We are halfway through Movember – if you’re taking part, how’s your moustache looking?
Probably nowhere near as good as the Farringdon HQ of organiser, the Movember Foundation, which has just undergone a timely refurbishment, courtesy of CCWS Interiors.
The revamp merges industrial design elements with playful detailing – including, of course, the company’s signature ‘tache displayed with pride.
The scheme includes rooms dedicated to famous moustache wearers, including Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, Tom Selleck, Freddie Mercury and, best of all, legendary Anchorman, Ron Burgundy. Now that’s how to stay classy.
Green screen
Congratulations to Ollie Shah, who this week sold the TV rights to his book Damaged Goods: The Inside Story of Sir Philip Green. They’ve been snapped up by Mammoth Screen, the production company behind Poldark.
As Diary drifted into a waking dream, imagining a topless Green emerging from between the Topshop sale rails, Twitter went into overdrive speculating on who might play the one-time self-appointed king of the high street.
Gary Oldman emerged as an early front runner. Danny DeVito was a popular choice. But within minutes, the smart money was backing Ray Winstone.
Diary was snapped back into consciousness by a colleague asking whether Bob Hoskins was still alive. But we’ll leave it with @manxstar’s suggestion: Vic Reeves.
Who let the dogs in?
To design, sustainability and connectivity, Diary suggests a new key metric for rating the desirability of office developments: canine friendliness.
Earlier this year, it emerged that staff were bringing their dogs to work at Sea Containers in Southbank, thanks to the policy of super-chilled media group Ogilvy (owned by UK PR and advertising company WPP).
Now there are whispers of dogs being allowed to roam inside the still-under construction 22 Bishopsgate.
Of course, there will need to be rules. Ogilvy, which suggests the presence of dogs at work can “lower blood pressure” and “reduce absenteeism”, can offer assistance.
Its policy advises that dogs be prohibited from certain areas, such as catering or event spaces.
Just like humans, any canine guests must register at reception, where the owner must supply a passport photo of their pooch.
And there will be no tolerance of aggressive behaviour – offenders that continuously bark will be removed from the building. No dogs aloud?
Lease claws
In the interests of balance, from dogs in offices, we turn to cats in flats.
Cats Protection has launched its “Purrfect Landlords” scheme to fight “no pets” policies, which it says mean landlords are missing out on a huge pool of responsible tenants who would treat properties as a valued home.
It claims: “The purring heart of the home, a pet cat helps tenants feel happier and more likely to stay for longer, which is good news for landlords.”
To ease the process, it has produced draft pet permission clauses that can easily be dropped into leases (following professional advice, naturally).
“The Landlord permits the Tenant to keep [insert permitted number] cats in the Property for the duration of the Term/Tenancy,” the legalese begins.
Diary has yet to convince its friends in our legal & professional section to go big on this, surely the biggest landlord and tenant development of 2018, but we’re working on it.
Cheer up, mate
It is a real estate company that has brought a smile to the lips of many legal commentators during its journey through the courts – including, no doubt, the author of this week’s Legal Note.
But, sadly, one thing that is yet to become clear from multiple judgments is the intriguing story behind the directors of Cheerupmate2 Ltd seeing fit to choose that name.
And, indeed, to do so twice (according to Companies House, it shares several officers in common with sadly dissolved predecessor Cheerupmate Ltd).
At least it suggests they will be phlegmatic in the face of their latest defeat, at the Court of Appeal – even if they are left a little down, they can always seek comfort in their reassuring moniker.
Intu become one
Intu is the latest wannabe to leap on to on the Spice Girls reunion bandwagon, with a pop-up exhibition of the girl group’s memorabilia at its Watford shopping centre.
Called SpiceUp, it promises to showcase “hundreds” of iconic stage costumes alongside “thousands of Nineties girl power souvenirs”. All that intu wants from you is to say you’ll be there.
Because physical shopping can be fun and relevant, and what today’s consumers really, really want (zigazig ah) – right? Don’t count on Posh turning up, though.
To send feedback, e-mail jess.harrold@egi.co.uk or tweet @estatesgazette
