Is Gourmet Holdings, the pub and restaurant company founded by Andrew Regan, of Co-op fame, preparing to call last orders? I hear that the AIM-listed company, which started life as Lanica Trust, is in exclusive talks with Ultimate Leisure over the sale of its chain of Bel & The Dragon pub-restaurants for £8 million to £9 million. The deal would leave Gourmet Holdings with just a few Richoux coffee shops. Analysts believe that it is just a matter of time before they, too, are sold. It is more than a decade since Lanica was front-page news as Regan launched his infamous £1.2 billion bid for the Cooperative Wholesale Society. The bid ended in failure while Regan found himself being sued by the CWS in a civil case that was settled out of court.

Broker still on a losing streak

Daniel Stewart & Company, the stockbroker, is not having much luck with its gambling clients. In the wake of the US internet gambling ban, two of its clients, World Gaming and Fairground Gaming Holdings, ended up in liquidation. Yesterday, it was third time unlucky as Bextex announced that two senior staff in Beijing had been arrested over “alleged illegal activity”.

The Scottish & Newcastle bid rumours look increasingly like froth and nonsense. After SABMiller’s dismissal of Western European beer markets as “singularly unattractive”, another mooted bidder has ruled itself out. Nils Andersen, the splendidly eccentric chief executive of Carlsberg, tells Just-Drinks, the online newsletter, that he is not an advocate of size for its own sake and insists that the majority stake in the Danish brewer held by the Carlsberg Foundation means that “there will be no large combination with Carlsberg involved in it”.

City Link, the delivery firm, dropped a card through my door the other day after trying to deliver a package. When I rang the number on the card, I got the following message: “The purpose of this automated telephone message is to empower you, the customer, to choose the option which is best for you. We would, where possible, recommend that you arrange to collect your parcel from your local branch. This ensures you receive the most effective and efficient service possible.” In other words, we can’t be bothered to speak to you or redeliver your parcel.

Willie tries heady mix from Virgin’s book

Willie Walsh, the BA chief executive, appears to be taking a leaf out of Sir Richard Branson’s book. At an airline industry bash, the OAG Awards, BA picked up four gongs, including airline of the year. Each time that Steve Rider, the presenter, announced Walsh’s name, two blondes in BA uniform appeared from nowhere to accompany him on stage. In a further sign of Walsh’s increasingly bizarre approach to publicity, BA has appointed Julia Simpson as head of corporate communications. For a company that has a knack for getting itself into hot water, hiring a former Downing Street media adviser and head of press for the Home Office strikes me as decidedly curious.

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