The final account

Rendered speechless

We must pass on some shock news from our very successful QS Awards, held last Friday at the rather splendid Vinopolis venue in central London. The ceremony rendered David Bucknall, who’s not shy of a word or two at the best of times, speechless. Winning the QS Champion of the Year award was clearly an emotional experience for the brummie Bucknall Austin boss. When offered the chance to sum up his feelings on stage he was unable to open his gob. “That’s never happened before, believe me,” a colleague revealed to us later on in the afternoon.

Knowles at large

We must commend Knowles chairman Roger Knowles on the diary he keeps on the firm’s website. What a month our Roger has had – he has taken in most major conurbations in Australia, as well as fitting in trips to Dubai, Singapore and Abu Dhabi (can you spare us any air miles, Rog?). Most of his time was spent holding seminars across the globe, but Roger also had time to fill us in on a few more personal details – he listened to a band playing Jingle Bells in a Sydney park on a hot Saturday afternoon; went jogging in Melbourne next to a river bank and “was fortunate as the weather was mild with a slight breeze”; and enjoyed a “6/7 out of 10 category” breakfast at the Ridges Hotel in Singapore. Roger also passes on a top tip for potential globetrotters – don’t leave airports in the early morning as “most airports are akin to a rugby scrum”. Choose lunch time instead when the traffic in an airport is much more civilised.

Hall stands by his tastes

Faithful & Gould managing director Richard Hall (pictured, left) has been out in Tennessee winning business, picking up impressive contracts such as a commission from the state government of Tennessee to overhaul its property strategy.

Hall has also picked up some of the local culture during his travels. We hear he’s developed a penchant for the country and western lifestyle, from cowboy hats to the music of Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and of course the self-styled first lady of country music, Tammy Wynette.

We wait with some trepidation to see how this impacts on F&G’s holding music.