City Diary: Stansted lawyer is a good judge of Geoff Muirhead's character They may not be able to claim the "masters of the universe" title, after a string of scandals from Libor to misselling PPI. But bankers at Barclays are, at least, inching closer to being chess grandmasters. Well, one banker in particular. Daniel Lindner, a vice-president at Barclays Wealth, has this week won the inaugural Pro-Business Chess Cup. Entertainingly, this tournament was run by a chess charity that aims to teach schoolchildren "transferable" life skills such as "understanding the consequence of your actions." Checkmate. Driving a hard bargain Lorry company Stobart Group has had a rough ride in the boardroom, after Avril Palmer-Baunack was unseated after just 71 days as executive chairman, receiving a £1.2m pay-off for her pains. But at least chief Andrew Tinkler's bloodstock sideline is on track. The hard-nosed Cumbrian businessman has sold one of his string of racehorses, a mare named Savannah Belle, for 335,000 guineas (£351,750) - and to a fellow logistics company, Emerald Bloodstock, to boot. That should keep Tinkler going in the helicopter and private jet-conveyed manner he has become accustomed to. Is Holland & Barrett, the healthfood shop, soon to go the way of Just Retirement, Saga, Card Factory and Pets at Home with a public listing? A spokesman for Carlyle Group, the private equity house that owns the vitamin-seller, tells Diary it has been inundated with offers from bankers keen to be appointed to that potentially lucrative IPO. But the financiers will have to be patient for their fees. Diary understands Carlyle, only three years into the traditional five-year private equity ownership period, has no immediate plans to sell. In for a penny, in for 170,000 pounds On the subject of forthcoming IPOs, ex-England defender John Terry, the Chelsea FC captain, has been spotted at his local branch of soon-to-float Poundland in Woking, Surrey. It is unclear whether the bargain shop's unlikely new brand ambassador was shopping for gnomes to put next to the fishing lake at his nearby nine-bedroom mansion, or just browsing. But in case Terry does find himself in a bargain-buying mood, Diary calculates that he and his Premier League pay packet could clear Poundland's shelves of 170,000 items. Each week. The good times are officially over for Christmas parties. Trevor Abrahmson, the dealer in London's most high-end properties, is tonight taking his staff bowling, rather than to a "faraway paradise," as in better years. "Things have become more normal," says Abrahmson, following the Chancellor's stamp duty increase on homes worth more than £2m. And it's not a bad thing. Common sense should prevail - even at Christmas. Up to a point, it seems. Glentree Estates will follow their austerity bowling night with a "slap-up dinner."