Love in London

Not many estate agents are able to boast their own magazine. Fewer still are able to get former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion to write a poem for its latest issue and then get type guru Alan Kitching to work his magic on the poet’s words.

But this is the feat London estate agents Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward has managed for the third issue of it publication Completely London magazine. The new issue is themed on love, lust and desire in the capital and features a calendar of love and a feature about where to sneak an illicit liaison, as well as interviews with Gavin and Stacey star Larry Lamb and chef Vivek Singh.

Bizarrely, the magazine managed to bag a contribution from Motion following a scrabble game between one of the team and the ex-poet laureate. Motion says about the poem, ‘The invitation to write a poem about love and London came at a time when my partner and I were moving house. My partner has previous lived in two different countries so the feeling of settling down and final homecoming formed a sure foundation for the workings of my imagination.’

The marriage of Motion’s words and Kitching’s colourful type makes for a pleasurable reading experience. If only all estate agent’s promotional material was quite this exciting.