Personal contact at a time of social distancing is awkward. Handshakes have been replaced by waves, hugs by ankle kicks. Air kisses fly, elbows tap and, occasionally, fists bump. (Ed: These rituals may be a thing of the past by the time you read this.) But Amanda Illing, chief executive at Hardwicke, wins Diary’s inaugural Innovative Greeting Award. Bumping into EG publisher Damian Wild and LandAid chief executive Paul Morrish at the Trowers & Hamlin “breakfast in the boardroom” session last week (hastily rearranged to replace the firm’s breakfast on the beach MIPIM event), Illing reached into her handbag… for her homemade kissing stick. Not for the first time either. This was kissing stick v2.0; the original one had already snapped from overuse.
Wethering the storm
You’ve got to love Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin. You might not always (ever) agree with his politics, but he’s not afraid to speak his mind. When the PM advised that the good British public should stay away from pubs, clubs and any place where we might interact, most in the hospitality sector came out with statements about how it would impact business. But not Martin. The majority of Wetherspoon’s statement to the market was about BoJo making a “tactical error” and how a “lockdown” on British people would only delay the inevitable and “cripple the NHS and the economy”. “The Prime Minister should show Dutch courage and follow the example of their PM Mark Rutte,” declared Martin (Rutte is refusing a lockdown and opting to build herd immunity instead), “and avoid taking French leave of his senses by following the lockdown example of the perfidious Emmanuel Macron.” Martin says the Dutch approach is more in line with British instincts – by which, Diary thinks he means, we like a drink: especially at £1.69 pint. “This is evidenced,” he says, “by Wetherspoon’s sales, which have been positive in the last few weeks in spite of storms and health scares.” Yup, that’s what he meant.
MIPIM’s loss is the rainforest’s gain
It is fair to say, in this somewhat coronavirus-dominated Diary page, that life is handing us plenty of lemons right now – so kudos to those whose primary focus is on making lemonade. Example: the folks at accounting, management and corporate governance solutions business, Crestbridge. They too are disappointed to miss out on MIPIM, which they attend every year. Sadly, the rearranged dates of 2-5 June aren’t feasible for them, so they have had to make the difficult decision not to attend. However, Crestbridge told Diary: “We’d really like something positive to come out this. We have decided to make a donation, matching the money we would have spent attending, to Durrell’s Atlantic Forest project in Brazil.” The initiative is linking small patches of rainforest with tree corridors, offering threatened populations of black lion tamarin, puma, jaguar and ocelot a chance to thrive again, as well as neutralising approximately 2,500 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Now that is some very tasty lemonade.
Beckerman sees the funny side
It has been a week of continued cancellations, reschedules and plan changes across the globe. If there is anything left to cling on to at this stage, then surely a sense of humour has to come top of the list? Full marks, then to CREtech’s Michael Beckerman for accompanying the news of his Austin event’s cancellation by kicking off the email announcement with a humorous cartoon… of himself. “My dear friend Mark Ecko brilliantly captures my current mood with his illustration,” he wrote. “Thank you for adding a bit of levity to an otherwise terribly serious situation.” You know what Michael, the image captures a lot of people’s mood at the moment – and we appreciate the laugh too.
Please do not eat your EG
We appreciate the enthusiasm with which the communications team at Camargue has responded to our new-look, environmentally friendly EG. But Diary feels it should point out, in the name of public safety, that we are not fully biodegradable (yet). Last week’s reference to cradle-to-cradle paper was merely a suggestion for our next step forward. But at least Camargue has shown there’s an appetite for it!
Pasta at any Price
The seemingly UK-wide dried pasta shortage hit Alex Price’s family hard last week. The UK chief executive of Fiera Capital was sent on a quest to find a bag anywhere he could lay his hands on one – as his daughter had promised to make pasta necklaces for “all of the flamenco dancer characters” in her school play. Thankfully, it was mission accomplished. But, as is sensible in these times, the pasta for the necklaces was strictly rationed – allowing for jewellery production with enough left over for the Price family to keep safely in the store cupboard, no hoarding required.
