EG Moves

peoplePeopleLeeds building surveyor Colin Harrop has taken over as chairman of the RICS regional board for Yorkshire and Humberside. Harrop is a senior associate with King Sturge, based in Leeds (01132 441441).Marsh, the insurance broker and risk adviser, has appointed Nigel Salisbury as head of its real estate practice in the UK, based in London. Salisbury has over 20 years’ experience in professional and financial risks markets. He was most recently director of property investors at RSA (020 7357 1000).Savills has recruited a development and food retail expert for its out-of-town retail team. Andrew Birtwistle, who joins from Kier as a director, has previously worked for Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Safeway and Aldi. He has 14 years’ experience in the sector and has undertaken development, portfolio management and town planning guidance (020 7409 9908).Petra Blazkova is to join Jones Lang LaSalle as an associate director in the European research team. She joins from King Sturge, where she was a senior associate and managed the London-based European research team of six researchers (020 7248 6040).Edward Symmons has promoted Ben Lynch to salaried partner, based in the Manchester office, after he built a strong insolvency business stream. Carl Ridgley, who works in the Birmingham office, has also been promoted to salaried partner. Ridgley joined two years ago from IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group) (01612 169197).Mark Boor has been appointed head of asset management at Lend Lease. He previously worked at PRUPIM, and he has handled both asset and development portfolios and held senior positions within a number of companies including Drivers Jonas, Hammerson and the Portman Estate. At the same time, the company’s leasing and asset management functions will be strengthened with two internal appointments: Russell Loveland is to be senior asset manager for Bluewater, responsible for both leasing and value enhancement at the Kent shopping centre. Guy Thomas is to be head of leasing, with responsibility for both the remainder of the UK shopping centre portfolio and the Lend Lease Retail development programme (020 7182 9000).Reed Smith has appointed real estate lawyer Stéphane Illouz to its partnership. He joins Reed Smith’s real estate group in Paris from De Pardieu. Illouz brings with him a team of two associates, Nadia Chatraoui and Pauline Lefevre (+33 176 704039).Phillip Rodger is to join Orchard Street Investment Management LLP as partner on 1 October 2008. He is currently regional director of Jones Lang LaSalle, based in London (OSIM 020 7494 8860).Maxwell Brown has appointed William Gelder. Gelder joins from DTZ and will be based in in the Reigate office, where he will work on its southern M25/M23 and regional office agency instructions (01737 243328).New addressesHughes Management, under the directorship of Shirley Blake and Richard Alterman FNAEA, has relocated to Rowlandson House, 289/293, Ballards Lane, London, N12 8NP (0845 004 6401 mail@hughesmanagement.co.uk).Start-upsJim Martin has retired from the partnership Morgan Martin of Preston and set up Blue Jug Properties to invest in high street shops (01772 690275).Chris Jefferies has left Lambert Smith Hampton to start up his own telecoms consultancy, SevernStones Communications (part of the SevernStones Group). Office at 176 Brynland Avenue, Bristol, BS7 9DY (01173 250291 fax 08702 244824).E-mail personnel and company changes to egmoves@egi.co.uk All contact details supplied (telephone, email address, web addresses) may be publishedEventsMcMeeking scales new heights on the icy AndesDavid McMeeking of McMeeking CS was part of a team of 10 who climbed the 5,947m (19,511ft) ice pyramid Alpamayo in the Peruvian Andes in July. The three-week trip included climbing two acclimatisation peaks before tackling Alpamayo. The team was only the second to climb the mountain in 2008, thanks to a good weather window. The experienced climbers ascended the steep ice faces without the use of fixed ropes.McMeeking has so far raised £1,500 of the £2,100 pledged for charity Practical Action. This will aid a micro hydro electricity scheme in the Alpamayo area, to bring electricity to 60 families. To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/davidmcmeekinge_SLpsas Atisreal grads get set to tackle KilimanjaroFive graduates from Atisreal are preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for a local African charity.Richard Nichol, Michael Waller, Simon Rogers, Andrew Cotton and Robert Walczak will begin the gruelling six-day trek at the start of October, tackling the 5,895m extinct volcano in Tanzania, the world’s highest freestanding mountain.The group has set a target of raising £3,000 for Amani Kids, an orphanage at the base of the mountain that rescues street children from homelessness. The group will visit before they set off on their climb. To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/kilimanjaroclimb08Planet PropertyGlug glugThe difficulty Pizza Express faces in sourcing large volumes of quality wine at reasonable prices should not be underestimated. Historically, it often meant buying low-quality wines from industrial-scale producers that catered to the supermarkets’ demand for high volume at low prices. Thankfully, however, the intense competition in this sector has led many producers to improve the quality of their product to appeal to the on-trade market. Pizza Express’s wine list has been revised recently, based on the advice of a Master of Wine. I took the opportunity at a recent client lunch to sample the wines of Sartori, a producer from the Veneto, which features throughout the list. Pinot Grigio is often passed over as being too bland however, Sartori’s Pinot Grigio is surprisingly aromatic with fresh white fruit balancing the wine’s acidity. Its short finish is disappointing but should, perhaps, be expected for the money – just £15.45. By contrast, Sartori’s full-bodied Marani doesn’t disappoint. Deep gold colour, hints of citrus fruit, honey and butterscotch with a long finish. It pairs perfectly with the menu and is excellent value for money at £16.95. Amarone della Valpolicella DOC, like Marani, uses grapes dried prior to fermentation to concentrate sugar content. This and Amarone’s five-year oak ageing explain the price. The product is balanced with hints of black cherry, vanilla and oak, but at £29.95 it is out of synch with the menu, costing as much as a hearty lunch for two. As a result, it warrants only three stars. Far better value for money is the purple, medium-bodied Valpolicella. It’s a simpler wine, black cherry without vanilla and oak, well-made and balanced. It costs £14.55.All this suggests that Pizza Express’s wine list is much improved in terms of wines offered – in part because of its recent overhaul but also because of the increased efforts of bulk producers such as Sartori. I recommend that you find out for yourself. Mark Adams is a partner at DDM Partnersmark@ddmpartners.comNew York Times 7 SeptemberA federal agency has joined some of the nation’s biggest landlords in trying to repeal stronger safety requirements for new skyscrapers, arguing that they would be too expensive to meet. The new provisions were enacted as a result of an exhaustive federal study into the collapse of the World Trade Center seven years ago. The General Services Administration, the federal government’s property manager, opposes the standards. ABC Premium News (Australia)15 SeptemberDevelopers have forced more than 4,000 residents around Boeung Kak Lake in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, to leave their homes. Radio Australia reports the lake is being filled with sand to make way for development, forcing water into surrounding homes. A $79m (£44m) contract gave the green light for Shukaku Inc to develop a 133ha commercial property on the lake and its surrounds in February 2007. The international non-government organisation, Bridges Across Borders, says if the development continues without the agreement of Boeung Kak residents, it will cause the largest forced eviction in Cambodia since 1975.Chicago Sun Times 10 SeptemberThe consulting firm Ernst & Young has its landlord, the owners of Sears Tower, in a tight spot. Sources said E&Y is close to a deal to move its offices from the 110-story tower, where it has been one of the largest tenants since 1974. The deal could shake up the downtown office market and deal a blow to the image of Sears Tower. The Daily Telegraph (Australia)11 SeptemberCity of Sydney – the country’s first carbon-neutral government – will fight a green development in the Land and Environment Court tomorrow. The council planned to refuse a five-storey eco-development unless it was given a “voluntary payment'” of A$589,803 (£266,622). Sustainability expert Michael Mobbs, a consultant for the developer Fivex, said the building would delete 125 tonnes of greenhouse gas from the air and reuse 700,000 litres of sewage every year. The Woolloomooloo scheme would include tri-generation power and water harvesting. “It is a disgrace that this council recently unveiled its 2030 Sustainable Sydney policy, yet is attempting to blackmail a project that will deliver on its green objectives,” said Mobbs.Since times are tough, in the first of a monthly series of wine columns, investment broker and wine buff Mark Adams appraises the list at Pizza Express, and is pleasantly surprisedSartori, Pinot Grigio ? ? Sartori, Marani ? ? ? Sartori, Amarone della Valpolicella DOC ? ? ? Sartori, Valpolicella ? ?