Team DTZ went head to head with team Knight Frank at the Property Week International Pub Olympics. David Doyle reports. Photographs by Matt Leete

Forget the athletic prowess of sprinting, wrestling or tossing an orb about, anyone worth their salt knows the only sports that matter are those you can do with a pint in one hand.

With this in mind, Property Week International held the “Pub Olympics” — a gruelling challenge that pitched surveyor against surveyor at the holy trinity of darts, pool and table football. Battling it out at City of London boozer the Bell on Middlesex Street were teams from Knight Frank and DTZ (supported by two members of Property Week International’s editorial team).

The prize? A chance to take home a beautiful Olympic “gold” medal which, appropriately, also doubled as a beer bottle opener.

Property Week International’s Pub Olympics may not have had a Usain Bolt, and we could not afford a Danny Boyle-style opening ceremony.

However, with a bar tab and the cream of the property agency community, the stage was set for a fun and competitive evening.

Hitting the spot

With the adrenalin pumping through the veins, the teams faced off for the first sport — the thinking man’s javelin, otherwise known as darts.

Stepping up to the oche were Knight Frank’s head of Knight Frank Investors, Kevin Aitchison, and south-east offices partner Will Foster, against DTZ graduate building surveyor Daisy Fox-Pope and Property Week International’s David Hatcher.

From the off the Knight Frank duo played with confidence. Will “Hawkeye” Foster nailed a triple 20, followed by a triple 13.

However, their cocksure performance still failed to shake the attentions of Fox-Pope and Hatcher, who kept in the game by targeting the bull and the bullseye.

The game came down to the wire. Knight Frank needed a double eight and the DTZ team needed a double three.

After a period of time, and poor marksmanship that would have sent Jim Bowen into an apoplectic rage, Kevin “the King” Atichison sealed the victory for Knight Frank with a double three.

Talent pool

Fans of show-boating would have done well to head to the pool table, where the mercurial talents of DTZ’s graduate building surveyor, Katie Bowyer, and Property Week International’s Sheli Rodney faced off against the precision play of Knight Frank’s south-east offices partner, Ryan Dean, and City investment surveyor Ben Cooper.

The Knight Frank team took an early lead, potting four balls for just one from the DTZ team. However, this brought a tactical game from the DTZ ladies, who created a series of snookers.

The gents were up to the challenge, maintaining their advantage with shots off the cushion from Cooper and an awe-inspiring jump-shot from behind three balls from Dean.

But concerned looks started appearing on the faces of Team Knight Frank as Rodney potted two balls with the same shot, followed by two further pots from Brooks, to bring them back in the game.

Cooper fluffed his shot on the black — skying the white off the table — but the girls couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity and Dean potted the black, claiming victory for Knight Frank.

Bringing skill to the table

With everything to play for and, perhaps more importantly, no representatives from Property Week International on their team, DTZ was fired up for the final round: table football.

DTZ building surveyors Alice Chamberlain and Oliver Sanchez took to the pitch against Knight Frank surveyors Henry Harrison and Daisy York.
DTZ were clearly up for the challenge — swiftly gaining a 2-0 lead, and putting Knight Frank in danger of a thrashing.

But you write off Knight Frank at your peril.

What was a two-goal cushion suddenly became one goal, no goals, and then, before long, a one-goal deficit.

With team Knight Frank cracking shots towards goal from all over the pitch, team DTZ had to move quickly to control of the game again.

Some excellent goal-keeping and defensive work from Chamberlain, accompanied by Sanchez’s sharp shooting, gave DTZ two goals and put them back in the lead.

And it didn’t stop there. With the support of the Mexican-waving crowd, DTZ continued to slam goals past Knight Frank — taking the score to 7-3.

A conciliatory goal for Knight Frank ended proceedings and DTZ claimed their first and final medals of the evening.