Much laughter at last night’s leaving drinks for Kevin Done, the FT’s aviation correspondent. Other guests included Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou of easyjet, Sir Michael Bishop (until recently of BMI), Keith Williams, CFO of British Airways, and Kevin’s successor, Pilita Clark.
Loud hoots resulted from editor Lionel Barber’s disclosure that for years Kevin has been known by news editors as the White Rabbit, on account of his copy always being late for the deadline. This appeared to be news to Kevin, but he took it with good grace and got his own back with a few choice remarks about editors.
Among the various gifts he received was the customary FT front page mock-up announcing his departure, with the inevitable headline ‘Done and dusted’. Groan.