Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 7th October 2010
Bizarre agent attack on negativity but news gets worse
Up-market London estate agency chain Douglas & Gordon has made a bizarre attack on negativity just as sections of the British press publish a stream of “disaster” stories about the UK housing market.
Douglas & Gordon’s South Kensington office has been painted blue and covered in silver disks spelling out the words "Kill All Negative People".
Apparently Managing Director Ivor Dickinson was inspired by a presentation from Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project.
“Tim said that his mantra at the Eden Project was ‘Kill All Negative People’. I so empathised with this statement because let’s face it, there is no room for negativity in this world that we live in, that I decided to adopt it at D&G."
Unfortunately, the journalists writing for the national press do not seem to have heeded Mr Dickinson’s warning. Both the
Daily Mail and
Guardian lead with the story of the biggest UK monthly house price fall since records began.
New figures from mortgage lender, the Halifax report a 3.6% monthly house price fall in September which follows a
surprise rise in prices in August.
Although it is far too early say whether this represents the start of a sustained correction, it is the first major sign that predictions about a
perfect storm may prove correct.
It is also worth noting that Halifax does not have best record in predicting prices, data from the Land Registry (which has yet to publish September figures) is much more reliable.
Although as we have
pointed out in the past, house price crashes are extremely rare, it is likely the UK property market is in for a bumpy twelve months.
Unfortunately, bad news sells newspapers so the British press are unlikely to heed Mr Dickinson’s warning, unless of course he makes good on his promise.
Source: Global edge
User Comments
I think there may have been a mis-quote by Douglas and Gordon. As I remember the words from a decade or so ago it was "kill all intolerent people"
Anne ,
TMA
I'm not entirely convinced that a blanket death threat is the way forward. This item does conjure up pictures of worried young couples on a viewing with D&G staff nervously whispering to each other "for god's sake darling .... don't say anything negative".
David Garner,
DGC Business Consulting
Funny, Tim Smit also said 'A garden is a symbol of man's arrogance, perverting nature to human ends' - will Ivor Dickinson be focusing exclusively on the apartment market from here on out?
Gareth McConnell,
www.knightfrank.co.uk
There's a shop I've seen that looks just like this D&G office - it sells 'adult' goods......
James Wyatt,
Barton Wyatt International