Bank reshuffle raises issues at Burberry – Editor’s Letter March 1, 2015 Sir John Peace is widely admired in the City and until recently held positions as chair of both the emerging markets bank Standard Chartered and the fashion group Burberry. Until last week, those who expected him to give up one of those posts so he could give more time to the one he kept, had [...]
Memo to the Prime Minister: How you can save the Union from destruction May 10, 2015 To: Prime Minister David Cameron Re: Saving Scotland Mr Prime Minister, let me congratulate you on your famous victory, which almost none of us – including myself – saw coming. You have accomplished the almost impossible, securing an increase in parliamentary representation (of 24 seats) for an incumbent party after a full term [...]
McCoy win ensures success at his final Cheltenham Festival March 12, 2015 RETIRING jockey AP McCoy ensured his final visit to the Cheltenham Festival would not be forlorn after plotting a brave front-running victory on Uxizandre in the Ryanair Chase yesterday. The Alan King-trained seven-year-old, an 18/1 shot, led from the start for 19-times champion jockey McCoy, finishing ahead of Ma Filleule in second and 5-2 favourite [...]
TfL and MySingleFriend.com bring love to London’s cable cars and river buses February 2, 2015 All aboard, singletons! The capital’s river buses and cable cars are set to transport Londoners on a journey to love – and all in time for Valentine’s Day. Transport for London (TfL) and website MySingleFriend.com plan to host a date night on board MBNA Thames Clippers and the Emirates Air Line on Thursday 12 February. [...]
EasyJet fights back in low-cost airline battle – but is Ryanair’s charm-offensive giving it the edge? April 8, 2015 Is Ryanair’s PR drive giving it the edge over EasyJet? After Ryanair revealed it carried 28 per cent more passengers in March than the same month last year, Easyjet’s solid growth figures paled by comparison. The figures EasyJet carried 5.5m passengers in March, compared to 5.1m during the same month last year, a rise of [...]
Housing data shows lending and price rises – London Report March 1, 2015 HOUSING data due this week is likely to show increases in both prices and the number of mortgages being taken out. Bank of England mortgage approval figures, out today, are forecast to show that the number of housing loans rose modestly for a second month running in January after falling for five successive months to [...]
Watch talk: A new generation of women’s watches is blazing a trail of originality March 5, 2015 Every January specially invited watch journalists decamp to Geneva’s Palexpo – a great, industrial box next to a motorway – to be shown watches that cost more than many of their flats in an unrelentingly beige luxury bubble. This is SIHH, where Richemont’s brands (and a few select “friends”) assemble to set out their stall [...]
Film review: Coherence has the kernel of something interesting but doesn’t hold together February 13, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ Coherence is soft science fiction slush that simply doesn’t hold together. As four couples meet for dinner, a mysterious comet streaks through the heavens, cracking mobile phone screens, fracturing reality, and encouraging the kind of ill-informed, feng shui and quantum theory-tinged, new age, nonsense-strewn dinner party conversation that makes you hope [...]
Apple travels to Scotland to poach Edinburgh-based talent Camel Audio to bolster Logic Pro app February 24, 2015 Edinburgh-based Camel Audio, an audio software development house run by University of Edinburgh alumni Ben Gillett, appears to have been scooped up by US tech giant Apple. In January, Camel informed customers that its “award-winning… professional audio products” (Alchemy Synth, Sound Libraries and CamelPhat) would no longer be available for sale. Then, on Monday, the [...]
From cocks to horses: Introducing the tenth artwork on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth – Hans Haacke’s Gift Horse March 2, 2015 From the innuendo-baiting giant blue cock that’s stood proudly atop the Fourth Plinth for the last year or so, to Marc Quinn’s moving marble rendering of artist and phocomelia sufferer Alison Lapper, artworks on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth have provoked admiration, derision and debate for 16 years. Now onto the tenth commission, the Fourth Plinth [...]