Investec winces at being called a stock broker, it prefers to be known as a wealth manager – how common. It is perhaps not surprising that this financial services behemoth sponsors sporting events including the Epsom Derby.
As an old legacy client I only pay an annual fee of £300 (inc VAT) so not too much of my money is being wasted on these grandiose projects. On the contrary, they subsidise my tickets to Opera Holland Park for which I am grateful. Now they have stepped in again to improve my quality of life.
As noted here previously, the Gaucho restaurant chain is in administration putting merry riparian lunches at their Richmond branch in jeopardy. Investec has come to the rescue with another bank, SC Lowry, and will buy all sixteen Gauchos and save 750 jobs -hurrah! As it happens it’s Alistair’s turn to buy me lunch so no prizes for guessing where he takes me.
On a different subject I am struck by the contrast between the flats in the foreground built in the 1970s and the Riverside Studios development in the background.
Unfortunately the London skyline is being defaced by huge blocks of flats akin to office blocks that are disproportionate for residential use. The older building looks like a dolls’ house in comparison. Ogden Nash quipped that he left no tern unstoned. Are these the birds to which he refers?
