City Spy: BAA boss receiving loud and clear now

After Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial bought BAA, which runs Heathrow and Stansted airports, it decided to switch company mobiles from Vodafone onto O2, owned by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica. BAA staff received their O2 phones in June 2010, leaving the bosses until last for minimum disruption.

But when chief executive Colin Matthews tried to use his new phone, insiders say he suffered from a lack of signal around his Richmond home. By happy chance, a dual cell mast - to improve 3G coverage - was then erected about 500 metres from Matthews' house.

O2 also installed a booster cell on the roof of the Aurora Hotel in Heathrow, opposite BAA's headquarters, to boost the telephone signal there.

A spokesman for BAA says the erection of the mast in Richmond was a "coincidence". She added: "A mast happened to be erected near where Colin Matthews happens to live. There is no connection." So that's all clear.

Still, arguably Matthews needs his phone to be working in order to keep Britain's skies open: he was in the public eye again last weekend when Heathrow was again forced to cancel a third of its flights due to snow...

*"Time to rethink Project Merlin," fumes the Left-leaning New Economics Foundation, warning that the scheme is "not fit for purpose" after banks missed lending targets. Erm, maybe that's why the Chancellor said three months ago that he won't be renewing it, adding bluntly that "negotiated deals cannot be a permanent solution in a market economy". Do keep up chaps.

Barclays sell call? Hold on...

Hindsight is a great thing when it comes to stock-picking. So full marks to Shore Capital banking analyst Gary Greenwood. He started covering Barclays in November when the shares stood around 150p with an emphatic "sell" recommendation. Three months on and with the shares touching 240p, he has changed his stance to "hold". He tells his clients: "With further positive earnings revisions possible and the need for another capital injection seeming increasingly unlikely, we can no longer justify a negative stance on the shares."

*You may think your boss is scary - but he or she is more likely to be scared of you. Firms are so worried about the potential of current and ex-employees to sue for wrongful or unfair discrimination that there was a 25% increase in demand for "covered if staff sue me" - or Employment Practices Liability insurance - between 2009 and 2011. Insurer Zurich says three quarters of claims come from former employees and 20% from current employees - while 5% stem from prospective employees.

*Down to Covent Garden for a party in the Moët et Chandon pop-up shop. The store, only open for four days, is pink in celebration of Valentine's Day and is covered in graffiti. Artist Stika is to blame for the graffiti but while working for luxury goods house LVMH, don't think about calling him a graffiti artist. He is a commercial artist. This basically means he gets paid to spray paint walls. Nice job.