Lockdown games are dangerous but very fun February 12, 2021 A friend of mine has become so bored of Lockdown 3.0 that he has created a new game called Middle Gear, loosely based on the driving TV show that featured three entitled idiots; Shorty, Geeky and Wanky.In this game, he meets a friend after dusk on the M25 with mutually full tanks of petrol and [...]
How London Marathon Events has adapted to the pandemic October 7, 2021 This article first appeared in ICAS’ CA magazine. Stephen Dell CA tells Cherry Casey how London Marathon Events has adapted to the pandemic – and why its return to full strength means more than just one day’s race for glory. There are few one-day sporting events as iconic as the London Marathon. Created in 1981 by [...]
Christmas isn’t cancelled — Santa is accepting buy now, pay later October 13, 2020 One thing’s for sure: we’re going to be tempted to spend more than ever this Christmas, because 2020 has not been a joyful year. Let’s face it, if 2020 were a wine, it would be reduced to being a bin-end, and a pretty poor one at that. But as furlough unwinds, and with a no-deal [...]
Shoe Lady at Royal Court review: Surreal, strange story fails to sweep us off our feet March 16, 2020 The IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson stars as Viv, or Shoe Lady, in E.V. Crowe’s latest piece at the Royal Court. The premise is simple but effective; lady has two shoes; lady loses one shoe; lady realises how much lost shoe stands for; lady tries to live without lost shoe but cannot. Shoes, of course, come [...]
Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid review: bang on the zeitgeist June 29, 2021 The new Toyota Yaris Cross takes an award-winning small car and makes it larger. Tim Pitt is among the first to drive it.
Land Rover Defender Hard Top review: The van that can July 24, 2021 The best selling car so far in 2021 is… a van. The Ford Transit Custom is currently beating the Vauxhall Corsa in the SMMT sales rankings – and by a clear margin of several thousand, too. ‘Building back better’ clearly means a focus on vehicles driven by people who build or make stuff – and now Land Rover is getting in on [...]
Commercial struggles offer open skies to private jet operators April 7, 2021 The global collapse of aviation over the past year has for the most part been one long unrelenting nosedive, with the occasional moment of levelling out as much-needed respite. As in most crises, however, there are both winners and losers, and though the big commercial airlines clearly fall into the latter category, an unlikely group [...]
Debenhams axes 2,500 jobs in bid to cut costs after coronavirus lockdown August 11, 2020 Debenhams has axed 2,500 jobs as it seeks to reduce costs following the coronavirus lockdown, in the latest blow for the struggling UK high street. The department store chain, which permanently closed 20 stores during lockdown, said the trading environment is “clearly a long way from returning to normal” after lockdown restrictions were lifted. The [...]
UK shoppers start to return to the high street after lockdown July 10, 2020 Shoppers returned to the UK high street last month as lockdown restrictions were eased, however visitor numbers were well below pre-coronavirus levels, according to the latest data. Footfall analysis by the British Retail Consortium and Shoppertrak showed that footfall in June was down 63 per cent compared to the previous year, although this was 19 [...]
Klarna restricts lending rules during lockdown July 20, 2020 Fintech lender Klarna said it has tightened its lending criteria during the coronavirus pandemic. Its vice president Luke Griffiths said Klarna is only accepting new customers that it believes will repay on time, and is increasing the frequency with which it reviews its acceptance criteria. “[Klarna’s] default rate is less than one per cent and [...]