Actor Martin Clunes has become the second man to be dropped from the £50 million ad campaign for Churchill Insurance for motoring offences.

The versatile and popular actor admitted to Churchill Insurance that he had reached 12 points on his driving licence for speeding offences and had been banned from driving by magistrates under totting up rules.

Clunes follows comedian Vic Reeves, who was the voice of the Churchill nodding dog until he was caught driving whilst three and a half times over the legal alcohol limit in 2005.

Those looking for a useful business gift that lasts all year might consider copies of the Hardens independent restaurant guides.

These review more than 3,000 establishments and can be supplied leather-bound and embossed with initials. The UK guide costs £15.99 but is available to readers of Marketing Matters for £10.99. The London guide costs £12.99 with a special reader price of £8.99. Prices include post and packing free in the UK.

Tel: 020 7839 4763 www.hardens.com/st

One luxurious new product for the ones who have everything, or who aspire to, is the sugar cane swizzle stick, crystallised South African cane sugar, white or amber, moulded around the end of a stick and giving two to three spoonfuls of the sweet stuff when stirred into a hot drink.

Currently the sticks are being offered to top end UK hotels and some retail outlets but could there be, given the decidedly up-market image and novelty value, a promotional use somewhere?

Details: www.sugarcrystalco.co.uk

A survey of more than 2,000 adults in Britain by consumer group Which? has indicated that politicians, journalists, bankers and estate agents are the least trusted people in the country.

Only 7% of us trust politicians and journalists, and just 11% trust bankers and estate agents. Trust in the medical profession was the highest with nurses topping the poll at 82% and doctors just behind at 80%. Other results were teachers at 69%, engineers at 56%, lawyers at 35% and accountants at 29%. Continue reading →

One large firm that seems hell-bent on gaining a damaging reputation for dishonesty in its UK market is Santander, the Spanish-owned bank.

The bank has decided to renage on promises made to business customers by Abbey National and Alliance and Leicester, which they took over, that the customers would get FREE BUSINESS BANKING FOR LIFE if they opened business accounts with the firms. Those that did so have now received letters telling them that this is being withdrawn and that they will now have to pay a monthly charge of £7.50 for what Santander claim is an enhanced service, and which will earn the bank around £20 million in fees. Continue reading →

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has referred a scam run by insurance companies to the Competition Commission.

Insurance companies have agreed to pay inflated prices for car repair and courtesy car supply to garages and car hire companies that in turn agree to pay the insurance companies fees running into hundreds of pounds. This arrangement is in place of going to several suppliers to get competitive quotes, which would keep the price of insurance down. Whether the monies generated from the car hire companies and garages are enjoyed by the insurance companies, or individuals working for them is not known. Continue reading →

Sainsbury’s have increased the time non-food suppliers have to wait for their money from one month to two and a half months and portrayed themselves as greedy and exploitative. The supermarket group claims that the 75 day wait is the “industry standard”.

Their claim has been described as “utter fabrication” by the Forum of Private Business which has admitted Sainsbury’s into its late-payment Hall of Shame, to join Dell, Argos and Carlsberg, who have also unethically increased payment times to suppliers who have already supplied them with goods. Continue reading →

Meanwhile, from the corrupt world of insurance it has been revealed by the Channel 4 Dispatches programme that Phil Hodkinson, a director of insurance firm Resolution, based in the tax-haven of Guernsey for income and corporation tax avoidance, is also the head of the ethics committee at HM Revenue and Customs.

Another former HMRC director, John Spence is the chairman of estate agent and financial services group Spicer Hart, whose employees offer to help clients avoid stamp duty. And HMRC have recently awarded a contract for collecting unpaid tax to a credit management firm whose owners are based in Guernsey.