As The Sunday Times gears up to produce its annual rich list, City Spy wonders if poorer list isn't a more appropriate title this year.

Among those billionaires thought to have fallen on harder times is property developer Simon Halabi. There's no word yet about Britain's first "six-star" hotel planned for his Mentmore Towers estate in Buckinghamshire. And there's still no sign of any work being carried out behind the chained gates of the former premises of the In & Out, or Naval & Military Club in Piccadilly. When City Spy went past late last week, there was a black SUV-type vehicle outside, which must make it London's most expensive car park.

Reports are circulating about Halabi's £1.4 billion debt pile and the possibility he may default on loans. Yet, less than a month ago, Halabi told Forbes: "I've fared no worse nor better than peers with the majority of their assets in real estate."

The US magazine put his worth at £1.9 billion. "Our estimates of net worth are deliberately conservative," said Forbes about its yearly ranking of the world's billionaires. It went on: "We take a hard look at debt."

Apparently, Forbes employed a team of 40 reporters to compile the survey. Hmmm...

* Recession-battered Ireland is not what it was. For nearly 40 years, the Irish have cornered the bloodstock market. The country imposed no tax on income from stallions, which meant that the likes of John Magnier and his cronies became hugely wealthy. But Ireland now has a budget deficit of €18 billion (£16 billion), so drastic measures are having to be taken, among them requiring owners to pay a government levy. The new “stallion tax” could mark a devastating blow to an industry that has already been reeling in the credit crunch.

Fancy title, where's the pay rise?

As from 1 April (All Fools' Day), senior executives at Barclays Wealth have been re-titled vice presidents, a move no doubt rubber-stamped by the parent bank's American-born president, Bob Diamond. Lesser executives are to be addressed as assistant vice presidents. It must get terribly confusing as, according to City Spy's inquiries, several hundred qualify for the grand-sounding new titles. Unfortunately, in most cases, the new job description is not accompanied by a pay rise.

It's Knight Frank vs Tony Pidgley

Oh dear. Knight Frank predicts the market for residential land will drop a further 10% before levelling out in the summer. But no sooner does it say this than Tony Pidgley of Berkeley says: “I cannot see the residential land market recovering this year. Is the bottom of the market in the summer? The answer is no'.” Who is right? City Spy can't help thinking it's worth putting your money on Pidgley, who foresaw the Nineties recession and also unwound Berkeley's land holdings ahead of this one.

* NFI is a bit of acronymic jargon in the headhunting game that stands for net fee income — revenue. Or as redundant recruiters now say in the current market: no f***ing income.

Delia feels the heat at Norwich

The word is that East Anglian strugglers Norwich City could be the next football club in need of a chat with an insolvency practitioner following the collapse of Southampton's parent company last week. Football's biggest lender, Barclays, has come under attack for pulling the plug on Southampton — so could it do the same to Norwich, in the county with which the bank has so many historical ties? Happily for Barclays, much of the funding for a company £18 million in debt and losing £3 million a year has come from Bank of Scotland, itself recently bailed out and now part of the Lloyds Banking Group. But will Bank of Scotland even dare call in loans at a club that has this season survived purely on cash pumped in by its majority shareholder, chef Delia Smith?

Time to man barricades for PR revolution

Colin Byrne, the chief executive of PR outfit Weber Shandwick says all the media organisations being downsized at the moment will mean more competition in the public relations industry as the hacks look for alternative employment. “The move of a lot of former journalists into PR will both grow the sector and make agencies think once more about the value they add,” says Byrne. “Particularly in services which are increasingly commoditised and subject to growing price pressure. Just as declining traditional media consumption is a threat to ad agencies, publishers and broadcasters like ITV, the downsizing of the print media sector is a challenge to agencies to rethink their model. It's a challenge, but a good challenge to face. PR is now in the grip of what us former teenage bedsit Trotskyites called permanent revolution. Fitting therefore that Weber Shandwick's new EMEA e-magazine is called 33 1/3 RPM. It's pretty much what the PR industry thrives on. Revolution, and lots of it. Enjoy. Power to the (PR) people!” Eh?

* Further insight into the working life of Luke Johnson, serial entrepreneur and chairman of Channel 4, in his FT business column: “The illusion that certain smart executives and bankers deserve remuneration perhaps 100 times the earnings of junior staff has also been shattered. They are not a scarce resource. There are probably hundreds — perhaps thousands — who could do their job. Headhunters, boards, talent scouts, agents, pay consultants and everyone else who benefited from the reward merry-go-round are having to adjust rapidly. But all this sudden adaptation is having some positive effects from top to bottom. Hard times can toughen you up... Companies coping with the current turmoil are all the fitter for the workout. Several companies in which I am an investor have gone through painful rounds of cost-cutting — but have said afterwards that much of what went was superfluous.”