The Lord Mayor, John Stuttard, was engaged in some tough diplomacy on his recent trip to Finland – on behalf of the Royal Navy. Stuttard visited Oulu, on the Gulf of Bothnia, also known as Nokia City, home of the mobile phone maker. There is a science park there, a museum containing some of the first mobiles (weighing 8 kg apiece), a luxury yacht maker and the only Royal Navy boat still in enemy hands.

It is little more than a rowing boat and dates from a largely forgotten episode in the Crimean War, at which time Finland was a Grand Duchy of the Russian empire. The Brits were there to ensure the supply of tar. Stuttard explained that the Navy would rather like it back for reasons of pride. No chance, said the Finns.

— As part of its sponsorship of a film week at the Barbican, UBS asked all 15,000 staff in the UK to vote on their favourite film of all time. The votes were restricted to an odd selection of six films, three nominated by the bank’s film society and three because the London Symphony Orchestra, which UBS supports, played on the soundtrack. The staff nominated Cinema Paradiso , beating The Third Man , The Queen , Superman , Jurassic Park and, er . . . Eragon . It is not known how many investment bankers voted for the last, a twee and derivative little fable aimed at eight-year-olds about a boy and his dragon.

Hands up who has the ticker ticket

Yours for the asking: a sterling silver Throgmorton gentleman’s watch, worth £395 – providing you have the right ticket. As I wrote at the time, the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers celebrated its 375th anniversary two weeks ago by releasing 375 helium balloons from the new public clock on Newgate Street. One balloon contained a winning ticket allowing the recipient to claim said watch as a prize, and there was a phone number to call. No takers yet, I hear. Does anyone have any idea how far and in which direction the balloon might have travelled, I wonder?

— A chance visit to a depopulated Dorset village was the inspiration for Playing With The Moon, the first novel by a former Towers Perrin staffer turned freelance. Eliza Graham, who has worked for the actuaries for 13 years, spent the past five of these trying to find a publisher for the novel, which is about a 1940s inter-racial love affair and the eventual murder of a black GI. The village is Tyneham on the Isle of Purbeck, emptied in 1943 to be used in the preparations for the D-Day landings. “It was poignant, walking around the village,” Graham tells me. “It was as if they just stepped out for a day or two – 60 years ago.”

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive