Credit

Ken McMeikan, chief executive of Greggs, the sausage rolls and meat pies seller, has said that there is room for another 600 stores, an ambitious expansion programme that would put his company on almost every decent-sized high street.

Debit

Greg Hutchings, the man behind the Tomkins conglomerate in the 1990s, was forced out of Lupus Capital, his comeback vehicle.

Exceptional items

• An Italian priest caught driving over the limit blamed the consecrated wine he had been required to drink at four masses he had celebrated during the day. He lost his licence.

• Nick Prettejohn, former head of Lloyd’s of London, resigned as chief executive of the Prudential’s UK division after failing to win the job of chief executive of the whole group.

• Standard Chartered has decided to appoint John Peace as its chairman, rather than look elsewhere. He is at present acting chairman of the bank.

• Brigham Young University, the Mormon church institution, has lifted its ban on YouTube, citing the growing amount of educational material on the site. The University banned YouTube in 2006 because of its sometimes adult content.

• A Chinese airline, in an effort to tackle huge growth in passenger numbers, is considering selling standing room-only tickets. Passengers will still have to wear safety belts. Michael O’Leary at Ryanair was unavailable for comment.

• Stephen Hester, chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has bowed to pressure over his £9.7 million pay package and agreed to defer cashing in some incentive shares.

• Walter Merricks, chief ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service, has decided to step down after ten years to head up the new office of adjudication for the medical profession.

• The University of Central Florida has launched a programme to save a threatened sub-species of rabbit. Sylvilagus palustris hefneri, the Florida Lower Keys marsh rabbit, is named after Hugh Hefner, the Playboy boss.

• An Oklahoman representative at the state legislature has tabled a motion blaming the economic recession on the promotion of “abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse and many other forms of debauchery”.

• Chip Hornsby has quit as chief executive of Wolseley after almost two years of problems at the plumbing and heating equipment supplier.

• The European Court of Justice has upheld the right for Bavaria, the brewer. to produce and market its beer under that name, even though it is Dutch. Producers from Bavaria had complained.

• Richard Bowker resigned as chief executive of National Express, the embattled operator on the East Coast Main Line railway, for a job building a new rail network in the Gulf.

• Tom Dobell, a senior fund manager at the Prudential, attacked derivatives and hedge funds, which he accused of being selfish, “secretive and devious”.

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