It’s yours, ma’am
Diary was surprised when perusing the Crown Estate website’s “Frequently asked questions” page last week to discover a 265-word clarification as to whom “whale carcasses beached on the Crown Estate foreshore” belong. Apparently, whales come under the “royal fish” category, allowing the Queen the dubious honour of claiming ownership if they should find themselves beached. However, the Crown is at pains to emphasise that living whales should be reported to the RSPCA or SSPCA. Diary can’t help but wonder how often this comes up at the office.
Mother of all advisers
Nice to see the mother of Deloitte’s UK chief economist Ian Stewart is an avid reader of her son’s work. Stewart said he received a text message from his mother last week in response to his most recent Monday briefing, which goes out to a range of investors and analysts. His report talked of the sweet spot of the economic cycle, and his mother said her son “was sounding overly euphoric”. Mother clearly knows best, and Stewart was keen to appease and take her advice on board. In the new briefing, he was a bit more wary: “As an antidote to any hint of exuberance, here are three areas of risk.”
Wrestling for your attention
‘Tis the age of the cringe-inducing corporate video. BNP PRE’s underdog story featuring a fight against the subtly named “green giants” graced these pages only a few weeks ago. Now it is the turn of Cushman & Wakefield, which has just the thing for any clients in possession of a short attention span and a child-like sense of humour. Check out the link below to see the agent’s animated video featuring the “little wrestler” in a fearless fight against his landlord. Find the video at http://bit.ly/cushmanwrestle.
Allied given the runaround
Energetic developer Allied London has been posting the results of its staff runs directly onto its Twitter feed since March 17, seemingly by accident. Allied’s most recent run was an impressive five-miler around the capital. Diary suspects this wasn’t the personal time of chief executive Michael Ingall as the runs are being logged with the aid of a notebook under the brand of jewellery designer “House of Scarlet”.
Strike sticks Stuart’s smile
The irony didn’t escape Diary that Transport for London had to resort to paying for taxis for guests to attend a launch event for the rejuvenated Old Street station, held in the midst of a Tube strike. If the smile on the face of Stuart Anderson, TfL’s head of retail, was a little thin as he revealed the pop-up-friendly space, in collaboration with Appear Hear, he took the stick with some humour.
Perloff’s on again for UKIP
Panther Securities chairman Andrew Perloff took a swipe at the government in an otherwise relatively sedate statement accompanying the group’s full-year results. The former Conservative donor, who last year switched to UKIP, expresses his “dissatisfaction with the high levels of unnecessary bureaucracy, mostly emanating from Europe”. He is once again rallying shareholders to support UKIP with a £17,500 donation after last year’s resolution was narrowly defeated “because one large shareholder forgot to obtain his nominee holder to vote, which only goes to show how important it is for shareholders to properly participate when they are able.”
The best view in property?
EG is searching for the best views in the UK from property firms’ offices. Here is the vista from Eric Young & Co’s top-floor office at the Waverley Gate building in Edinburgh. The niche agent’s private roof garden overlooks the city centre and has stunning views across to Edinburgh castle, Arthur’s Seat and the Firth of Forth. Can you do better? Send details to comment@estatesgazette.com. But hurry – we don’t want to run two competitions in the event of Scottish devolution…
