Has Web gallery a chance in Hall?

Good to see there’s more to dot.com enterprise than being a 23-year-old anorak with a flaky idea and some gullible private equity investors.

Former Marketing Week journalist Nick Hall (age 40, married, two children) has turned his talents to building a virtual art gallery on the Internet.

The aim of www.orchard gallery.com, launched last week, is to cut out the expensive middle man by bringing art to the drawing room, or corporate stairwell.

But to ensure the real world got to know about his plan, Hall has shrewdly invested in mortar as well as clicks. Many of the works for sale on the Website are displayed at the Mall Galleries until January 21.

As Hall has already sold 20 pictures out of 58 – which start at £800 – could NASDAQ and paper billionairedom beckon? Hall says he won’t be giving up his day job, as director of communications at Grey International. The Diary leaves you to draw your own conclusions.