Thank goodness, someone is standing up for the humble British retailer. Arcadia boss Sir Philip Green went on Today with John Humphrys and left the Radio 4 man sounding second best. Asked about the state of the High Street, Sir Philip accused the media of hyping the gloom and creating a climate of "paranoia". He went on to praise his old mucker Sir Stuart Rose's one-day sale at M&S, saying it was smart business rather than an act of desperation.

So, asked Green, how would Humphrys be coping if he worked at a commercial organisation rather than the BBC? "Thank goodness, I'm not," replied Humphrys. But that didn't mollify Sir Philip who repeatedly asked the BBC presenter to justify the fact it has a guaranteed licence fee income which means it's largely immune from the recession.

"I don't think this is the time and place," said Humphrys, suggesting it could be the topic for another interview.

Green made clear he would like that. City Spy can't wait.

* Lots of talk about how unprecedented it is for M&S to hold a “20% off” sale in the run-up to Christmas. Not so. Back in 2004, when the economy and property market had a wobble, it held several one-day sales in the supposedly busy period — including on 2 December, the day of that year's Pre-Budget Report.

* With just three days to go before Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget Report, not a single Treasury official is available to field a query as they are “all busy in briefings ahead of the PBR”. Crikey. Look out for that Treasury spin.

Foxy boots on the fifth floor...

Much hilarity after Morgan Stanley ordered the blocking of the website's Dealbreaker blog following its exclusive news earlier this week that heavy redundancies were sweeping through the building. After a furious attack on the bank's censorship, Dealbreaker was told by the bank that it was not the revelations of redundancies that it deemed inappropriate, but the blog's line: “Apparently cuts are going down in institutional equity trading, and there is a HR representative in f*** me boots' (though in this case I guess it'd be f*** you' footwear) lurking around the fifth floor.”

* Each item in the vending machines at RBS's headquarters in 280 Bishopsgate is now more expensive than an RBS share...

Vikram wields the axe – fast

Blimey, that Vikram Pandit doesn't hang around. When the Citigroup chief said he was axeing 52,000 staff, nobody thought it would start immediately. But 1000 have gone in its Latin American Credit Markets division already, with droves in leveraged finance and securitisation following suit. The word is that departments long on ex-Salomon people are providing the lowest hanging fruit. Apparently, the cuts would be faster but so many people have been axed from human resources that they can't cope...

Coming a cropper with Coutts

Not too posh to push over the edge. RBS's private banking arm, Coutts, has pulled the plug on one of the Sloane Square set's favourite retailers, Allegra Hicks, founded by royal in-law Hicks five years ago. Co-owner and designer Pia Marocco told CitySpy: “The problem has been that Coutts cut our credit facility. They would not allow us to extend our overdraft.”

* Congratulations to Corporate Comms magazine, for being spot on with its annual list of the 100 top communicators in the UK. They include Emma Byrne, global head of media relations, Kaupthing Edge. “After a sojourn into corporate communications, with a spell as corporate affairs director at Alliance Boots, where she coped with both a merger and demerger, Byrne has returned to consumer campaigning. As global head of media relations at Kaupthing Edge, Byrne has responsibility for 18 countries as the Icelandic bank launches its online high interest account overseas. It is reminiscent of the time when Byrne led an award winning campaigning team at Egg, the online credit card.”

Gone bust again – sorry tale of Mk One

Go figure. Mk One has gone bust again, the second time in a year. It was owned for a short period of time this year by Hilco, the company attempting to buy Woolworths for a pound. When Mk One went bust earlier this year it had been in the hands of the troubled Icelandic investor Baugur, which only last week sold a significant stake in Moss Bros to Sir Philip Green.
As it happens, Baugur bought Mk One in 2004 off its then three owners —which included Green. Soon after, Green mounted a takeover attempt of Allders — only to be thwarted by Hilco.

* How not to impress. The bosses of America's Big Three automakers arrived in Washington DC, cap in hand for a $25 billion bailout. They flew in aboard their corporate jets. Ford alone has eight executive aircraft, despite laying off 51,000 workers in the last three years.

* Wall Street advice on how to make sure your neighbour gets the chop, not you. “Put two magazines in your inbox: Soldier of Fortune and Guns and Ammo. No HR person is going to risk firing someone who is mentally unstable and heavily armed.”

* A good news (well, sort of) press release lands from Poundland. While other retailers are suffering, they're celebrating “an incredible eight new store openings in November 2008 alone”. They're rolling them out at the rate of two new stores a week - the 200th, in Doncaster, is next week. Everything they sell is £1, including brands such as Colgate, Nescafé, Walkers and Cadbury's.

* Trouble at Canary Wharf, according to Nomura property analyst Mike Prew. “Canary Wharf is the home of mega-banks and mega-banks don't exist any more,” he says. “They are becoming an endangered species.” Prew should know. He worked for Lehman Brothers in Canary Wharf until the Wall Street giant collapsed.