Guess who?
Colliers head of cross-border capital markets Richard Divall has a suitably international lookalike, a mischievous colleague points out. In keeping with his child-like enthusiasm for a good property deal, Diary was delighted to discover he bears a striking resemblance to Frans, one of the characters from the 1980s board game.
Monsieur pantalon rouge
Architect and mayor of Bristol George Ferguson is noted for always wearing red trousers. But perhaps he is taking things a little too far if one sighting at MIPIM was anything to go by. Ferguson – or someone who looked remarkably like him – was spotted at a party in a hilltop villa taking a swim in just his red trousers despite swimming trunks being on offer for guests. You can take the man out of Bristol, but not his red trousers…
Whine and dine
At a particularly raucous dinner in Cannes old town over an outrageously expensive bottle of vintage Armagnac, Diary’s generous host revealed that the good times have been back in his world for quite some time. “I have my driver out here all the way from the UK, but I wish I had come in a private jet now,” he said, loudly. “We did that on a trip to the Caribbean once. We had to make an unexpected landing on an island on the way down.” To refuel? Yes, well, sort of. “We needed more wine. We landed, picked up a couple of cases and a box of fresh crab and continued on our merry way.” Very merry indeed.
A pair of knits?
Two employees at London agency Levy may regret making a bet at the Majestic bar last week. After an afternoon of drinking in the sun, partner Simon Heilpern and associate Tom Jeffery could not agree on whether a prominent West End block would be sold to a certain party or not, so they came up with a wager. The loser of the bet must buy the most expensive pair of socks they can find in London and give them to the winner. This could be an expensive business for whoever has to foot the bill.
Ready for your close up?
You’d think that for those used to staring at warehouses on the M4 all day, a gorgeous view of the Cannes skyline on a spring afternoon would be a feast for the eyes. Not so, however, as Diary discovered at the Shedmasters event at MIPIM, when we scaled to the top level of the opulent villa to discover a certain management consultant commandeering Team EG’s high-tech camera. If only he’d been using it for some noble journalistic cause, rather than to sneak a peek at the locals on the beach…
Nuts about football
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger needs a new investment strategy, according to Tristan Capital boss Ric Lewis, who dined with the Frenchman last month, together with six other property grandees. Lewis says: “He needs to know when it comes to buying players, if you are going to buy prime you’ve got to have nuts. You might overpay, but think about the long game and the upside further through the cycle.” Guaranteed FA Cup win for the Gunners if the roles were reversed, Diary reckons.
Polished performance
Fancy having your shoes polished by Rob Madden, head of office agency at CBRE? A long-held dream? Pop along to the offices of fit-out specialist Area Sq at 22 Newman Street in Soho between 1pm and 3pm on 28 March. Madden and fellow bootblack, Richard Harding of Bray Fox Smith, will clean your boots – in return for a donation to Cancer UK.
A real act of selfieness
Southampton-based chartered surveyor Hughes Ellard decided to opt for a selfie to publicise its office move to Enterprise House at the city’s Ocean Village. Pictured below at the bottom capturing the moment is director Russell Mogridge. He said: “This is our A-list line-up in Southampton, although we appreciate we are unlikely to attract 3.2m retweets like the ?Oscars selfie taken by Hollywood ?star Bradley Cooper on behalf of talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, we might reach 25, if our clients and families take pity on us.”
