Business Diary: Beer to confront Lloyds Bank?

So who is behind Lloyds Action Now, the shareholder group threatening the bank with legal action over its takeover of HBOS at the height of the banking crisis, a deal that rather undermined its hard-won reputation for prudence? The group's website carries a message from Jillian Timmis, the chairman of the organising committee. It also features a picture of the consumer campaigner Alice Beer, once the host of BBC's Watchdog. Yet there is no message from Beer herself, nor any explanation of why her picture is there.

Manchester's export success

Good to see a British export success. Manchester Business School has become the first such British institution to get accreditation to teach in the US and is to open a new campus in Miami, Florida. Starting with 30 students in September, the school hopes to have 600 signed up for courses within three years. It shouldn't be hard expanding so quickly: one imagines there won't be a great shortage of teachers prepared to swap the rainy North-west for the sunshine state.

Paulson offers his wisdom

Coming soon to the London School of Economics: a tutorial that students really shouldn't miss. John Paulson – he of the multibillion-dollar pay day following the credit crunch, where he was one of the few people betting on a sub-prime collapse – is giving a lecture at the college later this month. Paulson will speak on the day following George Osborne's emergency Budget, so maybe we'll get an early view of what the markets really think.

The real Twitter must-reads

The Huffington Post has published an excellent round-up of the best fake Twitter accounts. Some of this column's old favourites are included – fakelucasvanpraag spoofing Goldman Sachs, for example – but recent launches include @BPGlobalPR and the very on-the-money @FacebookPR. Sample Tweet over the weekend: "In an effort to protect your privacy further, we are adding seven more pages of legalese to our terms of service document".

businessdiary@independent.co.uk