Working their stockings off
Socks. Let’s be honest – the ultimate poster present for the world’s most unimaginative Christmas gifts. All credit, then, to Strutt & Parker for embracing the reputation and kicking off the property festive season with a little dry wit. The agent’s Christmas party for staff and journalists at its Hill Street office, W1, last week included mini roast-dinner canapés, pink fizz and goody bags stuffed with cozy red socks emblazoned with the words “We’ll work our socks off”. Clearly they are raring to get off on the right foot (sorry, we truly are) in the new year.
Sonings of praise
More festive cheer at James Andrew International’s 40th anniversary bash at Claridge’s in London last week, a star-studded and thoroughly good-natured celebration. Christmas lights twinkled, an orderly queue formed on the pavement outside. The paparazzi even massed – for a lesser gathering, next door, of the likes of Kylie Minogue, Daisy Lowe and Amber Le Bon for the unveiling of the Dolce & Gabbana Christmas tree. Harvey Soning was the star turn, of course. Not only is he celebrating 40 years of JAI in 2014, but also his 70th birthday and 50th wedding anniversary. It fell to advertising guru Sir Martin Sorrell to sing Soning’s praises from the stage, recalling deals they had done together and others in the pipeline. Giving thanks, Soning described Sorrell as “the greatest client a surveyor could ever wish for”. Quick as a flash the WPP boss interrupted: “That means we’re both overpaid.”
They say it’s good luck
Diary is no stranger to a little wardrobe angst ahead of a big public speaking engagement. And there can be fewer things tougher on a good suit than a crack-of-dawn speech on a drizzly day on an industrial estate in west London. So discovered the highly regarded Sir Edward Lister, Boris Johnson’s chief of staff and deputy mayor for policy and planning, when he was invited to deliver a speech at the launch of SEGRO’s Origin site on Park Royal. The good news is that occupiers are flocking to the project; the bad news is that on that particular day so too had the local pigeons – of which one decided to take aim at Lister in the traditional way. Fortunately, the otherwise well-turned-out audience held their collective tongue and allowed Lister to deliver his speech, dutifully averting their eyes from the City Hall supremo’s left shoulder. Oh well, it’s not the worst thing to have been flung at a politician, surely?
Cycle spin-off: Slade v Slade
An exuberant Mike Slade of Helical Bar had cut through the measured, academic atmosphere at the IPD/IPF conference in Brighton last week with some salty views on the market when he found himself pitted against another Slade – John, of BNP Paribas Real Estate – in a debate on whether the industry was doomed to repeat the mistakes of previous cycles. “Bollocks! Of course we’ve learned our lessons,” said Slade (of the Mike variety). “It is politicians and bankers who are at fault. The property industry is a mere victim.” He also admonished the 74% of delegates who believed that the industry had failed to learn from its mistakes for being a “bunch of self-flagellators”.
The burning sands of Cannes
So. Big news. The retail set has discovered a new after-party hot spot in Cannes. And they have set the bar high – a hot spot engulfed in flames. At MAPIC last week, rather than heading to the Martinez bar for a final-evening showdown, everyone crammed into The Black Pearl – Johnny Depp’s bar on the Cannes waterfront. The staff set the bar on fire – literally. Before long the whole place looked like a scene out of chick flick/rom-com Coyote Ugly (download it if you haven’t seen it. Well worth a watch). “Only in France would they allow staff to set their own bar on fire,” said one agent. Be sure to pay a visit after hours at MIPIM 2014.
