“ARE you causing trouble again?”
I’m used to this kind of question just before I’m asked to leave a social occasion, but not when I’ve just arrived.
Given the person asking the question is a senior Labour peer and member of the House of Lords, then perhaps I do need to think about a reputational reset.
But Baroness Judith Blake, former leader of Leeds City Council, has always greeted me with a smile and “Hello Trouble!” ever since we first met when we were both part of a delegation from Leeds to Israel two decades ago.
Judith’s question was delivered last night at Leeds Arena at a retirement party for Martin Farrington, the director of city development at Leeds City Council.
As I arrived in the reception of the arena’s Black and White VIP lounge, Judith was filling in a book for guests to leave farewell messages to Martin.
I nipped ahead of her to walk into the party where Martin was greeting guests as they arrived.
“I’ve just seen Judith Blake writing a message in your book, she’d have been in here before me but she was adding a lot of kisses on the end of her message,” I told him.
Perhaps that’s why she calls me “Trouble”.
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THE photograph above is me with Martin Farrington and Tom Riordan, Leeds City Council’s chief executive, who stepped down last week to take up a senior civil service role as a permanent secretary in the Department of Health and Social Care.
What the two have in common is that both are talented and long-serving senior executives at the second largest metropolitan authority in England and both have left their roles in the last week.
What they don’t have in common is that only one of them invited me to his leaving do.
When Tom held a farewell event at the Civic Hall last Friday I was NFI.
If you don’t know what NFI means you will have to Google it because my Mum worries this blog is sometimes a bit too “racy” for her friends Anne and Di.
When I toned down my approach I asked her recently if my blog was more acceptable for Anne and Di.
“Actually, I think they might find it a bit dull now,” she replied.
Thank you Mother.
Anyway, given I have been a bit critical of Tom in the past, you can’t blame him.
And when, in a speech at last night’s do, he revealed that no alcohol was served at his leaving party because of the budgetary constraints on local authorities, I was quite relieved I wasn’t invited.
Mind you, if the invitation had said: ‘Bring your own hip flask’, we could have had a hell of a party.
It is initiative like that that sees me add value to every social occasion.
Martin’s 30 year career at Leeds City Council has included many highlights and a short film played at last night’s party showcased that.
To a soundtrack of Matt Monro’s ‘Gonna Build a Mountain’ it had images of some of the many projects Martin has been involved in over the last three decades including the Trinity and Victoria Gate shopping centres, Leeds Arena, Headingley Stadium, three new bridges across the River Aire, the East Leeds Orbital Route and many others.
There wasn’t a photo of City Square or the clogged up traffic outside the railway station but Martin does leave an impressive legacy.
In a funny, gracious and self-effacing speech Martin reflected on his experiences in his various roles with the council over the last three decades.
From having to remove a dead horse from Meanwood Park to breakfast with Liz Truss, lunch with the Bishop of Colombo, meeting the Queen and listening to a sound check by Snoop Dogg, it has been some career.
He calls it “retirement” but he’s still in his 50s, so I’m sure we’ll see Martin involved in other property projects in the future.
As for Tom, he’s a talented, wise and good natured character with shoulders broad enough to take criticism and an ego slim enough not to take it personally.
I wish him well in his new role, because his future success will benefit all of us.
And I suppose that if you are going to take a senior role in the Department of Health you can’t really ply people with booze at your leaving party.
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WEDNESDAY brought both a breakfast and lunch meeting, it was like old times, I just couldn’t squeeze in a dinner invite too.
It started at a UK Israel breakfast event in North Leeds where the guest speaker was Mike Bates a former counter-terrorism covert operations leader and human intelligence specialist turned entrepreneur and adventurer.
Mike, who spent 20 years in the Royal Marines and the intelligence and security fields of the Ministry of Defence, is also a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu and has rowed single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.
His fascinating speech was under Chatham House rules but hopefully he will be able to tell his story in a book when he gets through legal wrangles with the Ministry of Defence.
Mike’s Atlantic row raised over £170,000 for the Leeds Hospitals’ Charity and he kindly mentioned my role compering a charity ball he held as part of that fundraising drive.
Not surprisingly for a man who relishes big challenges, his next major charity project will create national headlines.
In the meantime he is busy running his jujitsu club in Roundhay, has lots of public speaking engagements and his NXT45 initiative is aimed at improving the mental and physical wellbeing of men in the second half of their lives.
Mike said he suffered severe loneliness during his 46 days at sea and, looking out at the packed audience, he said: “It made me realise that this is what life is about: a community coming together to support each other.”
He is an inspiring individual and a great speaker well worth booking for any event.
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THEN it was off into the centre of Leeds to Sous le Nez for a lunch hosted by Matt Osbourne and Neil Sevitt of Armstrong Watson.
The Business Leaders Lunch featured Alison Lowe OBE, West Yorkshire deputy mayor for policing and crime.
A former Leeds city councillor who worked in the voluntary sector for 30 years, Alison has been deputy to West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin for the last four years with responsibility for policing and crime.
Given that, I was surprised that when she spoke to guests around the table she needed a sheet of notes and quoted a plethora of crime statistics for West Yorkshire which, frankly, weren’t positive.
She said smaller crimes being overlooked “like stealing a pasty from Greggs” were the catalyst for more serious criminal acts and she urged businesses to report all crime to police.
But she then went on to say that the police don’t have the resources to deal with all the crime that is reported to them.
I pointed out this slight anomaly in her argument but she countered that the police would investigate specific crimes if enough of the same type were reported.
I’m not sure if there has been an outbreak of pasty snatching, but if there has, please report it.
I’m used to hearing politicians outlining what the problems are and then explaining how they will fix them.
Alison didn’t really take that approach.
In my opinion she really needs to hone her message and provide a balance of light and shade.
All of the guests around the table ran businesses based in Leeds city centre and they all agreed that you very rarely see a police officer patrolling the streets these days.
Forget zero tolerance.
Hence the rise in anti-social behaviour and masked Deliveroo and Just Eat delivery people riding their e-bikes aggressively on pavements and pedestrianised areas across the city.
I even saw two young scrotes on a bike riding through Leeds City Station the other day.
Rant over.
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CONGRATULATIONS to Keith Froud who has just been elected as chief executive of international law firm Eversheds Sutherland.
It is a huge achievement for Sunderland-born Keith, who made his name as a dealmaker in the Yorkshire corporate finance community with the firm he has served for the last 31 years.
As Garry Wilson, founder of private equity firm Endless, commented: “Great to see one of our own in such a great position.”
By coincidence, when Keith’s appointment was announced last week, I had a call scheduled with him.
Timing is everything in business and I would have understood if he had cancelled but there, at the appointed time on screen was Keith, in his suit sitting in his London office.
He said he still reads this blog and I told him his colleague, international dealmaker Robin Johnson, sometimes drops me a note taking me to task on anything he doesn’t agree with..
“Don’t worry, he still does the same to me!” said Keith.
Have a great weekend.
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