Business Diary: March 1

Reporting on the bank’s return to the black for the first time since it took over troubled HBOS in 2008 – with £2.2bn profits for 2010 – the man dubbed the “Quiet American” revealed his family like to do an annual review of their achievements.

“I don’t think you can look at life as a series of events; it’s a continuum,” said Mr Daniels, who leaves today.

“At the end of every year I do a stocktake with my family.”

As bemused journalists raised their eyebrows, he hastily added: “It’s with a glass of wine!”

Asda chief won’t rise to bait over rivals

JOURNALISTS always enjoy baiting chief executives – just to see if they will succumb and say something juicy they will regret later.

But Andy Clarke, Asda’s chief executive, was having none of it at the Leeds-based grocer’s annual results presentation.

Asked whether Tesco is accepting Asda’s Income Tracker till receipts in order to use Asda’s data, Mr Clarke looked tempted to dish the dirt on his arch rival, but resisted the urge.

“I don’t know,” he replied tactfully. “I’m sticking to my own knitting. I’m taking a leaf out of Martin Johnson’s book.

“Don’t criticise when criticised.”

He was referring to England rugby manager Martin Johnson’s refusal to criticise the French after the French coach Marc Lièvremont said none of the other Six Nations teams likes the English.

Mr Clarke will be hoping to emulate England’s rousting of France over the weekend in Asda’s own epic battle against Tesco.

Translators link up with charity

IT’S always good for students to gain an insight into global politics.

Hull-based translation agency Translationsrule has launched a charitable initiative to provide free translation services for the charity CARE International UK, one of the world’s leading aid and development organisations.

With the support of Translationsrule, students at the University of Leeds will carry out translation projects for the charity, which aims to create opportunities for growth in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Under the initiative, the Masters students will translate key documents and lendwithcare.org entrepreneur profiles for CARE International UK, and in turn will benefit from working with a professional translation agency.

The lendwithcare.org site allows budding entrepreneurs in the developing world to create profiles which allow a global audience to hear about their ambitions.

Sarah Rule, a director of Translationsrule and the driving force behind the project, said: “CARE International UK makes a real difference to people living in poverty around the world and it is our intention to ensure they do not incur translation costs in 2011.

“In providing free translation services from French, Spanish and Portuguese into English we are helping CARE International UK to understand issues affecting non-English speaking nations, to raise the profile of some of these issues and to invest their money where it is needed most.”

Tess Appleby, who is studying on the Masters in Applied Translation Studies course, said: “This initiative is a wonderful opportunity for all those involved.

“For the trainee translators, it gives a taste of what it is like to work professionally and it’s great to have the chance to work for an established translation company. This initiative will also allow us to help those who need it most.”

Real life rags-to-riches story of 3M supremo

George Buckley does not fit the profile of your typical global business leader.

The chief executive of industrial and consumer products group 3M revealed yesterday that he had a “pathetically poor” upbringing in the Pitsmoor district of Sheffield, suffering from a range of different physical ailments.

But instead of giving up, he vowed to equip himself with an education and set forth on a business career.

Today, he is one of the most powerful executives in America, although he has still retained his South Yorkshire accent.