Like litigation? Like bears? Well, we have just the book for you.
Writer/artist Isobel Williams has demystified the highest court in the land specifically for ursine readers with The Supreme Court – A guide for bears.
Across its pages, the inquisitive creatures answer all the questions you never knew you had. Williams was inspired by gifts in the Supreme Court shop – it turns out there has long been a bear market in force there, with over 2,000 cuddly teddies sold since the court opened in 2009.
As Lord Neuberger confesses in his foreword for the book: “We’ve even spotted some VIP foreign visitors quietly, even surreptitiously, make the way to our gift shop to ‘adopt’ a bear to take home with them.”
Now they can also snaffle the official book, filled with adorable artwork featuring what His Lordship calls “our furry friends” and bringing to life “some of the things they get up to when the Justices and staff aren’t looking”.
If you find yourself embroiled in a property dispute that goes all the way – or even if you just drop by as a visitor – why not grab a copy yourself.
After all, when it comes to understanding how the Supreme Court works, this guide is surely a bear necessity.
Thatcher in the zone?
Planners love a three-word phrase that can be shortened to its initials. CPO, COU, DPD, EIA, PDR – there are whole Scrabble hands full of them. But a lesser-known term has been brought to light by the furore over controversial plans for a statue of the late Margaret Thatcher in Parliament Square.
It turns out that Westminster Council has decreed that the site falls within what it calls a “monument saturation zone” – which no doubt some excitable planning officer insists on calling an MSZ. Within it, applications for new statues and monuments “will not be permitted unless there is an exceptionally good reason”.
Quite likely unique in local authority planning policies across the UK, the MSZ is, according to official guidance, intended to “encourage a more equitable distribution of new statues and memorials throughout London”.
Thatcher, a renowned proponent of equitable distribution, would no doubt have approved.
Katz’s spirit guide
It’s tough being a property entrepreneur. All that responsibility, all that ambition, all that nervous energy in the quest for the all-important first million.
It’s little wonder that our industry’s start-up stars occasionally look for a bit of help and guidance along the way. For Nick Katz, founder of bill-splitting app Acasa, that requires a three-pronged attack.
“I have a PT for physical health…” he told Diary over a (suitably leafy) lunch. “Then I have an executive coach for work stuff… and a shaman. I also have one of those. I still haven’t figured that one out yet.”
Well, let Diary know when you do, Nick – forget a staunchly buttoned-up British approach to tackling life, the universe and everything; maybe a spot of spiritual DIY is just what the (witch) doctor ordered.
The endless summer of We
Just seven years old, WeWork has already has turned workplace convention on its head.
We’re no longer a nation of office drones; we’re creators, making a life, not just a living. Not content with disrupting our 9-5, the company is eyeing the rest of our time too, with its co-living offer, WeLive.
But not everything is about innovation and disruption in the WeWorld.
Spotted outside Bank station, EC1, this week was a guy handing out WeFlyers offering discounted space. “Get your first 6 or 12 months free – on us,” it reads. “No strings attached.” All part of what it calls “the Endless Summer of We”.
For Diary this raised a number of questions: 1) If a flexible office provider is offering free rent for up to 12 months, should we worry about the economy? 2) Isn’t this marketing technique a little “old school” for a business that considers itself a cutting-edge tech operator? And 3) Isn’t an “endless summer of we” something you should discuss only with a qualified medical practitioner?
To send feedback, e-mail jess.harrold@egi.co.uk or tweet @jessharrold or @estatesgazette
