Pulling no punches, the staff are right bar stewards
Feb 26 2009 By John Bright
More usually to be found on the cocktail circuit, four Birmingham businessmen are set to go behind the bar.
The unlikely stewards, Derek Inman, Nick Venning, John Matthews and Graham Nicoll, plus other city personalities involved in the Birmingham Community Foundation, will be pulling pints and advising on the wine.
God help us.
It’s all happening at Metro Bar & Grill on March 26, and I’ll be doing my best to be there. Always wanted to have an opportunity to sneer at my peers, tell them the ale tastes rubbish, it’s vastly over-priced … and for goodness sake top the glass up!
The organisers tell me: “Heckling, jibing and general merriment is heartily encouraged, although the throwing of soft fruit will not be permitted.” It’ll have to be rotten eggs then.
Their efforts will help to raise dosh for the local charity that helps to fund more than 900 inner city projects each year.
Metro will donate a percentage of the night’s profits plus all tips to the Foundation’s Government-backed endowment scheme.
Match funding is available for all the loot raised and that will help community charity groups keep going.
Inman, call that a pint, you sloppy no-good barman.
You just can’t get the staff any more.
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Recession watch.
Barking or banking … Stephen and Barbara Hester appear to be making few concessions to troubled times.
He is head of the ailing Royal Bank of Scotland; she is Master of the Foxhounds at the Warwickshire Hunt.
And the more salacious national newspapers are scenting blood.
Not content with hosting a ‘lavish hunt ball’ at his mansion in the Midlands towards the end of last year, last week it was the Swiss Alps.
(Though a keen skier, he claimed – snow joke – he was just taking the children out there for the weekend).
Chocs away – or whatever they do on the piste. Or should that be tally ho!
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I hear that my vicar on earth, John Duckers, former business editor of this newspaper, has been crowing at being elected an associate fellow of Warwick University.
It seems Duckers thinks it is something akin to a Vice Chancellorship and I have had to somewhat harshly disabuse him.
Indeed one of the few rights it does confirm is use of the sports centre.
Given that Duckers has not been in a gym for years, as his less than trim figure suggests, it seems unlikely he will make much use of the privilege.
