When tuning in to This Time with Alan Partridge – the legendary presenter’s long-awaited return to the BBC – Diary knew to expect clashes of egos, arguments with guests and, of course, his inimitable brand of chat. But what we didn’t see coming was innovation inspired by a familiar name. Introducing a “huge interactive touch-screen digi-wall” to show tweets and e-mails, Alan revealed he got the idea from “Foxtons, the real estate guys”, before delivering the ultimate compliment: “As I said in the production meeting, if we can make this show 10% more Foxtons then we will have something really quite special.” The agent has had a tough time of it recently, but just 30 seconds of prime time on BBC One offers not only two new slogans, but a national treasure as the potential new face of Foxtons. Back of the net!
E-gaming the market
When it comes to video games, Diary is of the generation that still calls them computer games. And, while we have been known to dabble with a PS4 controller, in truth we still miss the feel of a joystick. But nevertheless, just like Mike Ashley, our curiosity is piqued by the rise of e-gaming and what it could mean for real estate. So picture our jealousy at our lucky colleagues who got to visit Shanghai-based Wanyoo Café’s first European site, newly opened at one of Shaftesbury’s units on Charing Cross Road, WC2 – a 5,330 sq ft, two-storey café, which boasts a “12-terminal e-sports battle arena” among its many gaming options. It’s a world away from Diary scoring last-minute winners against our mates on Sensible Soccer, but it sure appeals to our competitive side. Is this the future? Find out more at: www.egi.co.uk/news/how-e-sports-could-change-the-game
Banter with Bickell
There was a great event this week at the RICS HQ on Parliament Square, SW1, where the surveying body teamed up with Freehold to celebrate and debate LGBT History Month. While the discussion was of course serious and very important (and read more about it in EG soon), Diary couldn’t help but tease Shaftesbury boss Brian Bickell, after he said that for the first few years of his life he was destined to be a criminal – Bickell was born before homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK (through the 1967 Sexual Offences Act). Surely, we joshed, it was actually criminal that he is an accountant by trade! It seemed to go down well in a room full of chartered surveyors, maybe less so in a room full of chartered accountants…
Nick, Nick or Nico?
Getting to grips with all of the new companies in the industry that seem to sprout up and their respective characters is no easy feat. But given Henderson Park has been around for almost two years and raised the best part of $2bn of capital, you’d think people would have got their heads around who’s who by now. But one service provider is still, perhaps understandably, a touch confused, they confide in Diary. After leaving a meeting they were not entirely sure whether they should they be following up with founder Nick Weber, fund controller Nick Webb, or principal Nico Weber. Perhaps best to just loop everyone into the e-mail.
Too late to the party
Property investment bankers are often considered to be some of the most on-the-ball and ahead-of-the-game dealmakers in the industry. There are, though, the odd exceptions. Fund manager Tristan Capital Partners sold a 40% stake in its business to Candriam a year ago, but it seems that some would-be advisers didn’t get the memo. Tristan co-chief executive and chairman Ric Lewis told Diary: “Some people seem to have missed the story. I have had five or six enquiries to see if we want to sell a piece of us since. Whoever the banker is on the other end of the phone really isn’t doing their job.” Clearly they haven’t been reading their EG closely enough.
Going underground
Diary gets invited to all sorts of events and conferences, some more tempting than others. But few offers are quite as appealing as the “save the date” e-mail that arrived in our inbox this week. Forget MIPIM, we’ve been invited to the World Tunnel Congress 2019 – and it is in one of our favourite regions in Italy to boot. “The whole underground industry will meet in Naples to study and discuss the state of the art of tunnelling,” the invitation promises us, with “triple-A” sessions on archaeology, architecture and art. Diary has spent its life burying its head in the ground – turns out it’s all been in preparation for this! So, if you dig tunnels – and we mean really dig tunnels – book yourself a flight to Naples. And, if we can somehow persuade the higher-ups to expense the trip, we’ll join you for pizza.
