黑洞社区

Helping hands

All being well, the board of Tottenham Hotspur will make a decision later this month that will see the football club confirm its move to Wembley stadium next season while Mace completes building its new 61,000-seat ground. Demolition of the part of the ground that hasn鈥檛 been torn down could even start this month as well, although I personally think the club might be given a hand with this bit of the work this Sunday. That is when Spurs are due to line up against Millwall in the FA Cup. For example, Millwall could help them by ripping out all the seats 鈥�

Deux tours de France

By now, more than 200 cyclists will be 24 hours into a six-day trip to Cannes, 1,500km away in the south of France. The long-distance cycle ride, which coincides with the Mipim property event, is hoping to raise 拢500,000 for the children鈥檚 charity Coram. For the first time ever, there will be two routes making up the annual charity ride, with one going via Folkestone-Calais and the other Portsmouth-Caen. The riders of both pelotons will meet again in Aix-en-Provence, on the fifth day of the event, to ride into Cannes together on the final day. I looked into the idea for a bit then divided 1,500 by six and quickly came up with my answer: 鈥淣on, merci.鈥�

Nice little fixer upper

Agent JLL is advertising a four-bed house in London鈥檚 desirable Chelsea for 拢4.75m. Par for the course, I guess, but there鈥檚 a catch for anyone that thinks this is a bargain. It needs a 鈥渇ull makeover鈥�, the blurb says. Let JLL director Giles Cook allay any fears though: 鈥淲hile taking on a project can be daunting, it does have its benefits, from creating a tailor-made home to paying less stamp duty, as the purchase price is lower than the value of the finished article.鈥� Cook reckons, post-makeover, the owner will have a 拢7m home on their hands. Wasn鈥檛 the last housing crash meant to have ended this sort of thing?

The once and future king

It鈥檚 the time of year when chief executives have to earn their corn: it鈥檚 reporting season and over the next few weeks many will be telling the press and analysts what鈥檚 good and bad. I heard from an industry friend of mine who said whenever he鈥檚 seen a group of CEOs in a room together at some shindig they鈥檙e all prepared to politely disagree with each other. But he tells me they sit with a sort of awed silence whenever Ray O鈥橰ourke speaks. Perhaps they鈥檙e pricking up their ears to get his tips on succession planning, which he says he started at Laing O鈥橰ourke back in 2006. Now, 11 years on and a few names later, it seems he鈥檚 still no nearer to naming who will take over from him in 2020.

Like father, like son?

Speaking of succession, no less a figure than Prince William was among 500 guests at the 30th anniversary dinner for property industry charity Land Aid last week, a wonderful occasion at London鈥檚 Guildhall, which raised more than 拢250,000 for youth homelessness projects. I did wonder whether the Duke of Cambridge might be tempted to put a bid in on the silent auction, with one of the prizes up for grabs, courtesy of Mace and crane firm HTC Wolffkran, the chance to drive a crane in London. However, the prize, which fetched a cool 拢1,800, went elsewhere 鈥� which is probably for the best. Who knows what design changes would have been swiftly inflicted on some the capital鈥檚 schemes if Wills has learned anything from his carbuncle-loathing father.