CELEBRITY CIRCUIT BECKONS FOR THE BEEB’S RESIDENT HEARTTHROB
THAT Robert Peston just keeps popping up on the celebrity circuit.
The BBC business editor has enjoyed something of a meteoric rise to fame since his scoop about the crisis at Northern Rock back in 2007 – so much so that he even managed to scoop eighth place in a recent Britain’s Sexiest Brains poll, ahead of thinking women’s crumpet Jeremy Paxman and hairy eco-chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Pesto’s latest outing was as a guest at a dinner party at the weekend to celebrate a student essay-writing competition sponsored by Anthony Rudd, the 85-year-old former stockbroker father of Finsbury PR founder Roland Rudd. (Competition entrants were challenged to discuss the subject of what distinguished economist John Maynard Keynes would advise if he were alive today, which is a pretty tall order for anyone in the City, let alone a fledgling economics student.)
I hear the raven-haired hack showed his face only briefly at the party, at which Rudd’s sister Amber, standing as a Conservative candidate for Hastings at the next election, was also present, answering questions about expenses etc. Peston’s few minutes were enough to elicit giggles from admiring lady guests and coy whispers about the power of A-list celebrity.
Next stop on the Peston world domination tour: the Oscars.
UNDER THE HAMMER
Just when we thought bankers were dropping off the most-eligible rankings like flies, in zooms an invitation shattering the illusion to pieces. The colourful card summons love-lorn ladies and gents to the Distillers restaurant in Smithfield on 27 June for an event intriguingly titled “Saving Private Banker” – and all in the name of charity, of course.
Alongside music, dancing and “burlesque flirting” (whatever that may be), the organisers are offering the chance to bid at auction for dinner with a range of eligible bankers – “both male and female,” I am told, “so plenty of choice for all…”
No word yet as to the reserve price of a greying sports-car driver with dwindling job prospects, though tickets for the event are as cheap as chips. They cost £10 in advance from www.justgiving.com/savingprivatebanker, with all proceeds going towards helping HIV/Aids-affected orphans in Kibera, the world’s largest slum village.
TOXIC TACTICS
Word reaches The Capitalist of a particularly savvy businessman travelling into the City every day on a train from Hampshire.
Upon entering the carriage, said commuter sits down and places on the table in front of him a water bottle, bearing the legend: “RBS structured and exotic derivatives” – thereby ensuring the seat beside him remains empty at all times.
“Potential occupants,” says my eagle-eyed spy, “were clearly deterred by the possibility of the contents being toxic…”