Business Diary: Co-op Group slow off the mark

It's interesting to see that the Co-operative Group has added its name to the list of companies withdrawing advertising from the News of the World amid the phone hacking furore. Co-op prides itself on its ethical principles and generally runs a mile from business partners not considered whiter than white – so you might have expected the group to lead this sort of boycott. Yet when The Independent spoke to the Co-op on Tuesday, it was decidedly non-committal about the question of its advertising. "We can't be judge, jury and executioner," it told us. Others took a different view, prompting a u-turn from Co-op.

Nuffield will soothe your pain

Standard Chartered has signed up Nuffield Health as a partner for next Thursday's Great City Race, in which several thousands runners will compete over a 5km course around the Square Mile. It's probably a good idea having Nuffield onside. As the "the leading corporate health and wellbeing operator in the City", it will have its work cut out on Friday when all those City boys turn up at the office complaining of aches and pains.

O'Leary is honest about fatherhood

This may be considered a case of telling people something they knew already, but it looks as if Michael O'Leary is not a new man. Interviewed in the Daily Mirror, the Ryanair boss had some interesting answers to questions about his home life with his four young children. "It's a great incentive to work long hours – I limit the holiday to two weeks and then get the hell back to the office," O'Leary says. "If I had my choice, I would not take holidays, but my wife insists on time with the kids." But does he enjoy having children? "No, I enjoy having sex."

Portugal's appeal to tourists

One can hardly blame the Portuguese authorities for seeking to attract more tourists to their lovely country, which needs every penny – sorry, euro – it can get just now. Still, the adverts currently being run by the Portuguese ministry for tourism do raise a few eyebrows. "Recharge," the catchline runs. "Portugal, the beauty of simplicity". Not so simple in reality, however: in bailout land it is Portugal that is charging everyone else.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk