The glamorous locations. The high-adrenaline thrills. The champagne corks popping. The surveying profession is just like Formula One, when you think about it.
So Elliott Garrett will feel right at home as he leaves F1 behind to provide what is believed to be the UK property industry’s first in-house drone service, for Paragon.
After nine years travelling the world planning Grands Prix infrastructure and conducting precision GPS surveys of racing circuits, Garrett will now bring his drone expertise to the company’s projects.
Paragon joint managing director John Munday said that, when it comes to surveying, the property industry is “a dinosaur that still uses slow, archaic processes”. So, when it felt the need for speed, little wonder it looked to F1 for talent.
Working up to fake news
They’re taking over the world, that WeWork lot. The company has staked its claim over offices, homes and now, apparently… British Land?
Well, that was according to proptech commentator Antony Slumbers, who took to Twitter over the bank holiday weekend to reveal WeWork’s plans to buy the developer and, in so doing, create a multimillion sq ft network of flexible working spaces.
But, having tweeted on Sunday, Slumbers was more tickled by the response to his April Fool’s gag than the ruse itself. Reactions on the day included “very possible”, “I privately suggested this could happen – not surprised” and “definitely plausible”. Slumbers found the reaction “amazing”, adding: “Many believed it and even more wished it were true. Maybe we’ve set the ball in motion…”
Surveying doesn’t get tougher than this…
Masterchef finalist Billy Wright is unlikely to be short of friends when he joins Savills’ retail & leisure team as restaurant specialist.
A property surveyor by training, Wright founded MPW Developments and also worked as a surveyor specialising in restaurant acquisitions for Randall Commercial in London, before reaching the final of Masterchef in 2016.
With fellow finalist Jack Layer, Wright launched Billy and Jack, a creative food company offering consultancy services such as menu development to restaurant operators and running hugely popular supper clubs and restaurant takeovers.
For the Savills retail & leisure team, it will either be a case of lunchtime envy or an introduction to never-before-seen culinary heights.
They did it Medway
Diary has covered corporate anthems before – a craze that gripped the professional services sector in the late ’90s. (“KPMG, strong as can be… holding on to a vision of global strategy”; you get the idea).
Well, it seems the public sector wasn’t immune. During an office move last week, Homes England chief executive Nick Walkley discovered a CD dedicated to Medway’s regeneration: The future’s on its way by Kelly Stanley and Ryan Edwards.
Diary’s pleas to Walkley to share this musical celebration of Chatham’s ring road going two-way sadly fell on deaf ears. It seems he has bigger plans. “We are going to play it at Homes England before every meeting in our new home,” he tells Diary. “A sort of organisational anthem.” Stirring stuff, no doubt.
Bargain boos
As a regular visitor to the North West, Diary is sad to hear of the possible demise of Bargain Booze, something of a staple in the region, albeit with stores across the country.
We’ve never been in one (which probably means we take some share of the blame), but have driven past them often, and they would be yet another loss to the beleaguered high street.
Owner Conviviality has filed for administration following a profit warning, a forgotten £30m tax bill and failure to raise an emergency £125m cash injection. All of which makes Bargain Booze’s contact e-mail address on its website seem overly optimistic in retrospect: makemoremoney@convivialityretail.co.uk
Space available
Moda took its commitment to “next-generation living” to its logical extreme on 1 April, announcing its “first foray into intergalactic housing” – on the Moon.
It even roped in Richard Branson – claiming to be partnering with him on a development set for 2029. Total lunar-cy, of course – but the CGI rendering, at least, is more convincing than some we’ve seen…
To send feedback, e-mail jess.harrold@egi.co.uk or tweet @jessharrold or @estatesgazette
