Lunch With Tim Delaney

It should be noted that Tim Delaney can be a pleasant guy. True, he's known for wickedly clever headlines and for sometimes using his acerbic wit to publicly skewer certain ex-clients, plus all account planners, plus various other empty suits of the advertising world. But on this particular day, even though Delaney had been kept waiting nearly half an hour by a clueless Yank interviewer who got lost in the maze of London's Soho district, he remained cheerful and upbeat. He was in a mood to celebrate - he'd just made a deal to sell his renowned and staunchly independent agency, Leagas Delaney, to a Canadian holding company known as Envoy Communications - and to reflect. And he did so with a bottle of white wine and a plate of risotto, amid the hubbub of a trendy Damien Hirst-designed restaurant called Quo Vadis.