How is the new £1.6 billion Shepherd's Bush shopping centre Westfield London faring? The chief executive of one retail and restaurants empire is impressed — especially with the restaurants — but maintains weekend takings at his own flagship clothing store in Regent Street weren't affected by Westfield.

“Ask me again in April and I'll can give you a proper answer,” says the retailer. Another, who has a shop in Westfield, says that — to his surprise — his stores in both Kensington High Street and Oxford Street are also bearing up well.

* So which retailer will be next to go under in the recession? One issue to watch — credit-insurance pools. If the creditworthiness of a retailer is in doubt, it will have to pay more for insurance against payment defaults.

Retailers obtain such cover from credit insurance pools, most of which are operated by banks, which have suddenly become very risk-averse. Of course, if a retailer looks to be in trouble, then suppliers may stop offering 90- or 60-day terms to settle bills and demand faster payment. Anxious times, indeed...

* Husky-voiced TV presenter Mariella Frostrup's definition of economic hard times: “You know you're in a credit crunch when a guy in a BMW pulls up next to you at the lights and offers to wash your car.”

* House for sale: the US Navy is asking £5.5 million for an eight-bedroom, five-bathroom house on the Wentworth estate in Surrey, home to assorted oligarchs and plutocrats.

The advertisement from agents Barton Wyatt says it is selling the property “by order of the US Government, Navy Department”. Let's hope the new commander-in chief-has been told. City Spy reckons golf fan Barack Obama might have fancied a “des res” just near Wentworth golf course...

* Rumours abound that one of London's biggest property firms has told staff to take a 25% pay cut... or lose their job altogether. Gritty.

E&Y ladies brought to heel

The ladies at Ernst & Young have been told not to get them out for the lads. More than 400 women working for the Big Four accountancy firm were instructed to attend seminars over the last month or so, at which they were told not to wear “risqué tops” in the workplace and to go gently on the strong perfume. Fleur Bothwick, who goes by the title of head of diversity and inclusiveness at the firm, told Personnel Today magazine: “You don't want to be remembered as the woman with red lips, or leave people wondering how does she walk on those heels?'.”

* This recession is serious. We have our first Formula 1 world champion in 12 years. However, just hours after Lewis Hamilton bagged the title in Brazil, Silverstone was marketing corporate hospitality for next year's British Grand Prix. An executive suite for 30 people, which previously retailed at 25 grand, is now being hawked for £16,000. A dining table for 10
is available at £5500, having previously been priced at £8500 — both represent a discount of 35%...

Don't be beastly to Burdens

Polly Toynbee has denounced the British Chambers of Commerce for its “absurd” Burdens Barometer, which estimates that extra regulations have cost business £65 billion since 1997.

There's just one small problem for Toynbee: the ultimate source of the estimate is…the Government. The figures in the barometer come from the Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) compiled by Whitehall departments. They are then simply downloaded into the BCC's RIA database.
Back of the class, Pol.

* With the financial world in meltdown, you might have thought bankers would be too busy to brush up their parenting skills. Not so. Citigroup has set up a support group for dads, and apparently it is proving very popular with employees at the investment bank. One Citi worker's explanation for the strong demand: “Bankers suddenly have a lot more time on their hands, so fathers actually have to see their kids. Plus, with some wives running off with the family's gardener — since they're now earning more than the husbands, bankers have been left holding the children.”

Under fire over arms fair buys

Controversy continues to dog Sir David Arculus, friend of Labour and businessman who had to step aside from becoming the president of the CBI because of the fraud scandal at Severn Trent, where he was chairman. These days, Arculus is in the lucrative game of trade fairs, and is chairman of Clarion Events, the Olympia and Earls Court exhibition centres specialist. However, already under the cosh of the worst Christmas in 30 years, Clarion's Spirit of Christmas Fair at Olympia is coming under pressure from campaigners who have taken against Clarion for recently buying five arms fairs including the monster London shindig DSEi. Anti-arms trade campaigners intend to dress up at the Olympia Christmas fair as Santa Claus and elves carrying sacks
of Kalashnikovs.

* Andrew Lobbenberg, lately aviation analyst at ABN Amro but now transferred to Royal Bank of Scotland, fell out with Michael O'Leary long ago after a string of digs at the Ryanair motormouth in his research notes. But while Lobbenberg appears to be going soft with a buy note on the budget airline's bombed-out shares, he admits the extent of his U-turn, saying: “We have previously questioned the long-term viability of a business model which treats customers poorly, treats staff poorly and relies on subsidy.”

* Is the German takeover of Heathrow's second-largest airline, British Midland group bmi, a good thing? Yes if you are a passenger. Just days after Lufthansa signed the deal, all fuel surcharges on bmi flights around Britain and in Europe have been dropped.

* Hats off to fund manager Patrick Evershed for spending £70,000 of his own money on newspaper advertisements warning of Gordon Brown's “reckless” economic policies allowing unsustainable private and state borrowing. Shame
it didn't work, but good of him nonetheless.

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