Ah, to be a tobacco analyst — surely one of the only jobs where you can find yourself writing the sentence: "There has been encouragingly little impact on cigarette volume declines, industry profitability or the rate of youth smoking."
The line in question comes from the scribblers at Morgan Stanley, assessing the impact of plain packaging rules on Australia’s fag industry. Hurray, the kids are puffing away on death sticks…
White & Case's canteen banged to rights
Law firm White & Case is clearly trying to encourage its busy team of solicitors to grab a sandwich at their desk.
The Food Standards Agency has given the canteen at its Old Broad Street HQ a hygiene rating of one out of five — the second-worst score possible — which means “major improvement” is necessary, according to legal website RollOnFriday.
Apparently White & Case, which said it works with its supplier to “to ensure the highest standards of hygiene are maintained at all times”, is challenging the score.
RBS buries India job shift
A good time to bury bad news? Royal Bank of Scotland chose to announce 160 jobs were being axed from its business banking customer support team while Mario Draghi was giving his crucial QE press conference yesterday.
So 160 jobs shipped out to India ranks below €1.1 trillion of money printing? Naughty from a taxpayer-owned bank.
Parental block on Page 3?
Rupert Murdoch-controlled Sky broadband plans to block pornography by default to protect children.
“Will it block Page 3 of The Sun online?” a senior female figure at a telecom rival asks City Spy.
Curry's Seb snaps up a big one
Seb James was on his usual sparkling form this week as he revealed that Currys PC World was the big Black Friday winner.
James even snapped up a new television — a 55-inch LG one — for his family.
He has previously told City Spy that male shoppers will typically buy huge TVs on a Saturday, only to be forced by disapproving partners to return them on Monday.
However, he claimed that this Christmas was different. “There is a consensus now that bigger is better,” he says.
Spy thinks he was still talking about televisions.
