Business Diary: IBC forces Buik out of retirement

Back by popular demand: two weeks ago, David Buik, the frontman for BGC Partners in London, held a well-attended party in the City to celebrate his retirement after more than 40 years working in the Square Mile. The last few years of that career were spent as one of Britain's most reliable media commentators on all things City-related, not least because Buik could always be depended upon to support the banks against the onslaught of public opprobrium. It would appear life on the golf course isn't keeping the former BGC man too busy: yesterday, he was back, happily pronouncing on the Independent Commission on Banking report to all and sundry.

A Brown IMF job application?

What prompted Gordon Brown's admission of fault over banking regulation yesterday? Is the former PM keen to ensure there are no skeletons in the closet that might damage his chances of filling the top job at the International Monetary Fund when it comes up? With Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the current IMF chief, thought to be on the verge of announcing he will stand in the French presidential election next year, Brown needs to be ready.

Cupid puts splits behind it

A warm welcome to Cupid, the online dating service, which announced its IPO yesterday. You may have come across the firm when it traded as Easy Dating. It was forced to change its name after one executive waxed lyrical very publicly about how he'd never had any grief from Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the EasyGroup founder, despite the possible brand infringement. Cue an angry letter from Stelios and a very rapid change of name.

Hacks win the day in grudge match

To the Bank of England club in Barnes, where a team of financial journalists beat their arch rivals from the PR industry in a hard-fought "hacks versus flaks" grudge match. The hacks took a 5-1 lead with goals that included a 30-yard screamer from Sky News's Mark Kleinman and survived a late onslaught to win 5-4. The journalists were lucky, though: the flaks' secret weapon, a semi-professional player, missed most of the game after getting stuck in traffic. The event raised £9,000 for disability charity Remap.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk