As Lord Ashcroft has apparently encountered the same problem as other celebrity businessmen setting up shell companies – it is so hard to find anything to inject into them he has had to advertise – perhaps he should think bigger.

The former Conservative party treasurer has listed three Belize-registered shells on Aim in London – Seashell Group, Seashell II and the inappropriately named Bombshell. Maybe he should now pursue that newest of shell companies, Royal Dutch Shell.