…E.On boss forced to apologise for claiming that continued high gas & electricity prices mean more “money for us”…72 year-old Burnley milkman accused of selling cannabis to customers on his round who left order notes in their empty bottles…thieves believed to operating on “customer orders” raid Anya Hindmarch’s designer handbag store for the sixth time this year…Thwaites brewery of Lancashire sees sales of Dark Mild rise by 90% after changing its name to Nutty Black…Passionato website launched as realistic rival to Apple iTunes, by only offering classical music to download…average annual big boss pay in FTSE 250 falls to average of £1.45m each. My round! Bon weekend, workmates!

The bigger law firms are supposedly doing okay out of the credit crunch, it’s the smaller local practices that troll through property sales contracts that are feeling the pinch. However, magic circle City favourite Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has seen a mini-exodus of staff over the last three months. Rumours suggest as many as 10 solicitors may have departed. Its not the credit crunch, some of these bad boys come from the busy areas dealing with financial services regulation and regulatory litigation (I don’t know what that is either). According to the Evening Standard these juniors are leaving because they feel overworked and underpaid. One for the lawyers!

Thanks to both of you who’ve followed the stories around restaurant chains paying staff below the minimum wage (£5.52 apparently) and then hoping that tips will prop up the pay to a legal level. The press has made such a fuss over this summer’s “big story” that the law is to be changed, so employers will be banned from using tips or service charges to “top up” pay.  Business Secretary John Hutton said there needed to be more transparency in tipping so it was clear how tips were distributed so that customers knew where their money was going and whether or not the establishment operated a fair tipping policy. The union Unite intends to introduce a Fair Tips logo in bars and restaurants across the UK - showing that staff receive at least the minimum wage as well as all tips. So keep ‘em peeled for that logo on old offenders Carluccio’s; Strada; D&D London; Hard Rock – and more. The new law is expected to come into place early 2009 - does that mean we wont have to tip from then on?

The Dark Knight of the marketing industry, the Advertising Standards Authority, has claimed another victory for truth and justice. A commercial to recruit young teachers suggested a newly qualified teacher “could earn 34 grand a year.” Where exactly? The ASA says this salary is about £14k higher than the real one of £20,133 p.a. for outer London. The teacher training and development agency disputed the findings – the salary range for a teacher is £20k - £51k, but in truth it would on average take 5 years to reach a salary of £34k. The ASA have therefore ruled the ad misleading so the ad will not be shown again in its current form. The teacher training and development agency have every right to be a little disappointed with the decision. Of the millions who have seen the ad the ASA acted on the registering of…er…two complaints.

Loch Fyne joins the list of restaurants the papers are leaping over at the moment for paying staff under the minimum wage and then hoping it will be topped up to a legal level with tips. Others include Carluccios, Strada, Hard Rock and D&D London restaurants. It’s a bit strange that Loch Fyne should find themselves in this company. We’ve always been rather fond of the over-priced fish monger (who famously told Tesco to “f*ck off”) as they who champion marine conservation and adhere to a corporate mantra of “respect for animals, people and ecology.” And profits. Nowadays Loch Fyne is owned by Greene King brewers and so it can fall back on the excuse that it’s just following company policy across the group. Sheep as well as fish it seems.