The dastardly Mr Deedes

royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Howard Davies says Jonathan Coy’s portrayal of him in David Hare’s 2009 play about the financial crisis, The Power of Yes, upset his wife Prue. When introduced to Coy, 65, at the opening night at the National Theatre, hot-breathed Lady Davies said: ‘My husband regularly visits the gym and is in very good shape. You’re too fat.’ Mike Ashley made a surprise appearance at Sports Direct’s annual meeting yesterday, despite informing journalists he wouldn’t attend. A couple of observations – Ashley wears jeans from fashionable Los Angeles designer, 7 For All Mankind, which cost around £250. Fancy! Secondly, he’s still using a Nokia which was discontinued yonks ago. He has no use for a smartphone as he doesn’t use email. He told a court last year: ‘I think you might find I struggle to write letters.’ Billionaire JD.com founder richard Liu’s arrest in the uS on suspicion of rape (strenuously denied) left his board powerless. The Chinese online retail giant’s unusual corporate bylaws stop it from meeting in his absence unless he recuses himself, even saying that ‘any confinement against his will’ is insufficient grounds to meet without him. In case you hadn’t noticed, they do things rather differently out in Beijing. S4 Capital, Sir Martin Sorrell’s new venture, announces: ‘S4 Capital intends to provide global, multi-national, regional, local clients and influencer-driven millennial brands with new age/ new era digital marketing services. The industry’s scale and continued growth, particularly in the digital, media and data areas offer tremendous opportunity to well-funded, agile and entrepreneurial disrupters. Welcome back to the future.’ My ad source hisses: ‘Much more of this claptrap and S4 won’t have a future.’ The Treasury is advertising on Linkedin for a fixer to help with the Government’s policy for financial services during Brexit negotiations. The role calls for a ‘strong problem solver’. You don’t say! It may find that the current shambles which passes for negotiation is deterring candidates. Financial News reports that since the ad was posted last week the Treasury is yet to receive a single application.