POLO season kicks off next month but it came a tad early last night at the Chestertons Polo in the Park launch event at the Mandarin Oriental. Players from all six participating teams were there to woo the crowds and find out who they would be playing on Chukka Friday on 6 June. We drew a worthy opponent, as it turns out City A.M. sponsored Team London will be playing New York. If you want to make sure you don’t miss the event, keep looking out for the Polo in the Park ambassadors and tweet a selfie with them to @PolointhePark for your chance to win tickets. They’ll be in Fulham Broadway today and Kings Road over the weekend. Chukks away!
■ THE CITY’S flags will be flying at half mast today – it is the last day of trading for Bank-based party den Abacus. In its 10 years the club has provided the location for numerous City boozathons – The Capitalist would have an easy ride if its walls could talk. Need to get your Abacus fix one last night? Tonight it’s holding its “One More Time” farewell knees-up. Like a phoenix from the flames, Abacus will be reborn at the end of June following a refurb and rebrand (new name to be confirmed – some City A.M.-ers have suggested Calculator). “We’ve had people saying they’re really upset but the new plans for the place look amazing,” reassured sales manager Kimberly Lloyd. We’ll have our ears to the ground regarding the new moniker. Abacus is dead, long live Abacus.
■ THERE’S hardly a firm in the City that doesn’t know what it’s like to make cuts and when Balfour Beatty was faced with making 20 per cent reductions, it turned to management consultancy Boxwood to help. Last night it reaped the rewards, or more, the awards – as they won Project of the Year at the Management Consultancy Association Awards in Park Plaza. “Our work with Boxwood not only helped us secure more work with the National Grid, we have also introduced the innovations across our other contracts,” said Colin Kelly, MD, Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions. Hear hear for teamwork. Other big winners on the night were Shajhan Ali of KPMG who won The Times Award for Consultant of the Year and Elix IRR which won best new consultancy.