It has been a while since Diary has rummaged down the back of its sofa for a few spare pennies after seeing an asset for sale land in its inbox. But if there is one asset class we know matures well, it’s wine. So why wouldn’t our heads (or glasses) be turned after a 12-acre vineyard in Worcestershire was put up for sale?
The Sixteen Ridges Vineyard in Shrawley is being put up for sale through Fisher German, with a further 108 acres of land, as farmer John Ballard steps back from the farming life after 50 years of service. For a mere £1.25m, the lucky new owner of Sixteen Ridges would have not just 62 acres of arable land and amenity woodland, plus a couple of agricultural buildings, but some 30-plus tonnes of grapes with which to make litres upon litres of glorious wine. Award-winning reds, rosés and sparkling wines. Diary doesn’t quite have the whole £1.25m, but can probably find £1.25 if anyone fancies forming a collective.
Final score
Diary has, with its alternative legal hat on, waded through many a High Court judgment struggling to work out who exactly has won. This can be compounded on the occasions (not as rare as you might think) when both sides claim victory. So we have to sing the praises of Judge David Hodge QC, who managed a rare feat of judicial clarity when resolving a lease dispute over a luxury hotel in Wigan. Inspired by the passion the locals have for their rugby league (and, to a slightly lesser extent, football) he provided the perfect summary at the end of his complex, 54-page ruling (in which he found that the local council had been entitled to serve a break notice and essentially buy back the stately home Haigh Hall for around £5m). “For followers of Wigan Warriors,” he said, “I would adjudge the final score to be in the order of 20-6 to the council. (Followers of Warrington Wolves may have reason to recall that score.) For followers of the Latics (Wigan Athletic FC to the incognisant) the score is probably in the order of 4-1 to the council.” At the end of the day, that’s exactly what we need from our judiciary. We can only hope that his fellow judges were paying attention.
Making it up as we go along
The office is dead and gone. The office is alive and kicking. Workers are likely to be in the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays once the coronavirus pandemic passes. No, wait – Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hang on, make that Mondays to Fridays, but only until midday. Everyone has a view on what our workplaces and working practices will need to look like in the coming months and years, and whatever your view, you’re likely to have no problem finding companies and organisations that are putting it into practice – or doing the exact opposite. So thank you Carolyn Everson, vice-president of Facebook’s global business group, for some much-needed and refreshing honesty – this is all just guesswork for now. In a BBC piece on how big tech companies are adapting their working practices during the pandemic, Everson is frank about the fact that this is all still a work in progress. “None of us have this all figured out,” she says. “We are making this up on the fly.” The future of the office – fake it till you make it.
NLA goes full flex
One occupier seemingly committing to a flexible future is New London Architecture. The think tank has given up its space in the Building Centre in Fitzrovia, arguing that it now wants to “get out and about”. “We’ll borrow theatres and cinemas for lectures, empty shop units for our exhibitions, bring our audiences together for walking and building tours, host networking events in different parts of the city to explore new buildings and spaces,” say co-founders Peter Murray and Nick McKeogh in a letter to members. “We can use the streets, in a time when the outside has become even more of a precious commodity.” The aim is to be more visible and to “make more noise in support of London”, although NLA says it may pick another permanent home eventually. For now, though, it sounds pretty set on a new way forward. Facebook, take note!
In it for the long haul
Suffering Zoom or Teams fatigue? Spare a thought for Cambridge City Council’s planning committee, which spent more than five hours at its most recent meeting debating a city centre office scheme. The session included multiple breaks – the chair returned from one to inform members of the quality of a slice of cake he’d just tucked into alongside a cup of tea – and even after a decision was reached the panel had to spend the best part of another hour agreeing reasons. Small wonder, then, that two of the committee members said the debate was the longest single-item session they had sat on in their careers. It certainly won’t be remembered fondly by the applicant, which would have had to sit through the majority of a working day on that Teams call awaiting a decision on its recommended scheme – only to have it rejected. Ouch!
Share your tales from the quirky side of the property industry by e-mailing diary@egi.co.uk
