City profiles

Michelle Mone The founder of Ultimo lingerie had mixed success as the Government’s “bra tsar”, charged with encouraging start-ups in disadvantaged areas. But no one can accuse Baroness Mone of failing to keep up with the latest trends, says The Independent. She now plans to sell luxury apartments in Dubai using bitcoins. The move is part of a £250m property venture, forged with Mone’s boyfriend Douglas Barrowman, who chairs the finance and property management group, Knox. An industry first, the venture will make available about 150 flats, at an average cost of £183,000 or about 52 bitcoins. Given that the price of the volatile cryptocurrency has nearly quintupled this year, would-be buyers are advised to get in fast.

Mark Price

Bang goes another trade minister, says Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail. After just 17 months in the role, the former Waitrose boss, Lord Price, has unexpectedly quit the Government to pursue “business and writing interests”. His departure is even more rapid than that of his predecessors, ex-bt boss Lord (Ian) Livingston and former HSBC chief Lord (Stephen) Green. Some attribute it to “CEO syndrome” – “the inability of corporate bosses to deal with the grind of Whitehall”. Yet earlier in the summer, the self-styled “chubby grocer” was positively bubbling about “being at the forefront” of post-brexit trade deals. Price, it’s true, has a new book, Workplace Fables, out soon. Even so, his departure seems mysterious. “A promising subject, perhaps, for his next literary excursion.”