Nothing warms Backchat's heart like a genuine story of redemption. We hear that Mike Kenney, flamboyant chairman and chief executive of the failed Ward Evans Group, is now a director and major shareholder of CPN Europe, a company producing crime prevention literature.

For those of you with short memories, a DTI investigation found that Kenney and his fellow directors had lifestyles that were "not commensurate with a business of this scale".

Among the perks enjoyed by the loveable rogues were a £240,000 yacht moored in Majorca, a London flat stocked with champagne, ten season tickets to Leeds United and helicopter trips to Grand Prix meetings.

Topics