Everyone’s looking for a little bit of get-up-and-go at this gloomy point of the year, and Diary has news of a better option than spending hundreds buying some YouTuber’s “hydration drinks” on eBay or that gym membership you signed up for with good intentions on 1 January and haven’t used yet. Sounding far more fun, Energize Games has signed a lease to occupy 7,800 sq ft at Cain International’s mixed-use Islington Square development, where it will launch a new “immersive gaming concept” that brings together live gaming, entertainment and fitness. Apparently, it will see teams of players compete in a “technologically state-of-the-art room”, facing challenges that test them both physically and mentally. Activities will include jumping, ducking, throwing, moving quickly, finding patterns and working together – quite possibly all at the same time. If you’re reading, Energize, Diary and the rest of the team are available as guinea pigs… if we can summon up the energy.
Brick by brick
Diary has long championed Lego as the ideal gateway for the young real estate professionals of the future, so we have to applaud Claire Pagett, head of digital portfolio delivery at public procurement specialist Crown Commercial Service. Pagett revealed on LinkedIn that her youngest son asked her what she does for a living – and, to be honest, her job title has us scratching our head, let alone an infant. So, “rather than waffling about project management” (Pagett’s words, not ours), together they set about building a Lego set of the London skyline. “It’s had a few dramas (upset stakeholder),” Pagett wrote alongside a photo of the part-complete model, “is a little behind schedule and suffered a small amount of rebuild (change requests, scope creep and missing requirements) all of which have been blamed on the design document… but we are now delivering a quality product!” Would they like to come and build Diary’s Lego Stranger Things house next?
Stair of the dog
In the news drought of early January, it was a relief to hear from Miller Homes about a new pet-friendly feature in one of its latest show homes at the Longshore Village site at Blyth, Northumberland. Diary, as you know, will leap at any chance to win readers’ favour with a cute animal photo, after all. Miller, bought last year by Apollo Global Management for £1.2bn, appears to have invested some of that moolah in an interior designer. Based on some pioneering research findings that dogs like to be in the vicinity of their owners (who knew?), the result was a bespoke doggy hang-out under the stairs – complete with bed, wipeable tiles and hooks for leads and harnesses. Here, your dog can “relax but still feel like they are protecting the property”. Whether or not your furry friend will give up all claim to the sofa warrants further investigation. The only other thing worrying Diary is where to put the ironing board, hoover, wellies and other detritus currently shoved in the cupboard under the stairs.
Won’t somebody please think of the animals?
Property litigation often comes at a very human cost, but it is rather more rare for innocent animals to be affected. So bravo to Judge Pearce, up in Manchester, who ended 2022 by speaking out on behalf of the various star residents of South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria. The judge urged the current and former operators of the zoo – locked in a dispute over various assets – to overcome their differences and stop wasting money that could be put to better use on a bitter court battle, motivated by personal animosity. “Any observer of this dispute cannot fail to be horrified by the course of this litigation,” the judge said. “Large amounts of time and money, which could be put to the cause of animal welfare, are instead being spent on the pursuit of obscure legal argument, seemingly motivated by bad feeling between various people.” To be fair, that could describe most property disputes that go to court, but if the wellbeing of the lions, tigers, bears (oh my!) and other creatures that inhabit the zoo can’t inspire a sensible settlement, we don’t know what can.
Share your tales from the quirky side of the property industry by e-mailing diary@eg.co.uk
