Business Diary: Horlick wants £2m to go clubbing

The Nicola Horlick roadshow rolls on. Not content with a move into the film production business, the City superwoman now fancies a crack at the private members' club market. She's looking for investors prepared to stump up £2m in order to launch Georgina's Restaurants Limited. She won't be doing the cooking, however, having secured the services of Adam Byatt, chef proprietor of Trinity in London, as consultant executive chef. Assuming she can get the money together, expect the first outlet to open in south-west London, in the autumn.

Sterling dishes out kicking to football

Get your violins tuned up: the last-minute rush by Premier League teams to secure expensive foreign signings in last month's transfer window cost many clubs even more than expected thanks to a decline in the value of the pound during the final days of January. The depreciation of sterling cost any club buying from Europe, but Chelsea got caught out particularly badly according to World First, the exchange business. David Luiz, signed from Benfica for £21.3m (€25.35m at the time) would have been £300,000 cheaper had Chelsea picked him up a fortnight earlier.

Venture capital offers its support

The British Venture Capital Association is a rather conservative outfit, representing, as it does, major City investors in developing businesses. It is clearly trying to sex up its image, however. The BVCA's website carries a new feature that will run over the next year: it's the BVCA "Nifty Fifty" – profiles of 50 young businesses that members have put money into. And what better way to kick off the feature, particularly during the week of Valentine's Day, than with an item on Be Cheeky, an online shop selling racy lingerie?

Banks rein in the royals' big day

We all know the banks are an evil bunch, but did you realise they were republicans? Business Cash Advance, a small business finance outfit, complains that thousands of small retailers are being turned down for credit they need to stock up on Royal Wedding-related gifts and memorabilia, a market that ought to be lucrative over the next couple of months. Not just profit-hungry, these banks, but lacking in patriotism too.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk