Saving Garry Lace’s nemesis for the nation

News that Stelios Haji-Ioannou is looking at closing down his easyInternetCafé on Oxford Street plus his other megastores in central London should bring moisture to the eye of the sentimental.

One of the four cybercafés likely to be closed is the Tottenham Court Road store, which is where that fateful e-mail from an unknown hoaxer was circulated, telling of Garry Lace’s “plans” to leave Grey London and team up with the then Air Miles managing director Drew Thomson to set up a rival to Thomson’s former company (MW February 12).

So, the Diary’s campaign to save this historic landmark starts here. Much in the way Tony Blair and Gordon Brown must have been distraught to see the demise of the infamous Granita restaurant, where the pair are alleged to have agreed on their leadership pact, the Diary firmly believes that Lace and Thomson will feel the same way about the marketing world’s equivalent. Perhaps they would like to stump up the first contributions towards a fund to save the threatened landmark.