I ALWAYS knew it would happen.
I was convinced that if I manifested hard enough there would be a positive outcome.
No Mother, I said manifested.
I’ve finally had a cocktail named after me.
‘The Parky’.
One third gin, one third vermouth and one third red Italian bitter.
What do you mean that’s a Negroni?
It might be everywhere else, but in one household in the West Yorkshire market town of Otley, the dizzying and dazzling combination of a shot of Select bitter, Contratto Vermouth from Piedmont and Arthington gin from Yorkshire will be forever known as ‘The Parky’.
That’s according to the tailor James Michelsberg, a man not known for flamboyant gestures.
Well, never on a Monday anyway, because that’s his day off.
I called in at Baron von Michelsberg’s atelier in the Victoria Quarter in Leeds yesterday to collect a pair of striking blue trousers he had made me.
One Mayfair tailor has super model David Gandy as brand ambassador, I convinced James that David Parkin should be his.
When you meet a man who believes that is a great idea, you stick very close to him.
Hence why I arrived at Michelsberg Towers bearing Christmas gifts in the form of Select bitter, which since 1920 has been the Venetian alternative to Campari.
Contratto vermouth is made near Asti in the north eastern Italian region of Piedmont.
And Arthington Estate Gin has been created by Yorkshire entrepreneur Vanessa Javed who lives in the picturesque village of Arthington near Otley.
My wife Harriet helped develop the distinctive branding and imagery on the attractive bottle.
And I’m claiming some credit too as I had a small amount of input into the wording on the label on the back of the bottle.
And before you ask, I was responsible for more than just: “70cl. Alcohol 41.6% volume.”
If you fancy buying a bottle or two, drop me a line or for more information go to www.arthingtongin.com
That’s me with James Michelsberg in the photo above, taken ably by Jo from the Kiehl’s skincare apothecary which is the downstairs neighbour of Michelsberg Tailoring.
If you think I’m standing a bit oddly, that’s because James told me to put my hand into the pocket of my new strides which would strategically allow me to show just a hint of the braces supporting my trousers.
According to the man Michelsberg, that actually has the same effect on women as a glimpse of stocking does for men.
If it does have the same effect on the ladies as Liz Fraser in Confessions of a Driving Instructor does for me, then I’m all in.
Imagine the attention I’d get if I’d plunged both hands deep into the pockets of my new trousers and yanked them up to reveal my sock suspenders?
Who needs David Gandy?
:::
A VISIT to Elland Road on Saturday was not fruitful for my football team, but at least the company was top of the leauge.
I was invited to the Leeds United v Derby County match by Mike McCarthy of McCarthy’s removals and storage business.
Mike proudly told me on the drive to the stadium that his firm was once a sponsor of the club and he put the marketing qualifications he had gained early on in his career to good use by coming up with the strapline for the pitchside and programme advertising.
Taking the title of Leeds United’s Marching On Together song, he came up with Moving On Together.
Also joining us at the match were my school friend and Best Man, former BBC journalist Simon Hare, who I’m just about to launch a media training venture with.
And to keep the Leeds-Derby ratio balanced, Mike invited his and my old friend, dealmaker Steve Roberts.
Unfortunately Steve’s arrival was delayed because he had had his phone stolen in London the previous evening.
Steve had apparently been on a cultural trip to the capital, taking in art galleries and museums and, after absorbing so much culture, had paused for nourishment in the form of a kebab in Leicester Square when some young scrote swiped his mobile.
Despite Storm Darragh playing havoc with the trains, Steve turned up at half-time.
Which is more than Derby County did.
Anyway, the gourmet brunch of sausage roll starter followed by a full English and two pints of Moretti was enjoyable along with bumping into old friends including Jason Madeley (son of club legend Paul Madeley) of Leeds PR agency Hatch and Garry Wilson of private equity firm Endless.
Stuart, the manager of the Lorimer Suite, where we enjoyed hospitality, came over to reintroduce himself.
He remembered me from his time as the general manager of the New Ellington hotel in Leeds.
That used to be the place where former Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino stayed when he came to matches.
A chain smoker, Cellino ignored all the no smoking rules and I heard that the hotel had to redecorate his suite after every visit by the eccentric Italian.
Given the action on the pitch was of little interest to me when the Rams went two-nil down by half-time, my attention drifted to looking out across the city landscape from our seats high in the East Stand.
As I stared at the queue of cars full of Christmas shoppers coming off the M621 and heading into the city centre, I heard a distinctive voice behind me warbling Leeds United chants, but definitely not with a Leeds accent.
It sounded more like the Earl of Grantham from Downton Abbey had opted to support the Mighty Whites and was in the stands behind me.
“We’ve got a right one here,” I whispered to Simon, “who’d ever admit to knowing him.”
Suddenly the sleeve of a green tweed overcoat reached toward me and tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hello David! How are you?”
Oh gawd.
It was James “Longshot” Longley, a London-based financier who I met through Harrogate bon viveurs and dealmakers Jonny Hick and Tim Cottier.
“Oh hello James, lovely to see you! I was just saying the timbre of your chanting is quite exquisite,” I replied with a thin smile.
:::
DAVID Wilson is another of the Leeds business community who is a regular at Italian restaurant Da Vito in Leeds.
That’s where I met him recently for a long overdue catch up.
David is an experienced insolvency accountant who I’ve known from his days working with Julian Pitts at Wilson Pitts and chairing the Variety charity in Yorkshire.
He now runs his own boutique practice based in Park Square.
When I first moved to Leeds I was convinced that every insolvency practitioner I met drove a Bentley.
I was glad to hear that David still does.
And he wears a suit and tie to work every day.
You’ve got to have standards.
Over lunch we talked about the business climate and gossiped about characters from the world of Yorkshire business.
Including one who took out a raft of the Government-backed Bounce Back Loans during Covid and now lives in Spain.
And the dodgy dude in Dubai who professes to be an entrepreneurial and investment guru whose advice can give you the riches of Croesus.
David told me that he and his wife Gail are converts to the sport of padel.
They are certainly not alone and given the enthusiasm of those who play it, I think I need to make a New Year’s resolution to give it a try.
:::
I’M concerned I might be getting a reputation for enjoying free lunches.
If that is the case then I know I need to change.
If you think I’m going to start buying lunches then don’t be ridiculous.
I’m just going to adjust my strategy slightly.
So when my Mum visited us the other week she arrived at Leeds station in the late morning and I met her and decided to take her for lunch to Sous le Nez.
I wish I had more good ideas like this.
It worked like a dream.
I was able to introduce her to the city’s business glitterati who were charming to her and very polite to me.
Top headhunter Adrian Hitchenor came over, gave her a kiss and told her how much he enjoys my blog.
We chatted over a drink at the bar with Bob Maxwell of Begbies Traynor who had some interesting political gossip to impart.
Why do I get my political insight from a Scottish insolvency practitioner based in Yorkshire?
It stems back to when I hosted a breakfast event with Labour MP Hilary Benn for law firm Irwin Mitchell a few years ago.
It was pre-Brexit and Benn gave an impassioned speech about the value of the UK remaining in the European Union.
I asked the audience of 100-plus business people for a show of hands on who would vote to leave the EU and only Bob put his hand up.
That kind of political and social insight made Bob Maxwell, in my eyes, Harrogate’s answer to Henry Kissinger.
I did offer to buy lunch but Bob insisted that given my mother was with us he would pay the bill.
He also didn’t want to undermine his reputation as one of restaurateur Robert Chamberlain’s best customers.
As for Mother, I’ve bought her a Senior Railcard for Christmas and she is going to visit every Friday, arriving about noon.
:::
IT was my own fault.
I was invited by top PR operator Sam Kennerley to the launch of HW Finance, a new division of HW Group, an executive search specialist which serves some of the world’s biggest brands.
HW Group was co-founded by the aforementioned Adrian Hitchenor and when I arrived at the launch event on Thursday at The Lost & Found Leeds Club I mentioned to Adrian how my Mum had been charmed by him kissing her.
So when it came to posing for a photograph with Adrian and the guys who have launched the new division, he insisted on giving me a kiss too.
HW Finance will be led by a four-strong team who have joined from the Leeds office of Marks Sattin which they built from a start-up 14 years ago.
Rafi Davies, Ross Broad, David Clamp and Ryan Johnson between them have over 60 years’ experience in the recruitment sector. They will be based in Leeds and cover the whole of the North and the Midlands, with plans to expand nationally.
The launch of HW Finance comes in response to growing demand for finance talent resulting from the trend for ‘North shoring’ – companies relocating from London – as well as the emergence of Leeds as a fintech centre, the digital transformation agenda and the growth of other regional cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield and Newcastle.
HW Group – which is based in Manchester with offices in Leeds, Birmingham and London – was founded in 2006 by Adrian Hitchenor and John Wakeford and serves clients including L’Oréal and Mars.
The group has doubled revenue in the last three years to more than £30m and employs over 80 people.
Adrian is a ‘Founding Member’ of my blog which is the option where someone chooses to make a larger contribution than the annual subscription.
So it was nice to be able to go along and support the launch of his new venture and give it a mention here.
A kiss from a paid subscriber, life doesn’t get much better.
:::
AFTER all the excitement of the kiss from Adrian, I suggested to my wife Harriet that we go for dinner to Da Vito.
Since I’ve suddenly become a regular I thought she deserved to experience it.
As we walked in on Thursday evening I asked co-owner Fabrizio if he had a free table.
He said sadly not as the restaurant had been booked for a private event.
As I looked forlornly across the restaurant I saw a familiar figure in a bow tie and braces.
It was tax accountant Tim Parr who was entertaining his team from RSM.
Given that when I wrote about holding an event for TC Group at Da Vito last week, Tim sent me a message saying he now knew why he couldn’t get into his favourite restaurant, I went over and said: “Touché Tim, you have succeeded in doing the same to me!”
Tim replied: “Nonsense! You are very welcome to join us.”
We sat down and enjoyed a lovely meal and bottle of Tuscan wine before Tim joined us for a chat over a glass of grappa.
And before you say anything, I did pay for the meal.
Well it is Christmas.
:::
TALKING of Christmas, this is my last blog of the year.
Given most people are clocking off from work next week and I’ll be heading off for Christmas in Norfolk with old family friends, I’ll not clog up your inbox with a blog next Friday.
And I’ve got a rather busy schedule in the run-up to it too.
Given the number of times I’ve been to Da Vito, I’ve got to share the love with other dining destinations in Leeds.
By my calculation there are only five more business lunch opportunities before the festive break.
That starts at Sous le Nez today.
And it will take in visits to Whitehall Restaurant and Bar and Dakota Hotel next week before rounding off back at Sous le Nez on Thursday with James Michelsberg.
We might even have a festive red cocktail to celebrate the season of goodwill.
Or a ‘Parky’ as it is sure to become known.
Have a great weekend and a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and successful New Year.