Business diary: Quattrone centre stage once more

It is good to see Frank Quattrone's Qatalyst Group named as one of the lead advisers on the Hewlett Packard takeover of Britain's Autonomy. For what Quattrone doesn't know about technology companies really isn't worth knowing – he was, of course, one of the stars of the dot.com boom of the late nineties, bringing scores of companies to market before being unfairly caught up in aGovernment probe into the technology bust (all charges were dropped). It has been quite a bounce back since then.

Is Metro Bank barking?

We have no beef here with man's best friend, but is Metro Bank doing itself a disservice with its canine obsession, risking a fall-out with the half of the country that prefers cats? Metro Bank claims its motto is "Dogs Rule" and sometimes even offers a £20 gifts to those customers who bring their dog into the branch when they open their first account. Now the bank announces it has "shaken paws" (its words not ours) on a partnership deal with the Kennel Club.

United fans get their own back

It appears that Manchester United fans are queuing up to laugh at the Glazer family's decision to float a stake in the club on the Singapore Stock Exchange after the protracted controversy overownership. The latest issue of Red Issue fanzine features apicture of David Gill, the chief executive of the club, waxing lyrical about his current bosses – "the owners are excellent, decisions are so much easier now without shareholders to consider" – and a worried looking Alex Ferguson warning of the need to "amend the script".

Women in the driving seat

Here's some news to challenge your sexist perceptions. The logistics industry isn't entirely staffed by overweight male truckers, despite what you might think about long-distance lorry drivers. The Chartered Institute of Logistics andTransport has been in touch to tell us about the shortlist for the forthcoming Young Manager of the Year award and guess what? They're all women. They've even got radio presenter Victoria Derbyshire to present the gongs at a posh do in October.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk