Diary has made no secret of its continued support of HMV – indeed, a (perhaps brave) online pre-order dropped through the letterbox on the very day it was announced that Canadian music mogul Doug Putman’s Sunrise Records & Entertainment is keeping the chain alive. Well, 100 of its stores, at least.
But Diary’s happiness that its local HMV has survived is tinged with sadness for the loss of some treasured stores – not least the Oxford Street flagship and the Meadowhall branch, both of which will live long in the memory.
Judging by the mix of grief and relief on Twitter, there are many who can say the same for each and every one of the now-shuttered HMVs. So, please, a moment of silence for the fallen. As the words scrawled over the opening times on Oxford Street now read: “gone RIP”.
Main image © Andy Rain/EPA-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock
Ready or knot?
We have until 2030 to sort out global warming, before it becomes irreversible. By 2050, the plastic in our oceans will outweigh all the fish. And at some point before 2090, Brexit will have to be resolved. Probably. But there is some good news to mark on your century-long calendar. Japanese knotweed – the enemy of developers and homeowners – will be under control by 2040.
Environet reckons, if the turnover of property remains roughly the same, strict rules imposed by mortgage lenders requiring the invasive weed to be dealt with mean that it will take only until then to, ahem, root it out of the UK.
Fingers crossed it is right, and that, by 2040, the Earth won’t just be all knotweed and cockroaches.
The adrenaline spike
Back in October, Diary told you how office workers at International Quarter London were being sent hurtling down the world’s longest tunnel slide – the ArcelorMittal Orbit in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – as part of a University of Essex experiment to show how a rush of adrenaline improves wellbeing and productivity at work.
You’ve been waiting with bated breath ever since, but now the results are in! And the headline is that an adrenaline rush in the morning makes office workers more productive in the afternoon.
Apparently, researchers discovered that, after taking the 40-second slide, workers’ average stress levels fell by 25%, while productivity, creativity and energy levels all rose, by 20%, 22% and 32% respectively. Plus, by 4pm, six hours after taking the plunge, stress levels of participants remained 25% lower than before the activity and productivity was 12% higher.
Andrew Tobin, project director at IQL, said: “Businesses are always looking for an edge that sets them apart from their competitors and this research shows that an adrenaline boost can have a real impact on office workers’ productivity.”
Expect to see more death-defying slides attached to city offices in the years ahead – you heard it here first.
A lot of trouble (almost)
Diary doesn’t go to auctions as often as it should. And with good reason. It’s a little bit nervous about accidentally scratching its nose or nodding its head and bidding on something it really can’t afford. But this week, it just had to go to Allsop’s sale at London’s Berkeley hotel to see how much people were willing to pay for a more than 50%-vacant shopping centre put up for sale with a £1 reserve (that’s one British pound, not English, as you might hear a certain overly excited journalist say in our podcast on the sale – available at www.estatesgazette.podbean.com).
The bidding offered a fascinating insight into investor sentiment, but, just before the big (or perhaps little) lot was set to be presented, Diary got into a rather enthusiastic chat about the market and the upcoming sale with one of Allsop’s auctioneers, the lovely George Walker. So animated was the discussion that we had to be told off by fellow auctioneer Duncan Moir, who was commanding the rostrum, for almost accidentally bidding. Diary’s fears almost came true! And it’s not sure EG expenses would cover a several-hundred-thousand-pound lot.
Allsop’s Telly addict
Readers of a certain vintage will remember Telly Savalas, forever Kojak to his fans. Fewer will remember the 1975 film in which he starred, Inside Out, a British action thriller about a plan to retrieve Nazi loot from East Germany. Fortunately, Allsop’s Andrew Wells does and he spotted a familiar name on a hoarding outside a house on Connaught Square (left), where some scenes were set. Diary suspects it wasn’t that hard to persuade his colleague Gary Murphy to recreate a scene from the film (right). But we’re glad that he did.
