Employee of the Month

In today's Financial Times there is a piece in Observer, their diary, which shows that no matter what stress we are under, some always behave correctly.

'Barclays should make Alan Armitage of Coventry its employee of the month. He doesn't work for the bank - but it must feel like it these days.

Barclays' online customers have, of course, been targeted by an internet fraudster and the trickster's e-mail unhelpfully lists a random phone number; it happens to be Armitage's direct line at work. In the past three weeks he has needlessly picked up his phone more than 300 times.

Luckily, Armistage is the unflappable type. "I just tell callers what has happened and to contact Barclays," he says, calmly. "I try to be helpful. It takes a lot to stress me out."

His day job is as an electrical engineer for CEL International. Barclays could do worse than hire him as head of customer services.'

I hope he does well out of it all.