The dastardly Mr Deedes

■ Struggling deutsche Bank will open a new cultural centre in Berlin this September. described as a ‘vibrant, inspiring, unique space for art, culture and sports’ the bank has portentously named the ornate building the Palais Populaire. Wonder how populaire it will be with the 7,000-odd staff deutsche are currently shedding in its latest cost-cutting drive?

■ Racing mad Balfour Beatty boss Leo Quinn, 61, is looking forward to Royal Ascot, but warns readers against backing his horse Desert Skyline in Thursday’s Gold Cup. Attending a lunch for the Victoria Racing Club, he says: ‘He’s up against Order of St George and Stradivarius which are both brilliant horses, so I’d recommend a very small each-way bet only.’

■ Chain- smoking City spinner Lord Bell, 76, founder of the now defunct public relations giant Bell Pottinger, tells the new Yorker that when he started out ‘corporate communications was regarded as like peeing down your trouser leg – it gave you a nice warm feeling when it first happened, but it goes cold and wet pretty quickly.’ Uncouth little blighter, isn’t he?

■ Former London Stock Exchange chief Xavier Rolet, who left abruptly last November following a spat with chairman Donald Brydon, is reported to have spurned an opportunity to lead Thomson Reuters’ trading divisions. Does the studious-looking Frenchman, 58, feel a loftier sinecure awaits? A well-placed City insider has warned that the unseemly manner of Xavier’s departure from the LSE means plum posts are unlikely to just plop into his lap.

■ Relations between barmy- sounding hedge funder Bill Gross and his exwife Sue have turned rancid. According to court documents filed last week, Sue accuses her billionaire ex, 74, of leaving the £30m beach home she was awarded after their divorce with dead fish rotting in an air vent. Mildly less creepy than a horse’s head, I suppose.