Fancy getting away from it all? Then Diary has the investment opportunity for you: a nuclear bunker with 360-degree views (from the top of the hatch, we assume) in Farmborough near Bath.
This Cold War “nuclear observer post” and its accompanying 115 sq ft of subterranean accommodation is being marketed by Maggs and Allen. It comes with 1,367 sq ft of land, solar power and even its own postbox down the hill.
Up for auction on 7 June, surely its guide price of £10,000 to £15,000 will be smashed – what portfolio could be complete without a nuclear bunker?
The development cycle
British Land may only have just gone in for planning permission for its 53-acre Canada Water development, but project lead Roger Madelin already has one achievement he can crow about.
He cycled the 4.2km between the site and the Bank of England in an impressive 8 minutes 35 seconds – well below the typical 13 minutes. Diary believes he even did it on a Brompton, no less.
Perhaps we should create a Top Gear-style leaderboard (property star on a reasonably priced bike?). Fingers crossed the planning process is as much of a smooth ride for Madelin.
Wanna buy a giraffe?
When a retailer collapses, it’s down to the liquidators to try to wring every last pound out of the business for creditors. But that doesn’t just mean “everything must go” closing down sales and divesting properties.
There can be other assets to strip, not least valuable intellectual property. And that’s very true of fallen giant Toys R Us. It was with a heavy heart that Diary learnt this week that the chain’s beloved mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, is on the auction block.
Not only that, but so too are a number of internet domain names that the retailer has (wisely) kept off the market until now – including sex-toys-r-us.com.
With both lots sure to attract plenty of attention, we are just left crossing our fingers that they don’t go to the same bidder. That really would be childhood ruined.
Barnett’s still got it
Veteran auctioneer John Barnett may be able to lay claim to setting more than one record after selling a Finchley housing estate for an eye-watering £20.4m at last week’s Barnett Ross auction.
Yes, Okehampton Close, N12 (guided at £16m), fetched the highest price ever achieved by a property at auction by a country mile. But Barnett’s colleagues have calculated that the bidding and sale of the property went on for a whopping 18 minutes and 4 seconds. He wonders if this too was a record. Can any auctioneers out there challenge him?
Let Diary know. You’d think that would be enough adrenaline-pumping excitement in one day for Barnett, who turns 79 this month. But no – the keen sportsman celebrated with a game of tennis. A fitting way to honour what must have been a grand slam of the gavel.
Down with this sort of thing
We noted with interest a recent petition lodged with the government with the stated aim to “Ensure that Bloomberg news is free again”. A
s the passionate objector behind it put it: “It is a human right that core financial news (usually provided by Bloomberg) is free to access. This equality in market information allows fair market behaviour.”
But, as a fellow non-free purveyor of news and market information, we are glad to see that Whitehall has elected not to wade in, having swiftly rejected the petition on the grounds that “it’s about something that the UK government or parliament is not responsible for”.
Phew. Though, if anything is a human right, surely it’s access to Diary.
From here to pawternity
Property’s willingness to embrace forward-thinking employment policies is something to be celebrated. So one hopes the sector will swiftly embrace tech company Airsorted’s latest worker-friendly innovation: “pawternity leave”.
The firm’s email, titled “Are You Kitten Me Right Meow?”, explains its bold new policy thus: “Ruff days will become a thing of the past as the new workplace perk means that employees now get to spend up to a week working from home to heap puppy love and affection on their new pet.”
Diary adopted two new cats last year – is there any chance pawternity leave could be backdated?
To send feedback, e-mail jess.harrold@egi.co.uk or tweet @jessharrold or @estatesgazette
