Any Other Business – 13/08
■ The City could soon be awash with mini-Mervyns. The name of the ex-Bank of England governor blasted into the baby names rankings for 2012, perhaps in a tribute to the central banker. Five Mervyns were born last year, up from none in 2011. Last year also saw 15 girls and seven boys named Diamond. Whether the resignation of former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond weighed on the decisions is unclear – though three boys were given the name Barclay (and the same number, coincidentally, were named Berk). The rankings had a royal flavour, even a year ahead of Prince George. Harry topped the table while William, Charles, Philip and Andrew all rose in popularity. A stranger royal bounce came from the TV show Game of Thrones: 21 girls were named Khaleesi, the word for queen in one of the programme’s invented languages.
■ Just yesterday The Capitalist brought you news of the Square Mile’s most inquisitive recycling bins – which had been using tracking devices to record information about passers-by via mobile phone data. But now City folk off to a confidential meeting or making their way back from an unusually long lunch can rest easy – the City of London corporation has asked Renew London, which fitted 12 of the LED advertising bins along Cheapside with trackers, to stop the trial. “Irrespective of what’s technically possible, anything that happens like this on the streets needs to be done carefully, with the backing of an informed public,” said a spokesman.