Week Ending: Stretching musical metaphors; Business Heavyweights; Stanleys on tour

WHEN Peter Crompton of Warrington property agent the BE Group took to the stage at the town’s annual property review last week his Powerpoint presentation flashed up a picture of Thin Lizzy.

“The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy mirrors property activity,” said Crompton, who then went on to talk about activity during the year. Eh?

It wasn’t quite clear where he was coming from, then he mentioned the number of deals involving institutional investors.

“The institutional boys are certainly back in town, and to the fore”. Ah. But that wasn’t all.

“The retail sector was summed up by this Simon & Garfunkel classic” – cue a shot of the Sounds of Silence cover.

He hammered home the point of the dead retail market with a picture of The Specials single Ghost Town and appeared to finish on a positive note – D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get Better.

But that wasn’t the end. Crompton has prepared and presented the property review for many years and is now retiring from the BE Group. He told the audience he was not sure if he’ll be involved in the future and used a Rolling Stones lyric to explain the situation.

“This could be the last time, may be the last time I don’t know.” Then he squeezed in one more. “Keep up the good work and follow the advice of The Beatles”, he said before flashing up the famous Abbey Road shot with the legend “Let It BE”. Ooof.

Host Jim Hancock summed it up by describing the presentation as a “metaphor-stetching performance”.

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MORE business people have signed up to thump each other in the name of charity.

The Business Heavyweights bouts will be held at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on June 4 in aid of The Factory Youth Zone in Harpurhey.

New contenders are: Paul ‘Lights Out’ Lines, a director at investment bank Altium; Andy ‘The Hitman’ Holt, a consultant at DLA Piper; and Nick ‘The White Rhino’ Buckley, a senior clerk at Exchange Chambers.

Already confirmed are Deloitte’s Pat Loftus, Northedge’s Ray Stenton, Andrew Gardiner of TSG Commercial Property Consultants, Cowgill Holloway corporate finance director John Fowler, and Mark Burgess, managing director of Capital Properties.

A website for the event is now live at www.businessheavyweights.co.uk and you can see below Nick ‘The White Rhino’ Buckley’s “trash talk” where he seeks inspiration from the Grim Reaper.

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THERE are few more passionate Manchester City supporting families than Paul Stanley’s.

In a remarkable display of bravery, given the famous Liverpool-Manchester rivalry, Paul, a partner at Begbies Traynor, and three of  his sons, claimed Liverpool’s famous Stanley Park – well for a few moments anyway – in the run up to the Blues’ clash at Everton last week.

While the Stanleys follow their beloved Blues all over the country and Europe too, given City’s plans for global domination, it surely won’t be too long before there’s a trip to the Falklands and a chance of a photo opportunity in Port Stanley.