Hansom: Be there or be square

Reality TV

James Caan was at RESI, the annual housebuilding conference held at the Celtic Manor Hotel in Wales, to reprise his TV
role as a fire-breathing dragon in the event’s version of Dragons’ Den. Bruce Ritchie of Residential Land, Tony Pidgley of Berkeley Group and Nick Candy of Candy & Candy filled the other seats on the judging panel, primed to chew up four brave entrepreneurs invited along to pitch property-themed ventures. Three of the four ideas had more than a passing resemblance to property listings website Rightmove.com, to the delight of the delegation from the website. They joked to my hack they’d considered running a sweepstake on how many mentions they’d get. A sideline in gambling might go some way to making up for the stagnant housing market, I suppose.

A right royal send-off

From RESI to the Alliance Ball in aid of Unicef, held at Battersea Evolution in south-west London and featuring the departing Lend Lease director Julian Daniel as the host with the most. True to form, Daniel attempted to turn the lavish black-tie dinner for the country’s leading developers into an episode of a northern game show. Daniel, who is expected to resurface at an old-fashioned builder by the end of the year, oversaw a game of bingo - the wife of John Doyle chairman Stef Stefanou won a car - an online auction (“as long as no one nicks the iPads on the tables please”), and a raffle where the three winners were paraded on stage to pick blindly between a week’s holiday in the Indian ocean, a TV, a case of wine and a caravan (OK, there wasn’t actually a caravan). So which company will Daniel be performing at next? Answers on a postcard please - you’ve got the time it takes the board to revolve …

The boss is back

Still at the Alliance Ball and my spies inform me that Multiplex’s Wembley stadium project director, Ashley Muldoon, was out to play in his new role as chief executive of Brookfield covering Canada, the Middle East and Asia, the UK and Europe (excluding the Wembley vicinity apparently). Ash, as he’s known to his pals, is famous across the subcontractor community for the no-nonsense way he handled the stadium workers, unions and the press. But now, with Brookfield being rebranded to include the Multiplex name again, is Muldoon ready to be interviewed by Building once more? Or is he simply not man enough? Fingers crossed.

Are you dancing?

News reaches me that Nick Candy’s girlfriend - Neighbours actress and one-time pop star Holly Valance - will be appearing in Strictly Come Dancing. Valance will be taking to the dancefloor with “heartthrob” professional dance partner Artem Chigvintsev. Chigvintsev last year took such a liking to his dance partner and eventual winner, soap actress Kara Tointon, that they have been dating ever since. So should the usually cocksure Candy be nervous about his partner succumbing to Artem’s charm? Not according to Valance, who apparently has told the tabloid press the two couples are already planning double dates. Something tells me gossip column favourite Candy may enjoy a return to the limelight.

Ritchie’s angels

How do you ensure you’re the talking point of RESI? A polished speech just won’t cut it, it seems. Residential Land chief executive Bruce Ritchie stood out at the annual housebuilding conference thanks to his entourage of attractive women. It was unclear what the group of about eight women did for the developer, although their roles at the event were fairly clear - they were seen serving drinks and flattering Ritchie’s associates on both nights. The group also doubled up as makeshift bodyguards, shielding high-rollers including James Caan from other delegates in the lobby bar. Judging by the comments of sozzled conference-goers, they made quite an impression.