Fresh from the season of goodwill to all men, I bring news of an unlikely rapprochement. It took place between veteran retail analyst Philip Dorgan at Panmure Gordon and Mike Ashley, the Sports Direct deputy chairman, who memorably branded Dorgan a “moron”.

Dorgan, in a morning briefing note, said Sports Direct had “all the makings of a financial implosion”. To be fair, he went on to say that if the management was right in its views, all would be fine. But Ashley, who once called investors who lost their shirts on the Sports Direct float “cry babies”, does not seem to have heard this bit.

Ashley subsequently went to Panmures, Dorgan confirms. “He said perhaps he shouldn’t have called me a moron.” The notion of a contrite Mike Ashley is odd. Perhaps he could next apologise to Steve McClaren, his on-off broker Merrill Lynch, which he blamed for the failure of the float, and several thousand out-of-pocket investors.

Monarch of the glens

Congratulations to Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo, whose turn has come round . . . sorry . . . who has been appointed chairman of the Scotch Whisky Association. Clearly they are a forgiving bunch up there in the glens, appearances notwithstanding. Diageo caused outrage among the SWA and the fraternity of whisky traditionalists – a group of people to whom, one somehow suspects, outrage comes quite easily – several years ago when the company adulterated its Cardhu single malt brand, bulking it up with malts from other distilleries. Diageo wisely beat a swift retreat and agreed to repackage the product.

There is a persistent rumour that Jason Wright, former right-hand man of Merrill Lynch boss Stan O’Neal, who quit as head of global communications & public affairs before Christmas, has joined the Barack Obama campaign trail. Not so, Wright informs me from his desk at Merrill’s in New York, where he remains as a consultant, and he has no idea where the rumours are coming from. “I’m an early supporter (of Obama) and on his finance committee.” Not a bad place to be, I suppose, if Obama does win.

Fire broke out yesterday at the Barbican. “Sirens have been wailing for an hour. Roads are closed off and massive clouds of white and grey clouds are billowing past Linklaters,” says my eyewitness. A pity it didn’t happen a few years ago, when the fire would have been rather easier to put out. It started at the old fire station there.

So Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays, has lost £10,000 in a credit card scam. It would take a heart of stone, and so on. But what is it about Barclays bosses and their credit cards? Agius’ predecessor, Matt Barrett, memorably got into trouble when he admitted that he never used Barclaycard because of the usurious rate of interest it charged.

Do you have a diary story? city.diary@thetimes.co.uk

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