好色先生TV

Horses on a plane?

My hack hiked down to Heathrow the other week only to stay very much on terra firma. He was visiting to learn more about the airport鈥檚 拢17.6bn expansion plans and got a behind-the-scenes tour of the airport thrown in. With Heathrow鈥檚 PR behind the wheel 鈥� you need a special licence to drive 鈥渁irside鈥� (the bit where the planes are) 鈥� my reporter saw a variety of jumbo jets up close 鈥� rather like Harrison Ford 鈥� and enjoyed an impressive view of the sprawling airport from the top of its Richard Rogers-designed air traffic control tower. He tells me the most difficult PR assignments at Heathrow are the numerous requests from TV production companies to use the site, with requests to film horses there surprisingly popular.

The hills are alive

I missed the daily briefing notes from Cenkos analyst Kevin Cammack last week. I wondered what on earth could have happened to him. Perhaps a new career at his beloved West Ham down at Upton Park, er, I mean the London Stadium, had come calling? But I needn鈥檛 have worried. It was half term in his neck of the woods and he was rather pleased, it being a week later than much of the country. 鈥淚t certainly made my flights to Austria a damn sight cheaper,鈥� he says.

The Queen and I(Pad?)

Her Majesty is reported to be tech-savvy and have her own iPad but the royal household still insisted on consultants submitting pre-qualification questionnaires in good old-fashioned hard copy. The Queen鈥檚 Buckingham Palace home is to begin a 拢369m revamp from next month and consultants hoping to land a role were told to get to the palace in order to hand in submissions 鈥� as the pomp and pageantry of the Changing of the Guard meant they鈥檇 be stuck outside with the tourists.

All in the timing

I鈥檓 sure one or two wags could make a joke out of news that Alinea gave each of its partners a branded watch at Christmas. Word reaches me that they have caused quite a stir at meetings with some developers suggesting that they might follow suit. I guess there鈥檚 now no excuse for the consultant鈥檚 staff to be late for anything 鈥� unless the watches came out of a Christmas cracker.

Trainspotting

Ping! I鈥檝e just received a press release from a firm that specialises in advising businesses that are about to see their buildings knocked down by things like, for example, HS2. Birmingham property firm Gateley Hamer 鈥� which describes itself as 鈥渁 specialist property consultancy providing expert advice relating to easements and wayleaves for utilities infrastructure, and compulsory purchase and compensation鈥� (snappy, it ain鈥檛) 鈥� is warning there will be an almighty scramble for property in the city with all those homeless firms displaced by HS2 looking for new premises. The company鈥檚 boss Jonathan Stott says it is advising a number of those businesses affected on what to do next. He says the length of time to get to royal assent on the matter is probably why more haven鈥檛 made a beeline for his services up to this point and adds: 鈥淪ome probably thought this day would never come!鈥� Including, I suspect, Stott himself.