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Orange is not the new black

Interserve workers at Edinburgh Zoo have stopped wearing hi-vis in parts of the estate, after zoo keepers said it made some animals, including two lions and Britain鈥檚 only giant pandas, 鈥渦pset鈥�. Staff for the contractor, which had its facilities management contract at the zoo renewed this month, are also mindful of aroused animals. I鈥檓 told that during lions鈥� and koalas鈥� mating seasons, workers refrain from using noisy air blowers, instead picking up a broom to clear leaves from paths. But I鈥檓 sure some investors might be wishing the contractor, which made a pre-tax loss in its last financial year, was as sensitive to its bottom line as it is to copulating koalas.

Project positivity

As a cheerleader for our industry, I鈥檓 always glad to hear about companies landing contracts, what with the jobs these create and the income they generate. So I was delighted to learn that Morgan Sindall had been appointed to build a 鈥渘ew concept鈥� development near Leeds. By the sounds of the press release that wafted on to my desk, the project was really something 鈥� with its 鈥渓iving green roof鈥� and 鈥渦pper-floor viewing deck鈥�. However, the brakes were quickly slammed on my enthusiasm when the blurb got to the bit about it being a motorway service area. 

Buyer鈥檚 market

The apartment in Florida where Zaha Hadid lived until her death in 2016 has been sold for nearly $6m (拢4.6m). Hadid personally designed the three-bedroom sea-view apartment in W South Beach, near Miami, while she was working on a nearby residential tower, the 62-storey block One Thousand Museum. As you would expect, the place looks magnificent. Less so the price. I heard the sale price was a hefty discount on the original $10m (拢7.7m) asking price.

Frosty atmosphere?

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at the get-together of housebuilding chief executives organised by the Home Builders Federation last week. Among those attending were Persimmon chief Jeff Fairburn and his counterpart at Redrow, John Tutte. Just a couple of days before the shindig, Redrow鈥檚 chairman Steve Morgan again took aim at the bonuses pocketed by Fairburn and others at Persimmon, telling this magazine they were a 鈥渄isgrace鈥�. As it was a chief execs only affair, Morgan wasn鈥檛 there. Maybe Fairburn and Tutte discussed the weather.

I鈥檒l drink to that

At the start of the week, Cenkos analyst Kevin Cammack always gives a preview of the week ahead. His entry for today reads: 鈥淣othing scheduled, although I may raise a cheap glass to the Wetherspoon鈥檚 finals.鈥� Which, I must admit, made me chortle.

Must-not-see location

Cammack will no doubt have been poring over Galliford Try鈥檚 full-year results on Wednesday and so were my hacks. Galliford Try bigwigs were due to take investors on site visits during the day. I think we can safely assume that the firm鈥檚 job to build the bypass around Aberdeen 鈥� where losses have run into the millions 鈥� has been scrubbed off the list. Fair to say, it probably never made it in the first place.