Earlybird guests get a ticking-off

The opening of the Millennium Experience Visitor Centre a couple of weeks ago in Greenwich, with its giant clock counting down the seconds to January 1 2000, goes to show that time is of the essence.

But time-keeping may not be as high on the New Millennium Experience Company’s agenda as one would hope. The launch of the Visitor Centre was scheduled for 4pm, and at 3.55pm the assembled guests, including a handful of mayors clad in golden chains, found themselves stuck on the wrong side of some very locked gates, trying to get in.

Relief was visible when Jenny Page, NMEC chief executive, arrived, but she too found herself shaking the gates until, eventually, a security guard relented and let the august rabble in.

Let’s hope the company is ready to open its doors in 744 days, as there’s no delaying Father Time.