Taylor strikes a pose
As London Fashion Week came to a close last week, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of retail Justin Taylor became the face of British style – albeit for the most fleeting of moments – as students from art and design institution Central Saint Martins painted his portrait. Taylor’s en vogue turn came as part of an event organised by students for guests to interact with the work of former fashion graduates and to showcase how experience-led retail could look in the future.
Lobster potty
Rosé? Check. Alka-Seltzer? Check. Increasingly and competitively more extravagant yacht parties? Check.
It’s that time of year again when half the property sector spends a week complaining of exhaustion after descending on the South of France for MIPIM and the other half looks on unsympathetically from their drizzle-soaked offices back in the UK. But if you are one of the luckier Team Cannes lot (come on, you know you love it), here’s a survival tip from last year – don’t get too close to your lunch. Diary heard this week that MIPIM 2014 saw one hungry delegate so desperate to select the perfect lobster from an in-restaurant fish tank that he leant over a smidge too far and toppled in himself. Nothing like total immersion to ensure you bag the catch of the day.
Land Securities on the wagon
The boom times are back and that usually means a fair amount of boozy celebration – or so many agents hope. So, imagine their surprise when attending the launch of a sizeable floor at Land Securities’ 5 New Street Square, EC4, to find no alcohol on offer. One incredulous agent told Diary: “There was a great buffet lunch, but no alcohol. Zero. None. Nix. There was just elderflower pressé and Coca Cola. It seems Land Securities is on a zealous mission to dry out the property industry!” Did the UK’s largest REIT succeed? “Of course not,” says our source. “Thirty agents popped over the road for a drop of the real stuff.”
Shop names are a lot of pun
There is nothing Diary loves more than a good pun. We even enjoy a bad one, which is why a big smile crept across our faces when the LDC Shop Pun of the Year competition winners pinged into our inbox. Those witty Scots ruled the day, with Falkirk hair and beauty salon Hair Dot Comb taking the gong for 2014 pun of the year. Second place went to Portsmouth eatery Hard Wok Kafe, with Northumberland confectioner Bit-A-Sweet taking third.
DTZ lays claim to a City corner
DTZ UK and Ireland boss Colin Wilson took the opportunity at the firm’s Fizz on 40 bash – held on the 40th floor of the Cheesegrater this week – to remind clients of “DTZ corner” in the City. That’s where anyone standing at the junction of Leadenhall Street and Lime Street could see the agent’s magic touch in action, including the Gherkin, the Lloyd’s Building, the Scalpel and, of course, the Cheesegrater. It got Diary wondering what other London icons might be claimed by rival agents – suggestions for a JLL gyratory, a CBRE cityscape and a Cushman & Wakefield catchment on a postcard please.
London’s masterplanner hits it out of the park
Sir Terry Farrell is well known for his dedication to delivering green space, not least when it comes to his and CapCo’s vast regeneration project around the Earls Court exhibition centre. And it is something he clearly feels pretty competitive about. At the Movers & Shakers breakfast this week he made sure to point out, in response to Lend Lease’s claims about building the city’s largest new park in 70 years at Elephant & Castle: “I have measured their park, and I have measured our park [at Earls Court], and ours is bigger!” So now we know.
