黑洞社区

Into the sunset

It seems that having Multiplex as a client has proved too much for mighty David Yelland. The former Sun editor resigned his position as senior vice president of Multiplex鈥檚 PR firm, Weber Shandwick, this week in favour of taking up a position at rival Brunswick. Rumours that Multiplex account handler Fiona Maclachlan 鈥� who formerly worked for Yelland at The Sun 鈥� is about to jump ship as well are apparently unfounded.

鈥淪he鈥檚 still here; she鈥檚 still on secondment to Multiplex,鈥� confirmed a source close to Maclachlan. Obviously the possibility of another raft of court appearances against Cleveland Bridge is still tempting for some.

Where there鈥檚 a Will, there鈥檚 a way out

Update from Bradford, where the good burghers had the bright idea of recruiting the town鈥檚 cab drivers as ambassadors for the city鈥檚 regeneration plans (Hansom, 21 July). But the cabbies appear to have delivered their verdict after none of their number turned up to a presentation of the Will Alsop-inspired scheme. Maybe, just maybe, there aren鈥檛 that many Alsop devotees among Bradford鈥檚 cab-driving fraternity.

Two鈥檚 a company

While Bovis is coping with the upheavals following the departure of chief executive Jason Millett, I hear that two former Bovis supremos have been quietly planning a move into the world of property development. Bovis stalwart Les Chatfield is apparently teaming up with former construction boss John Anderson to set up the venture. It鈥檚 tempting to wonder if Millett鈥檚 phone has been ringing, but we鈥檒l have to wait and see.

Credit: Scott Garrett

Cry freedom

A housing officer at one of London鈥檚 most notorious prisons tells me that he is suffering more than most in the current heatwave. The officer鈥檚 job is to liaise with social housing providers and inmates to help the prisoners relocate once their sentences are spent. Apparently, because of the hot weather, he has taken to working in his civilian clothes. Only trouble is, whenever the cell block is locked down by the burly prison officers, our man on the inside keeps finding himself pinned up against the wall and mistaken for an inmate. He says he now has to go round with his ID permanently at the ready and is terrified of losing it and ending up being banged up for years.

Sorry, I gotta fly

My spies at the Department for Communities and Local Government have revealed the real reason for the delay to the English Partnerships鈥揌ousing Corporation merger. Apparently, a decision couldn鈥檛 be made before the parliamentary recess because Ruth Kelly was due to go on holiday last week. Observers have been left wondering why Kelly couldn鈥檛 have delayed her summer vacation by a few days, given that parliament is due to break for three months 鈥�

The green house effect

David Cameron may have portrayed himself as a dream client for sustainability firms but the reality may be a little different. One contractor who鈥檚 tendered for the 拢1m publicity stunt 鈥� gutting a five-bedroom terraced house in west London and giving it an eco-makeover complete with rooftop wind turbine 鈥� predicts it鈥檚 going to be a headache for whoever takes it on: 鈥淐ameron wants everything in the way of mod cons, but he wants to keep it as low budget as possible. Someone鈥檚 going to take it for a loss.鈥� He predicts the real budget is half a million.

Any bets on which of the green gadgets will be the first to go?