit crunch is biting hard and everyone is back in work after the summer hols. Hardly a cheery time of year, is it? So it's good to see a bit of mindless optimism pop into our email inboxes this week. A release from Talkbiznow.com, a little-known networking site, tells us: "The world's only interactive business networking site goes live – expected to be five times the size of Facebook." Er, expected by whom exactly? Facebook notched up 132.1 million visitors in June. And Talkbiznow? "Definitely in the thousands," says a spokeswoman. "Definitely."

When the loss of 2,000 jobs is a good omen

Have the markets turned the corner? According to a report out last week, they might have. "Just" 2,182 people working in the financial markets on Wall Street lost their jobs in August. In the same month last year, 35,752 people were culled, while the average monthly losses in 2008 so far sit at 14,400.