Law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner this week played host to the London debut of an Edinburgh Fringe smash-hit – Brexit the Musical. BLP’s Adelaide House Auditorium may seem like an unusual venue for a critically acclaimed (four stars, says The Times) show that sold out up north – but then, it was written by one of the partners. Chris Bryant, antitrust and competition lawyer with a specialism in real estate, was just the Brexit expert to put the 2016 referendum on stage. The plot sees the “hero” Boris Johnson – joined by sidekick “Govey” – on a quest to reveal the lost plans for Brexit, in order to save the nation from disaster. Other all-singing, all-dancing figures include Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and David Cameron. But with Michael Gove and Boris as the key players, perhaps Bryant should have written it as a pantomime: “He’s behind you!” “Oh, no he isn’t!”
A soundtrack to Southwark
The building’s alive, with the sound of music, as Julie Andrews probably never sang. But if she visited Southwark this weekend, she just might. Seven of the borough’s landmarks will be celebrated in song as part of the ongoing Musicity project. The initiative, which has been going since 2010, invites musicians to pen odes to buildings, with the tracks then available for streaming at the very sites that inspired them. Between September 8-10, it’s Southwark’s turn, which means such diverse locations as The Shard, Borough Market and Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre are playing host to choice cuts from artists including DJ and producer Throwing Shade. Why not get yourself down to SE1 to find out if Mercury Music Prize-nominated William Doyle’s homage to an icon of the London skyline is better than Diary’s own first thought: A Shard Day’s Night.
Slow and steady wins the race
There isn’t an EG Award for new logo of the year – but maybe there should be. And there’s no doubt that this cute little chap would, ironically, be a frontrunner. Meet Gravis the tortoise, mascot of the rebranded company of the same name (formerly Gravis Capital Partners, the parent asset management group of GCP Student Living). Gravis is a Galápagos tortoise, one of the world’s most long-lived creatures. As the firm explains in its brochure, “The Little Book of Long Term”, he’s the perfect representative for their grounded approach to investment that offers investors “radically steady returns”. It says: “Like us, he’s steady. Resilient. And has equally long-term ambitions.” When it comes to fund management, maybe a tortoise approach reaps more rewards than the more hare-brained alternative.
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Law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner this week played host to the London debut of an Edinburgh Fringe smash-hit – Brexit the Musical. BLP’s Adelaide House Auditorium may seem like an unusual venue for a critically acclaimed (four stars, says The Times) show that sold out up north – but then, it was written by one of the partners. Chris Bryant, antitrust and competition lawyer with a specialism in real estate, was just the Brexit expert to put the 2016 referendum on stage. The plot sees the “hero” Boris Johnson – joined by sidekick “Govey” – on a quest to reveal the lost plans for Brexit, in order to save the nation from disaster. Other all-singing, all-dancing figures include Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and David Cameron. But with Michael Gove and Boris as the key players, perhaps Bryant should have written it as a pantomime: “He’s behind you!” “Oh, no he isn’t!”
A soundtrack to Southwark
The building’s alive, with the sound of music, as Julie Andrews probably never sang. But if she visited Southwark this weekend, she just might. Seven of the borough’s landmarks will be celebrated in song as part of the ongoing Musicity project. The initiative, which has been going since 2010, invites musicians to pen odes to buildings, with the tracks then available for streaming at the very sites that inspired them. Between September 8-10, it’s Southwark’s turn, which means such diverse locations as The Shard, Borough Market and Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre are playing host to choice cuts from artists including DJ and producer Throwing Shade. Why not get yourself down to SE1 to find out if Mercury Music Prize-nominated William Doyle’s homage to an icon of the London skyline is better than Diary’s own first thought: A Shard Day’s Night.
Slow and steady wins the race
There isn’t an EG Award for new logo of the year – but maybe there should be. And there’s no doubt that this cute little chap would, ironically, be a frontrunner. Meet Gravis the tortoise, mascot of the rebranded company of the same name (formerly Gravis Capital Partners, the parent asset management group of GCP Student Living). Gravis is a Galápagos tortoise, one of the world’s most long-lived creatures. As the firm explains in its brochure, “The Little Book of Long Term”, he’s the perfect representative for their grounded approach to investment that offers investors “radically steady returns”. It says: “Like us, he’s steady. Resilient. And has equally long-term ambitions.” When it comes to fund management, maybe a tortoise approach reaps more rewards than the more hare-brained alternative.
Student life of luxury
The youth of today, they don’t know they’re born. When Diary was a student, we used to live in one room, all 26 of us, no furniture, half the floor was missing, and we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of falling. Actually, that may have been a Monty Python sketch. But the point is, student digs were basic back then. Not so, now. Word reaches us of what must surely be the ultimate in university luxury, courtesy of accommodation providers Hello Student and the Conran Shop. Together they claim to have “redefined student accommodation” with what they call “The Conran Shop Executive Studio”. The initiative begins with 26 studios across Cardiff, all boasting “an unrivalled level of style and comfort”, courtesy of the luxury retailer’s home furnishings. And you know they mean business, because even the press release has the Conran Shop floral wallpaper as its background. Just what every student wants.
Let’s do lunch
The “Lunch with the FT” interview column has been a weekly institution at the Financial Times for more than 20 years, with a raft of major business and cultural figures having been wined and dined in that time. But when one choice story from the FT archives was brought to Diary’s attention this week, it got us thinking. The tale details an October 1995 lunch over which Nigel Spivey quizzed the 79-year-old poet Gavin Ewart. The monetary cost of the meal is lost to time, but the bill was apparently “somewhat overshadowed by the aftermath”. After a largely liquid lunch, Spivey reported that they “departed the Café Royal in a moderately straight line” and he deposited Ewart on a bus home. The next day, he received a call from the poet’s wife. “There are two things you need to know,” she said. “The first is that Gavin came home yesterday happier than I have seen him in a long time. The second – and you are not to feel bad about this – is that he died this morning.” Now, Diary’s thought is this: the property world loves a good lunch. And there must be some anecdotes to match – or perhaps even top – this one. So please tweet us @estatesgazette, with the hashtag #legendarylunch, to share the stories that you, ahem, dine out on.
