7 NOVEMBER 1998, Page 28

Baring crisis

I AM sorry to learn that Berkeley Play- house, the lap-dancing club, has gone bust, if that is the word I am looking for. Berke- ley was one of last year's more sporting new share issues and I was sent a prospectus. In the margin of each right-hand page there was a picture of a girl, presumably the same girl, because if you riffled through the pages rapidly she would appear to take her clothes off. This must be an indicator for my Bad Investment (or Divestment) Guide. So often in investment, as in life, the tease is better than the strip.