Zamora enters the big league
Last week former West Ham, QPR and Tottenham striker Bobby Zamora decided to hang up his boots at the age of 35. The co-founder of alternative affordable housing provider Legacy Foundation’s announcement came only two days after his well-received appearance at Estates Gazette’s London Question Time. Perhaps the last stage of his initiation into the property industry was what made him finally bring an end to his playing career. Turn to page 44 for full coverage.
Totally tropical taste
When CBRE’s Bay Area vice chairman Dan Harvey pulled out a rather suspect looking plastic bag of white powder over coffee in London last week, eyebrows were raised. “This isn’t what it looks like,” laughed Harvey (a relief to all as he proceeded to sprinkle the residue into his Americano). “It’s actually really healthy. This is effectively coconut oil in powder form.” We believe you, but maybe a slightly less conspicuous receptacle should be top of your Christmas list this year?
Come rain or shine
Mustering enthusiasm for photoshoots in winter to mark the start of construction can’t be much fun. Diary’s sympathies went out to Countryside, Home Group and Three Rivers District Council which started work on site at their South Oxhey scheme in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the most unappealing of conditions. To paraphrase the old saying: two out of five smiles ain’t bad.
Taking American inspiration
HMRC’s 560,000 sq ft assignment of Barclays’ lease at 10 South Colonnade in Canary Wharf, E14, last week was the largest leasing deal of the year and it is no surprise that the deal was given a project name to keep it under wraps. Project Memphis was the name chosen for the mega move to “Ten S C”. Get it?
Holding out for a hero?
Earlier this year, Matthews & Goodman office agent David Laws came to the rescue of a young lady in Manchester city centre when her mobile phone was snatched out of her hands by a crook. That turned out to be a bad move for the thief, who was chased by Laws, rugby tackled and restrained until the police arrived, with a “sturdy” passerby sitting on him to prevent his escape. In homage to his heroism, Laws was handed the Sword of Valour at the Office Agents Society’s annual lunch last week. Colleagues have also mocked up a Judge Dredd-style logo of Laws with the catch line “I am the Laws”. Bravo!
Smart tech meets not so smart users
“Oohs” and “aahs” emanated from the Estates Gazette office this week when Bruntwood’s promo gadget for Neo, it’s latest co-working building in Manchester, arrived on journalists’ desks. The virtual reality headset, when twinned with a smartphone, gives users an in-building feel of the project. That said, given the time it took the slightly slow-on-the-uptake Diary to get it to work, it probably would have been just as quick to hop on a train from Euston.
