The Taylor Wimpey email from boss Peter "call me Pete" Redern to staff  that did the rounds yesterday raised as few eyebrows in the City.

Not least for its humorous reference to Angelina Jolie giving birth to Siamese twin chimpanzees when describing how much press coverage the housebuilder has had lately.

For a man who has been described as having "the weight of the world on his shoulders" in recent weeks, the levity was a clear sign things are looking up for TW.

As one analyst said:  "He must be feeling good about things because he'll look like a complete ****** now if the talks fail."

Another analyst was also taken aback by the content of the email to TW staff. When asked if he'd seen it, he joked: "What does it say? 'Happy Christmas. Don't bother coming back?'"

But the nitty gritty was also positive, describing talks with lenders as "sensible" and "constructive" and suggesting that they are due to be completed by February next year. The news pushed the share price up 7% yesterday.

As Redfern hinted, people's appetite for information on the company has always dwarfed the trickle of official updates. Cue all the speculation it was about to topple.

Those actually close to the debt talks have always been the calmest heads in the room.

One who saw the email yesterday said: "The arrival of new finance director Chris Rickard has greatly improved the momentum and a positive result is expected.  Redfern's email was spot-on and a timely reminder to the TW team that they remain in business."