Business Diary has over the years become inured to the publicity-seeking exploits of Irish budget carrier Ryanair. Chief executive Michael O'Leary and his band had, we believed, lost the ability to shock because they attempt to do it so often. Or so we thought.

Then "The Girls of Ryanair" Cabin Crew Charity Calendar 2008 popped into the in-box. These include Julia from Dusseldorf Weeze in the cockpit, Nicola at London Stansted blowing more than a touch suggestively into the mouthpiece of a lifejacket, and Joanna at Dublin wringing out a foam-filled sponge.

But, while we are not saying these pictures did not grab our attention, it looked as if it had all been done before by Pirelli and others. Until we turned to the last page.

There, under the strapline of "Sneak Preview of the Aer Lingus 2009 Cabin Crew Calendar" was a picture of an extremely matronly "stewardess" in a green swimsuit wielding a giant porcelain teapot with a painted shamrock and matching cup. "Fly with Bridget from Dublin", it said, with a thought-bubble from the lady's head declaring: "They'll have me selling scratch cards next."

There has been plenty of bad blood between the two airlines as a result of O'Leary's bid to take over Aer Lingus - a move described as a threat to consumer choice and a recipe for higher fares when it was blocked by the European Commission in June. And, typically, there has been much colourful comment from O'Leary since. But Business Diary thinks the latest attack, as well as being beyond the pale, may just be a case of sour grapes. If Ryanair has as dim a view of Aer Lingus as implied by the calendar, why is O'Leary so desperate to get his hands on it? And if we're talking about "unattractive" service, which airline was voted least favourite by travellers in a poll published by TripAdvisor in October? Why that would be Ryanair, of course.

Special grouse brings cheer to US relations Robert Tuttle, US ambassador to the UK, proved a big draw at a business lunch at the University of Glasgow on Thursday by CBI Scotland and the Scottish North American Business Council.

Emrys Inker, corporate affairs director with Scotch whisky group Edrington, found himself elevated unexpectedly to the top table. There was talk that Tuttle's security men had changed the seating plan at the last minute, although Inker's table-switch might have had more to do with the popularity of his firm's brands in the American market-place than his physical prowess.

With the prior knowledge of the lunch organisers led by CBI Scotland executive Colette Cunningham, Inker had arranged for a special bottle of his group's flagship brand, The Famous Grouse, to be produced. The table switch enabled him to present this to the ambassador personally after the speeches.

The personalised bottle had the ambassador's name on the front label, saying "The Famous Robert Tuttle", and it was contained in a special gift pack, bedecked with the Scottish Saltire as a memento of his visit.

It drew admiring glances from the ambassador's wife, Maria, as well as from Lisa Vickers, US consul general based in Edinburgh, Kenny Donnelly, Continental Airlines, and Mike Still, Marsh, whose companies had helped to sponsor the lunch.

Clearly touched by the gesture, Tuttle told Inker that his children were always pulling his leg that he had never achieved much in life and "this is going to show them that I am now officially famous as I have a limited edition of Scotch whisky named after me and it will be a source of great fun - and envy - with all my friends and colleagues".

He was clearly thrilled with his present and thanked Emrys three times before heading off for his next engagement, with his posse of security men in tow.

The view just got a whole lot better Few people enjoy their morning commute, but the directors of Southern Electric, part of Scottish & Southern Energy, have had to put up with a bigger irritation than most.

For 17 years they have been trying to buy the power station at Slough. SSE chief executive Ian Marchant told journalists this week that the company had made three bids since 1990 and been rebuffed every time. The looming cooling towers of the power station, which are easily visible on the way to the nearby Maidenhead headquarters of Southern Electric, remained a constant reminder of their failure. This week their efforts finally paid off and SSE shelled out £49.25m for Slough Heat and Power. The business case is that the power station has a potential capacity of 110MW, a great deal more than its current output.

Whether there are additional benefits from having electricity executives arriving in the office rather calmer than in the past has yet to be seen.

  • Contribution: Tim Sharp