Week Ending: PwC dinner special: The real Sir Alex; Simon Rogan’s TV warning & more
TOP chef Simon Rogan is already serving up excuses about his behaviour on camera ahead of the much-anticipated BBC documentary about his relaunch of the French restaurant at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
The Michelin-starred chef, based in Cumbria where he has his own farm as well as L’Enclume restaurant, told guests at PwC’s annual Board Dinner at the Midland that he is wary of how he will be perceived by viewers.
He said: “We are under a lot of pressure on the show, and I’d just like to say that I’m not always like that.”
::
Rogan served up a delicious five course dinner for the above mentioned PwC dinner, which was addressed by former Manchester United chief executive David Gill.
While taste was at a premium, the bijou portion sizes were not to everyone’s liking, one fellow guest grumbling to Week Ending: “The bigger the plate, the smaller the portion. I’m still hungry.”
Clearly you can’t please all the people all the time.
::
DURING his speech Gill spoke warmly about his former colleague Sir Alex Ferguson, whose departure has prompted something of reversal of fortune for the Red Devils on the pitch at least.
Gill said Ferguson’s gruff public persona, is not a true reflection of the man himself.
“People outside the club never saw his warmth, and humanity. We used to meet at 7am every Friday morning for a catch-up. His morning press conference used to follow on afterwards. As he walked to it he would change his persona for the cameras, to one of staunch defence and ruthless attack.”
It is a pity these two values are not being adopted by the team led by his successor David Moyes, which is now languishing in 7th position in the Barclays Premier League and is out of both domestic cups and 2-0 against a Greek team in the Champions League.
::
AT last night’s Manchester Society of Chartered Accountants’ annual dinner, BBC business presenter Steph McGovern gave some insight into the repetition involved in a three-hour breakfast show.
One morning she was at a work place to present a piece on pensions. The idea was to interview various members of staff about their own pension arrangements. It was the type of report that appears every hour though the show.
In the first hour she was struggling to get much out of the contributors who were tired, nervous and tongue-tied. But as more of their friends tuned in and egged them on through social media they became more confident.
On the last time round she put forward her microphone but instead of offering an insight into pensions this contributor started quoting a Whitney Houston lyric.
“I believe the children our are future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.”
Sage advice but maybe not relevant to auto enrolment.
