While Kitchen Rat was hob-nobing in Dubai last weekend, he picked ups some interesting snippets of information. Apparently, according to a source very close to the deal, the sale of the Savoy hotel in London in 2004 was the scene of a fierce bidding war between two of the world's richest men. Saudi billionnaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and the Sultan of Brunei entered into a straight auction as they tried to outbid each other, but not just by the odd few quid, but a cool £1m each. Just imagine been the agent on that deal, seeing your commission zoom through the roof, as two of the world's richest men tried to out do the other. Eventually, the two came to a gentleman's agreement , before the price tag became silly.... I suppose the reported £200m isn't a silly price for one of the world's most famous hotels.
Gollum and Compass's new UK boss
Compass clearly scoured the ends of the earth to find its new UK and Ireland boss. Middle Earth to be precise - in the shape of Lord of the Rings baddie Gollum. New UK boss Ian El-Mokadem takes over the post, which had been only temporarily filled since Peter Harris vacated the role. Harris left Compass with his tail firmly between his legs after some UN contract shenanigans last year. However, Kitchen Rat reckons that the new group chief executive Richard Cousins should be careful not to turn his back on his new UK boss - he might fall into character and start lusting after the "precious" £1.82b SSP cash currently floating about. Anyway anyone notice the resemblance?
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