Brum misses out on hip hops
Unusually, EG’s Birmingham Question Time debate last week turned to beers and cars. In fact, latecomers could have been forgiven for thinking they had the wrong event. But actually the boozy talk was a point being sagaciously put by panellist Steve Jude, chief executive of Citibase, urging Birmingham to take a hint from the hipsters.
“When I was a young fella in Newcastle, there were guys in the corner drinking real ale with beards, listening to folk music and everyone thought they were boring and rubbish. Fast forward to now, those types still have long beards and sensible shoes, but they drink craft beer and they have become hipsters.” He concluded: “Birmingham is stuck in the real ale era.”
Not to be outdone in the analogy stakes, Carol Coombes, chief executive of Cracking Leadership, then compared the city to a Skoda: “A car with a really bad reputation but when you get in one you say ‘wow I didn’t know it did this’.”
Booze, moobs… and chainsaws
The Bristol Property Agents Association annual dinner is always a lively night out. People making up for Dry January with a vengeance makes for laughter, slurred speech and more than a few broken glasses – as well as a good deal of money raised for charity. As one agent drunkenly explained while his colleagues poked fun at his physique: “It isn’t the BPAA until someone is feeling someone else’s man boobs.” It is sure to be an equally eventful 12 months under the new president, Alder King’s John Benson, who was – inexplicably and arguably quite concerningly – described by his colleagues, completely without context, as “quite good with a chainsaw”. Diary can only imagine what will be next.
Smalls consolation
The 17th City Ski Championships took place over the weekend in Verbier, Switzerland, where one competitor went to extra lengths to make sure he was ahead of the game. Diary heard that Knight Frank partner Oliver Sadler was so keen to come top in the men’s amateur individual event that, without a professional racing kit, he opted to ski in just his long-johns to be as aerodynamic as possible. This can save a skier up to two seconds, apparently. However, he only managed to place ninth. Out of 10. He should have kept his kit on.
An office to be proud of
The lengths to which companies are going to attract and retain the best talent are well documented. Certainly, cycle ramps, bean bags, buffets and arcade games are some of the coolest features Diary knows of. But being super-cool comes at a price, as Mintel is quickly finding out. Its new London home in Playhouse Yard, EC4, has all the trimmings: pool table, basketball court, Caribbean food shack and sushi-style conveyor belt to boot. But staff don’t just want to tell their mates about it, they want to show them, and they are bringing them in in droves. Security guards, we understand, are being kept very busy.
Looks familiar
Sometimes a story comes along that is so funny that Diary can’t resist the chance for two bites of the cherry. So, many thanks to tech taxi start-up Uber for giving us the perfect opportunity for a second airing of the ill-advised logo chosen by the British Council for Offices to showcase its upcoming research paper. We’re not sure who copied who, but clearly both organisations believe themselves to be on fertile ground.
Weeding out the revellers
BuckleyGrayYeoman has shown its witty side with the invitation below to “roll up” to its party at the British Council for Offices conference in Amsterdam. The firm of architects invites fellow “rollers” to get involved with its “joint venture” from 10pm onwards. We can only imagine the calibre of networking that will be going on at that particular event. And just hope the host orders snacks and canapés in bulk to keep its guests fully satisfied.
