this year. This is because Wheels, said to be Bermuda's largest cycle livery company, is having a spring clean.

Three of its livery companies, Concorde Company, Castle Town Cycles, and Devil's Hole Cycle Company, will now bear the Wheels name to give the company a coherent corporate image.

The company expects to have 1,100 cycles in total on the road this year.

Mr. David Panchaud, president and general manager of Wheels, said there was no change in company policy since the death of Wheels owner Mr. Alvin Ferreira.

His wife, Pamela, is now chairman of the board, and the directors remain the same.

Mr. John Carr, who runs the MarketPlace stores, is president of Clermont Investments, the parent of a number of the Wheels cycle companies.

In this role, Mr. Carr is helping oversee Wheels' local affairs.

* * * BUC An essential aspect of marketing is ensuring that potential clients know how to contact a business.

Telco -- we are sure quite inadvertently -- has given the investment firm, EBT Securities, a bit of a bum steer.

When trying to locate their number in the normally effective telephone directory, Business Diary was surprised to find no listing under companies beginning with "E''.

A quick call to friendly directory assistance took more than the normal few seconds to come up with the right number.

Undeterred that such a potent investment firm did not appear, our investigator gave the directory closer inspection, and within minutes found the company listed in two places.

In the white pages, it is listed between Ebony and Eco Safe. In the yellow pages, it is listed, no, not under investment...but, under Security Services! * * * GVT There have been protestations about the discrepancy of pay offered to Government trainees and their equivalents in the private sector.

The salary of $32,878-$35,063 advertised for trainee customs officers has been described as "out of line'' with the salary a trainee at the local banks would receive.

Mr. Jerry Ardis, Collector of Customs, describes the salary on offer to applicants with a minimum academic record of English Language and Mathematics GCSE passes, as "reasonable''.

"Some of the things they are expected to do are just atrocious,'' said Mr.

Ardis. Searching the bodily cavities of suspected drug smugglers is just one of the less attractive aspects of the job described by Mr. Ardis. "They are often in confrontational situations.'' "There is a significant drugs problem in Bermuda and the efforts of the customs officers affect the social and economic well being of Bermuda.'' he said.

Mr. Victor Garcia, an executive vice president at the Bank of Butterfield, said the amount offered by Government for the trainee posts would even exceed the amount the private sector would offer to a graduate trainee.

The banks pay a trainee with basic qualifications about $17-18,000 and a university graduate $24-25,000. The Bank of Bermuda said it could not compete with Government starting salaries. "It does create an unbalanced playing field,'' said Mrs. Dianna Doe, a manager at the Bank of Bermuda.