The culture pages of the Guardian aren’t usually the best place for property tips, but perhaps attention should be paid to this week’s interview with sculptor Rachel Whiteread. Apparently, she recently left east London – and the industrial architecture that inspires her work – and she didn’t hold back in her reasons. “We couldn’t stand Shoreditch any longer,” she said. “It’s just a hellhole. I know we artists contributed to making it that way [gentrified, expensive, noisy], but it had become monstrous. Everybody I know has left: every good artist.” Whiteread has returned to north London, where she grew up, with a studio in Camden and home in Highgate. As she explains: “Camden is less changed than Shoreditch, and all the more interesting for it, and Highgate is peaceful. There are trees. It’s lovely.” Investors take note.
Don’t mention the war
Diary had the good fortune to see Kit Malthouse speak not once, not twice but three times at the Conservative Party conference, banging the drum for building homes for sale, encouraging the PRS, and protecting the green belt. Lucky us. Sadly, as one knows, this does lead to a degree of repetition, not least on the subject of, bizarrely, Germany. “I hear this all the time: we should look to Germany. We are no Germany, we are culturally very different to Germany,” he assured us. “Germany is the exception, not us,” he said while banging his table and setting off all the microphones, just to show how serious he is. The murmurs of approval showed he was winning over the Conservative crowd, but to Diary it all started to sound a little bit Basil Fawlty.
Clearbell stepping to it
If a cab-catching colleague takes you by surprise by suggesting you walk to that meeting, there’s a clear reason: Steptober is upon us. More than 400 of property’s finest are counting their steps to raise money for LandAid. Early results suggest Leach Rhodes Walker’s Team CJG is the one to watch – for their walking, not for their ability to coin a snappy team name – but the Clearbell Capital Team 6 is hitting its stride. Many are taking the initiative seriously – rightly so – and none more than Clearbell. The firm is running a Steptober sweepstake with 25% of the total amount raised up for grabs and there is internal competition among the teams taking part. The individual who walks the fewest steps each week donates £5 to LandAid, and the team captain who walks the fewest steps overall will donate £20. Senior partner Manish Chande also has a side bet with Abstract Securities chief exec Mark Glatman, Robbie Meyer of M3 and Tim Webb of Greenberg Traurig. Each of them is putting in £1,000 to the cause and the loser buys dinner. Walking is turning into quite an expensive mode of transport.
Bossing it at the Berkeley
Over to the Berkeley, SW1, last week, where it helps to have friends in high places. The occasion was the UK launch party of Ireland’s biggest auctioneer, BidX1. The venue, more often associated with the UK’s own auction giant Allsop, just happens to be under the direction of the Irish developer and businessman Paddy McKillen, who is a good friend of BidX1 founder Stephen McCarthy. As guests quaffed champagne, Robin Cripp, the 74-year-old head of the Andrews & Robertson business bought by McCarthy in January, said he was getting used to having a younger boss. But it was Lindsey McMurray, managing director of Pollen Street Capital, which has just agreed to pump £10m to £15m into BidX1, who stole the show. After McMurray outlined plans to turbo-charge the business, McCarthy said: “Everyone has a boss. I just met mine.”
Stress gavels? Sold!
There’s nothing quite like a ballroom auction to get the adrenaline pumping. But Louise Jefferies, head of business development at regional auctioneer SDL Auctions, says online auctions – the fastest-growing part of their business – are causing a surprising level of excitement back at the office. Diary is partial to a bargain on eBay so can easily imagine there must be a fair amount of jumping up and down, hands over eyes and even the odd tear shed as the online bidding unfolds. Which is why SDL’s handy gavel-shaped stress toys are particularly popular in the office when the team are glued to their screens, cheering as the bids pop up or holding their breath when the screen goes quiet.
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