BUSINESS LUNCH
GAVIN HALL, CHAIR OF THE REGENERATE SOUTH ACTION GROUP AND HEAD OF OFFICE AT SAVILLS’ CENTRAL SOUTH OFFICE IN SOUTHAMPTON SITS DOWN WITH KATE PEARCE, HEAD OF STRATEGY AT BUSINESS SOUTH
I digress …
It’s Friday lunchtime when Gavin and I meet. The sun is shining and the Pig in the Wall Hotel in Southampton has attracted quite a crowd outside. They are making the most of the sunbeams and tucking into the lunchtime menu. Time has certainly moved on in the past twenty years and the city has become quite cosmopolitan. We opt to sit inside, it’s cool and comfortable, with a pleasant buzz of activity happening around us. At the Council Gavin had a leading hand in creating the Old Town Development Strategy and now chairs the Regenerate South Action Group; Gavin remarks on how rewarding it is to witness people using historic venues once again and the regeneration of the Old Town that he had spearheaded two decades earlier.
It took us a little while to agree a date that we could both make, so when Gavin and I finally sat down for lunch, it made the experience all the better.
Taking time out from the office to catch-up over a delicious dish or two has become something of a rarity these days.
Being of an age when business lunches were the norm, I must admit I still have a hankering for the old days. Journalists like myself, of a certain vintage, would regularly enjoy a catch-up with their contacts. And it turns out, it is quite likely that Gavin and I have lunched in the same venue in that past era. As I write this, I’m transported back to Piccolo Mondo opposite the Civic Offices in Southampton. Being the political reporter, it was my usual haunt and I became expert at juggling fork and pen (making notes while eating pizza) – all the while, listening intently to Alan Whitehead (the then leader of the council) sharing his vision for the redevelopment of the former Pirelli site and what is now WestQuay Shopping Centre. Would you believe it - Gavin started his career sitting three floors above working for the Council and often had a team lunch in Piccolo’s and remembers it well; ideas forming as they ate.
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