Making or breaking the latest multibillion-pound deal to hit the front of business sections everywhere is bound to give some lawyers a bit of an ego trip.

Everything is relative, however, and The Diary was this week charmed to within an inch of its life by one smooth-talker trying to swing a bit of publicity for advising some one-man-band that had managed to raise a tenner on the Alternative-to-a Real Stock Exchange (ARSE).