Hirsute today, gone tomorrow

Christie+Co said farewell to its charismatic pub boss Colin Wellstead last week. And, as befits a man who's sold more pubs than anyone else in the trade, he was given a warm send-off by many of his oldest friends.

Retiring after 25 years with the property agents, Wellstead would have been delighted by the turn out at the Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge.

Among the distinguished guests were Gary Landsberg, Peter Brook, Peter Salussolia, Derek Mapp, Derek Andrew, Gary McManus, Neil Griffiths, Robert Breare, John McNamara and Nick Bish.

And he'd have been thrilled by the beautifully crafted programme for the evening, with its Wellstead pub sign and the personalised beermats with their varying degrees of hirsuteness telling their own story of his career.

Tributes flowed from Wellstead's bosses David Rugg and Chris Day, with some affectionate leg-pulling that was only to be expected.

The story from Day about how Wellstead smelt a rat when dealing with Nazmu Virani - only a visit from Wellstead revealed the pubs on offer were roofless or burnt out - went down particularly well. And David Bruce did the kind of teasing run-through of Wellstead's career that only he can get away with.

But the speech of the night came from Wellstead himself, who entertained the 100-strong room with a rich set of anecdotes and a heartfelt appreciation of his colleague Michaela Gruncell, Chris Day's secretary.

It was a droll and amusing speech, but by the time he was nearing the end, Wellstead was doing well to keep his emotions under control.

Retirement to Dorset beckons, but with every chance of a few non-executives, friends are hoping he'll be around the trade for a long while yet.