Wheels of industry look tired

Promote the Diary to the top of a global marketing services group and within an hour the order would have gone out to Mulliner for a flame-red stretch Bentley with integral hot tub and disco lights. You might expect that the people who run these huge companies would let rip a little, too.

So it was with a growing sense of outrage that the Diary read, in the latest edition of European Business magazine (available worldwide or at www.ebm.eu.com), that Sir Martin Sorrell makes do with a Jag. Ok, it’s the XJ saloon, but still… And the Diary hopes Sorrell’s choice of car isn’t a portent. Acquisitive conglomerate picks up premium brands left right and centre but ends up closing factories in an attempt to stem mounting losses? Keep a close eye on Grey, Martin.

But at least Sorrell’s done better than Alain de Pouzilhac. The Havas head honcho swishes round France in a Peugeot 607. It probably doesn’t even have a champagne cooler – or leopard-skin upholstery. It’s not good enough. These people are paid huge sums to encourage the public to consume. The public has a right to expect them to do the same – and conspicuously.