John Connolly is taking his vast salary (£3.6m at the last count) to Italy on holiday, he said last week at Deloitte’s annual results.

TS wishes him well. It’s a lovely place, great food. Particularly good yoghurt/milk based products company based there, if TS remembers rightly.

John was keen to point out last week that he had read TS’s item on Deloitte ‘backing the bid’.

Unlike TS’ many adoring fans, however, John wasn’t amused when accountancy’s favourite back page joked about Deloitte proudly displaying ‘back the bid’ banners three weeks after 2012 was in the bag.

‘We backed the bid and will continue to do so,’ stressed the Deloitte boss.

Deloitte’s ardour is admirable but TS fears the gag was lost on Connolly and co. After all, you don’t keep pitching to a client when you have already got the audit, now do you?