The dastardly Mr Deedes

French bank BNP Paribas earned a million pounds in fees for converting ¤130m into pounds for a Northern Irish couple who won the new year’s Euromillions jackpot. Is this what the French call ‘argent facile’, or, as we say, money for old rope? Peculiar goings- on at brokers N+ Singer where unctuous exPanmure Gordon boss Patric Johnson was due to take over from chief executive Tim Cockcroft, who planned to shuffle upstairs to the chairman’s office. Until last week that is, when ‘no K Johnson’, as he is known, abruptly departed. What happened? Standard power struggle issues, apparently. Or as my City snout eloquently puts it: ‘Put two sharks in a cage, one is bound to scoff the other sooner or later.’ Spotted in Kensington at the weekend: Flamboyant medallion man Robbie Tchenguiz, puffing and wheezing over a pair of hiking poles accompanied by his pneumatic girlfriend, Julia. A new year’s pledge to get fit? He should jack in the fags while he’s at it. Triple threat Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon (banker/DJ/wine collector) is expected to appear on the bank’s earnings conference call with analysts tomorrow. Predecessor Lloyd Blankfein habitually palmed off this tedious task on to his chief financial officer. But with the Malaysia 1MDB scandal dragging on and company shares down 30pc this past year, it’s all hands to the pump on the creaking SS Goldman. Successful racehorse breeder Lady Rothschild, who has died aged 83, was not a woman to be trifled with. And not just regarding matters of the turf. When her enigmatic son Nat unsuccessfully attempted to wrestle back control of mining firm Bumi in 2013 during a lively showdown with shareholders, it was redoubtable Lady R he took along with him for support. Geordie chanteuse Cheryl Tweedy/ Cole/Fernandez-Versini’s declaration she would ‘100 per cent date a shelf stacker from Sainsbury’s’ tickles the grocer’s marketing bods. They’ve posted the former Girls Aloud member’s remarks on Twitter along with a link to Sainsbury’s job listings page.