The business on...Rob Tincknell, Director, Treasury Holdings

Never heard of it – something to do with the State-owned banks?

Nope. Treasury Holdings is the parent company of Real Estate Opportunities, which does what the name suggests. Mr Tincknell, its point-man, is a property developer of some repute.

So what are they up to?

Nothing less than the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station, a trick that people have been trying to pull off since 1983. REO has owned the site for four years and Mr Tincknell has now persuaded Wandsworth Council to approve its plans for a £5.5bn project mixing retail, residential and office space.

Wow, so when are the diggers going to move in?

Hold your horses – as ever, there are one or two issues to overcome first. The big one being that REO hasn't got the finance in place yet.

Still, at least they've got that elusive planning permission.

Yes and no. Wandsworth may have signed off, but Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has yet to do so. And he said no to REO's last scheme.

But the locals are onside?

Some of them – one local action group has given the project its support. Another is campaigning against it.

This is starting to sound iffy.

Well, Battersea has had a nasty habit of messing up the best laid plans. One former developer, John Broome, the man behind Alton Towers, even booked Margaret Thatcher for a grand opening of his project, only to see costs spiral out of control and the money run out.

Is this time different?

Mr Tincknell insists it is. And to be fair to him, he has a good record. He was the man behind the award-winning overhaul of the marina area in Portsmouth, for example.

Anything else we should know?

Mr Tincknell's family need a boost. His dad founded housing group Connaught, which was run by his brother Mark until earlier this year. It's just gone under.