Business Diary: September 18

Hamleys is 250 years old and has eight outlets in the UK and Ireland, including its seven-storey flagship store on London’s Regent Street.

The classic British brand was mainly owned by nationalised Icelandic bank Landsbanki, which took over Baugur’s stake when the investment group collapsed in the recession.

Bracken, a private equity group run by financier David Rowland, who is one of Britain’s richest men and a Tory party donor, owned a minority stake.

Its new owner is family-run Groupe Ludendo, which operates 300 toy stores across France, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain.

Life’s an education

LIFE could have turned out very differently for Phil Dyke, the development director at Banks Renewables, had he stayed the course at Sandhurst.

After a good private education at Shrewsbury School, whose famous alumni included Charles Darwin and Michael Heseltine, he went to Sandhurst, hoping to join the Royal Engineers, but it did not work out as planned.

“They thought I had a bit of growing up to do,” he said, adding that they were probably right.

He left and went to Sheffield polytechnic instead to study mineral estate management. He enjoyed it.

“It was exactly what fascinates me – management of the landscape and that sort of thing.”

Today he leads efforts by the firm to find and develop new wind farms across the North of England.

A fresh challenge

One of Blundells’ founding members is bowing out of the property industry to help the homeless and vulnerable in Sheffield. Paul Cocker, 57, has clocked up 35 years with the firm, since starting work at the company in 1977 – just a few months after it was started by Mike Blundell.

Paul said: “I’ve seen the company transform dramatically over the last 35 years.

“When I started work in 1977 fresh out of college there was just myself, Mike, his mum and one other employee. Now we have more than 180 staff.”

Paul, director at Blundells, is leaving the company so that he can dedicate his time to charity work, especially with the Cathedral Archer Project – a cause close to his heart.

He said: “I’ve spent my entire working life in Sheffield’s property industry and I feel I want to give something back to the city.

“The Cathedral Archer Project is a great cause which helps people who aren’t privileged enough to have a safe roof over their heads, and if I can do anything to help that issue, then I will.”

Blundells’ founder, Mike Blundell, said: “Paul joined Blundells almost at the beginning of the company some 35 years ago and we have been colleagues and friends ever since.

“We’ve shared many fond memories, such as erecting our own for sales boards back in the old days, to taking photos and valuing homes ever since.

“He will be dearly missed by all at Blundells, it’s an end of a chapter in his and my life and I wish him all the best for the future.”

Estate agent Blundells has 19 branches throughout South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire.

A Little extra

What do you get the client who has everything?

An evening at a sleep school to get tips on how to beat insomnia?

A chance to play cricket with former England star Andrew Flintoff?

Advice on finding the right school?

These are just some of the services offered by Barclays in its Little Book of Wonders, underscoring the lengths to which the bank is prepared to go to win the custom of the super-wealthy at a time when its traditional businesses are struggling with weak economies and tougher regulators.

“There is more to wealth than managing one’s assets,” said David Hughes, Head of Affinity Partnerships at Barclays, which oversees the Little Book of Wonders.

“This is a complement to the financial advice we give clients and a recognition of the world in which our clients exist.”