Informing John that I'm at least two more redundancy payoffs from being able to afford one of these abodes, he took pity on me and bought us a fine luncheon.
It was over a bottle of pinot grigio – admittedly not my normal grape, but, fortunately, none of my City chums were in the vicinity to notice that I'd gone downmarket – that John informed me of two fascinating facts.
Firstly, he is a member of the clan that founded the eponymous brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire. Given that I am rather partial to a pint or three of Old Peculiar, I was hoping that I could wangle myself a couple of crates of this delicious beverage. Unfortunately, Theakston is now under different ownership.
City pals are bullish about Costain. With a strong management team in place, I trust their judgement
Hunch of the week
Foiled, I decided to do my job and ask him about the state of the industry. This is when the second interesting point emerged. Theakson said that Swan Hill would only produce 200-250 homes this year, down from almost 300 in 2002. The company is heavily exposed to the South-east market, and Theakston said that the luxury market in these parts is still being squeezed, despite noises last week from Nationwide Building Society that UK property inflation will rise 16% in 2003.
Still, Swan Hill's shares performed reasonably well last week, rising 1.3% to reach 78.5p by close of play Friday.
Wasn't that jape by the fellow dressed up as Spiderman amusing last Friday? David Chick used his newly discovered superpowers to climb a Taylor Woodrow crane in Tower Bridge to further the cause of fathers' rights. Unfortunately, City traders can be a miserable lot and took a dim view of Taywood's being forced to stop work at the development. The share price fell a penny on Friday to 226.5p.
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