Already tipped as one of the capital’s coolest offices, Derwent London’s White Collar Factory, at Old Street Roundabout, EC1, has drawn further plaudits for plonking a running track on top. But the facility was very nearly advertised as being more suitable for a marathon than a sprint. Speaking at EG‘s Connecting Tomorrow’s Leaders event, director Nigel George said he had been staring at the brochure’s description of a 1,500m track for some time before it dawned on him that it was almost four Olympic lengths. He wisely removed a zero.
Uber inconvenient
Come rain, hail, shine or Uber incident, EG’s event speakers will do whatever it takes to arrive on time. Such was the composure of one at the Connecting Tomorrow’s Leaders event that you would never have known how fraught his bicycle journey there had been. The trip involved him making a significant dent in the back of an Uber car, totalling his ride, then negotiating with the aggrieved driver to catch a lift to the venue, with the broken bike parts in the boot. Diary applauds his commitment – and his diplomacy skills.
Talking retirement
Ever pondered the question: “Can you retire early, rich and happy?” Then author and accountant Allan Esler Smith has just the talk for you, with exactly that title. You can catch him at the inaugural Open Book Literary Festival in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, on 29 July – an event that boasts the suitably alliterative subtitle “Books, Beer & Banter”. Diary expects at least two of those three “B”s to appeal to property professionals, so it’s no surprise the festival is the brainchild of property investor and EG contributor Sam Collett – who, far from being retired, is hard at work writing a novel. Tickets are an absolute snip at £4, a sum that isn’t going to make a dent in anyone’s nest egg.
Hundreds and thousands
Diary loves it when an eye-catching statistic is used for hyperbolic effect. So our attention was instantly caught by a message entitled “Brits spent over 100,000 years waiting for mortgage applications to process in 2015”. As shrewd readers will have realised, that’s not an average. The entire house buying system can seem like it takes a lifetime, but a hundred millennia is exaggerating it a little. Instead, according to analysis from Dwell, the online mortgage broker, that’s the cumulative amount of time applicants spent sweating on an offer. Helpfully, for those struggling to picture what 100,000 years twiddling thumbs might be like, Dwell points out it would be enough time for Mount Everest to grow 1,313 feet or for humans to leave our galaxy travelling at light speed. So if everybody stopped wasting their lives trying to buy houses, maybe we could finally solve the riddle of interstellar flight.
Etch a sketch to get ahead
Celebrated architect Renzo Piano famously sketched The Shard on the back of a restaurant napkin while meeting the landmark’s developer Irvine Sellar back in March 2000. But it would appear that the ability to produce a rough sketch is a dying art among architects – even though it is a necessary one, according to Darryl Chen, partner at Hawkins\Brown. At the Connecting Tomorrow’s Leaders event, Chen revealed he is trying to revive the skill by asking job candidates to draw on the spot. “Don’t show me pictures you have already done,” he said, “I want a back-of-the-envelope sketch, that ability to connect brain to mouth to hand. That is a powerful thing.” But how do candidates usually fair? “Most people fail,” Chen added. A word of warning to all you computer and tablet enthusiasts – it still pays to pick up a pencil.
Mounting excitement at Property Race Day
Every now and then, Diary finds itself conveniently in the right place at the right time with a camera. Property Race Day was just such a case, where, in the parade ring, amateur property jockeys and their families paced nervously, and posed for photos ahead of the charity event. As all this went on in the foreground, our lens was trained on an enthusiastic young gent hoisting himself (giddily) up on an equine statue, with a helping hand from a friend. Clearly pleased with himself, he mimicked the motion of a riding jockey, then offered a thumbs up. Even funnier, perhaps, is Mike Slade, property stalwart and PRD president, passing by in the foreground completely none the wiser. With the form shown, we just hope the chap is the first to sign up to the charity race when it returns in two years’ time. View the full clip as part of our Property Race Day video here.
To send feedback, e-mail jess.harrold@egi.co.uk or tweet @jessharrold or @estatesgazette
