There is much to celebrate at awards ceremonies, and the EG awards are no different. But you can overdo it. Just ask Knight Frank. The firm won the inaugural Alternative Sector Award and those in attendance were clearly delighted, celebrating enthusiastically. So much so, the award was, shall we say, misplaced. Cue a vital intervention from a helpful passer-by. “@knightfrank I have your award,” tweeted Tom Whitaker. “You left it on Ealing Common. Must have been a heavy night. Give me a shout if you want it back…”. Of course KF wanted it back. “Hi Tom,” it replied, “it seems the team misplaced the award during their celebrations! We look forward to bringing home the award to its cherished position on our trophy wall in HQ’s reception.” Diary once left an award on a train, so we have every sympathy. Ours was never seen – nor won – again, so we’re pleased this story has a happier ending.
Ministers for the many…
Diary admits it could have been better prepared for the Labour Party conference and paid more attention to the key political figures it was going to be listening to. However, it was slightly confused when attending (another) session on the housing problem to discover a completely different shadow housing minister to the one it had seen an hour before. One quick question as said minister was leaving and all became clear. Sort of. Labour has, bewilderingly: one shadow housing secretary, one shadow planning minister, two shadow housing ministers, and a shadow secretary of state for CLG. Which shows either: a) Labour is taking on the full scale of the problem. Or b) The public sector is really inefficient. But, given the revolving-door nature of the actual housing minister role, it could just be that the party is planning ahead.
Bodyguard in our midst
It’s the show everybody’s talking about, and has no doubt kept conversation going around your water cooler: the BBC smash hit, Bodyguard. Diary likes to keep its finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist, and tuned in prepared for surprises in the show’s grand finale. But it didn’t expect a rather familiar sight early on in the episode – Richard Madden’s DS David Budd, primed and ready for action, emerging through a door onto Theobalds Road, just a stone’s throw from EG’s High Holborn HQ. Indeed, the Unite building on show is visible from our window as Diary types this. So, did our offices survive Bodyguard’s potentially explosive big finish? For the benefit of those watching on catch-up, we’ll give no spoilers here. But Diary was left disappointed – mainly because it missed its chance at a few seconds of fame as an extra…
Grab a slice of the action
Diary, it is fair to say, appreciates pizza in many forms. Whether it’s a New York slice, a Naples delicacy, or just a greasy, late night takeaway, the joy of dough, tomato and cheese is hard to top (sorry) – and, in our experience, is an all-too-rare option on a business lunch. Now, it seems, the ultimate comfort food could be the cure to other ills. Like, for instance, unused ATM “bunkers” in Australia. Word reaches us from JLL of the introduction of Perth’s first pizza vending machine at the Floreat Forum Shopping Centre. To quote its hashtag: #whatatimetobealive. Apparently this is already a thing in Japan, Italy, the US and even the UK, but Diary has never seen one. But we now know a used one can be bought on eBay for a mere £3,200. So if you have an ATM hole to plug – or just want pizza-on-demand for your office – you know what to do.
