David Parkin opens the Twiglets and looks forward to an adult-only experience

DON’T worry, I’m not going to mention the election.

I made that mistake yesterday.

When I visited the offices of a large law firm in Leeds I commented to the receptionist that I was surprised to see a polling station in the ground floor lobby of the building.

She told me that she had voted in every election since she was 18-years-old except one - “And that’s because I couldn’t”, she helpfully explained.

I commented that it would be nice if all younger people displayed such an approach to suffrage.

She replied: “ I think I’ve got to, it wasn’t long ago that women didn’t have the vote.”

I wasn’t sure whether she was looking at me like I was to blame for that so I changed the subject and asked if I could use the toilet.

“Which one do you want?” asked one of her colleagues.

I said: “I think the men’s will be fine for me,” but I suppose you’ve got to be careful these days.

When I came out I told the reception staff that I did think I was in the wrong place anyway as I had no use for the hairdryer in the gents.

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ONE thing I didn’t mention last week was a lovely trip out to the east coast to watch cricket in glorious sunshine.

Perhaps that’s because by Friday, when I was writing my blog, it was chucking it down from gloomy skies.

Sitting on a deckchair on Monday watching Yorkshire playing Gloucestershire at Scarborough Cricket Club was almost a distant memory.

I was invited as a guest of Hull and York law firm Andrew Jackson which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

I reminded partner Chris Waterhouse and managing partner Mark Pearson-Kendall that last year when they invited me it rained all day.

Not a ball was bowled, but I had a great time enjoying the company of their guests ably stewarded by business development director Adam “The Saint” Sinclair.

Chris said he had had a word to arrange better weather.

And the guests on my table were up to the usual Andrew Jackson standard.

I was sitting next to Nick Brown, scion of the family owned department store business Browns which has shops in York, Helmsley, Beverley and Gainsborough.

With his flowing mane of hair, booming voice and lively stories, Nick proved great company.

Sitting on the other side of me was a lawyer who I first met at a test match at the Newlands cricket ground in Cape Town several years ago.

Former Irwin Mitchell partner Andrew Darke was with friends including fellow lawyers David Knaggs, Richard Larking and wealth manager Paul MacIntosh, watching England playing in South Africa.

I remember the lunch we had that day is definitely the best food I’ve ever had at a sporting occasion - deep fried calamari and chips bought from a stall at the back of the stand named ‘Mr Calamari’.

It was £2 for a large portion and it was superb.

I last saw Andrew Darke two years ago on my television screen.

A day after Sheffield golfer Matt Fitzpatrick won the US Open, Sky Sports News was interviewing Andrew as the captain of the new champion’s home course, Hallamshire Golf Club.

Another guest I bumped into at the cricket in Scarborough was fellow former journalist Dave Laister.

To be fair to Dave, he lasted a lot longer than me in the world of newspapers.

He had a 20 year career covering business news in Grimsby, Cleethorpes and across the Humber region before being made redundant.

He is now the PR and media director of Hull-based marketing firm Fred.

Unfortunately I missed a recent event at The Business Day conference in Bridlington when Dave turned the tables on host, the well known raconteur Giles Brandreth.

Dave spent an hour interviewing Giles, the job Giles usually does with the big name guests that appear at the event.

I asked Dave how it went.

“I thought it went really well, I was able to ask Giles more questions than I expected in the hour that we were on stage,” he told me.

How many was that, I asked?

“Three,” he replied.

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A RECENT catch up lunch with Richard Lewis, the chairman of children’s hospice Martin House campaign board which I sit on, was as valuable as it was entertaining.

Richard, who is retired from his role as property director of Town Centre Securities, now channels the same energy he had in his business life into his voluntary work for several charities, Martin House and homeless charity St George’s Crypt among them.

He told me he and his wife Beverley had recently been to see My Fair Lady at Leeds Playhouse and how much they had enjoyed this co-production between the Playhouse and Opera North.

That report was good news as my wife and I had booked tickets as a birthday present for my Mum for the closing performance last Saturday after a sold-out month-long run at the theatre.

It was indeed as good as Richard had said.

After the success of Oliver! at Christmas it is great to see the theatre thriving and these more mainstream shows helping to provide it with the resources to fund other more edgy and experimental productions.

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I READ a business news story recently about a cocktail bar with an adult-only theme which is due to open in Leeds next month.

My first thought was that aren’t cocktail bars always adult only venues?

It's been a while since I saw a toddler walk into a bar and order a pina colada.

According to the report, Behind Closed Doors will take over the former Wire nightclub venue on Call Lane.

Established in 2015 in Manchester's Northern Quarter, Behind Closed Doors has an ethos of "Sex, Rugs & Funk 'n' Soul".

After ringing a bell and entering through a secret door, customers are presented with 60s and 70s inspired design, erotic pictures, sexy mannequins and adult tv emblazoned on the walls. 

Nick Parr, director and creator of Behind Closed Doors, said: "Leeds has an enviable reputation for its nightlife, and it was the immediate choice as the location for our second venue. 

"When you visit Behind Closed Doors you enter a liberating, hedonistic atmosphere, where we want guests to release their inhibitions…we've created a place where you can really show your wild side and indulge a few guilty pleasures.”

To be honest, I wonder whether we need such a venue, I I feel like that every time I walk into an accountancy firm’s offices.

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WHEN former Leeds United chief executive Jeremy Fenn invited me to a lunch in Harrogate last week I was quick to accept.

Serial entrepreneur Jeremy, who, alongside Freeserve creator Peter Wilkinson, grew Sports Internet which became SkyBet after it was sold for £300m to Rupert Murdoch’s Sky, promised that there would be some interesting people around the lunch table.

And he wasn’t wrong.

I enjoyed a great lunch with Jeremy at William & Victoria in Harrogate a few months ago when he thanked me for an introduction to tailor James Michelsberg.

Both his daughter and his son are getting married abroad this year and he needed a suit to celebrate these big occasions and was delighted with the results from the indefatigable force of nature that is the man, the legend Michelsberg.

Another successful man whose daughter got married this year and who needed a suit who I’ve guided through the doors of the Michelsberg atelier in the Victoria Quarter is Neil Muffitt.

Both Neil and Jeremy left with stunning suits for the big occasions and also commented on how much they had enjoyed the experience.

James is a flamboyant and engaging individual and the whole experience of purchasing tailored garments from him is truly a piece of theatre.

Back to last week’s lunch, again at “Willy Vics”, as Jeremy refers to it, the other guests around the table proved fascinating.

There was a guy who runs his own successful brewery, a former non-executive director of Morrisons Supermarkets, the founder of a wealth management and insurance business and a former chief executive of Yorkshire Water owner Kelda .

And they were just the people sitting close to me, there were at least three more I didn’t get time to talk to.

I left the gathering at a sensible hour, which is unusual for me, as we were entertaining my mother who was celebrating her birthday last weekend.

When I got home I was enthusiastically describing all the interesting people I had met over lunch.

“They all sound very successful and important,” commented Mum.

“And what were you doing there?”

Thank you Mother.

Needless to say, I didn’t let this comment spoil the birthday celebrations.

She was served as much chilled Liebfraumilch as she wanted for the entire weekend.

And I wasn’t ungenerous with the Twiglets either.

Have a great weekend.

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