Contributing to this week’s Market Watch are:
John Eastgate, sales and marketing director at Kent Reliance
Nigel Stockton, financial services director at Countrywide
Andy Knee, managing director at LMS
John Eastgate, sales and marketing director at Kent Reliance
There’s a guy in our office who bears an uncanny resemblance to Beaker from the Muppet Show, although oddly, he doesn’t look like Danny Alexander.
Anyway, this observation prompted me to realise that what I am looking forward to most about the Olympics is the prospect of nation, particularly the tabloid press, which loves a bit of failure, imitating two other famous characters from the Muppet Show.
Devotees of the show will remember Statler & Waldorf, two elderly gentlemen who would sit in a theatre box and begin to condemn the act that they had just seen perform. They would then, bit by bit, concede that it wasn’t perhaps quite as bad as they had initially suggested, to the point where they were screaming its virtues from the rooftops.
On this note, I look forward to the nation doing a Statler and Waldorf over the course of the Games. Pre-games it is all G4S farce, M4 closure, and strikes at passport control.
I however reckon we’ll have an outstanding Games; Britain will do well, the sun will shine and it will be a time to remember – a time that I will probably never experience again in my lifetime.
I am looking forward to simply enjoying every glorious minute of a unique event in my life.
Nigel Stockton, financial services director at Countrywide
I am looking forward to the Olympics enormously. Anything that brings people together and gets us feeling good is very welcome as we’re severely lacking good news stories at the moment.
What’s always great about the Olympics is that you don’t know who is going to excel; the anticipation of watching each competitor, race, match, lap, throw, or jump, is fantastic.
I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch Usain Bolt compete in the 100m final on 5th August. My first memories of the Olympics are as a ten-year-old, watching Juantoreno (the Cuban 800m runner) at the Montreal ‘76 Games, but other Olympic highlights include the infamous Coe/Ovett rivalry in Moscow and Daley Thompson winning “the Big G” in Los Angeles.
Apart from the 100m sprint, I will have a keen eye on the cycling. It was great to see Bradley Wiggins’ historic achievements at the Tour de France last weekend, and I’m sure he, along with teammates Victoria Pendleton and Mark Cavendish, will do us proud with their home turf advantage.
From an industry viewpoint, a combination of the poor weather, which does slow down demand for houses, and the summer of distractions will take their toll, guaranteeing a slow mortgage and housing market in Q3.
Andy Knee, managing director of LMS
I’m really looking forward to the Olympics for a variety of reasons. First, I’m going to be on holiday in Denia in Spain for the first two weeks so I get the ‘best seats in the house’ with guaranteed weather.
Checking Google, it appears that it should be in the region of 32 degrees which from my perspective is an excellent sports watching temperature.
I will also be able to have a beer or two without battling queues or worrying about sponsorship deals.
When I come back from holiday, I’ve managed to bag tickets to taekwondo, greco–roman wrestling and mountain biking. My wife and I are bringing our sons who are eight and ten down for the weekend to watch these events.
We are staying in a camper in the great British outdoors so hopefully the weather will follow us back from Spain, or at the very least, it won’t rain.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we are all really looking forward to sharing this as a family.
I’m really looking forward to the Olympics – both home and abroad.
