Chanel handbags just got even more expensive March 18, 2015 Exchange rate movements mean Chanel's iconic handbags just got more expensive for European fashionistas. Chanel has said its bags will be sold at the same prices worldwide in order to eliminate growing price gaps. Prices will rise about 20 per cent in Europe, and fall about 20 per cent in Asia from April 8. "The measure [...]
Car review: Why BMW’s Alpina XD3, the fastest 4×4 ever made, is the smart choice June 1, 2015 It’s funny how meanings change. In the early 1990s, diesel was a dirty word. But then diesel got clean, went green, became the low-CO2 champion to save the planet – and the Congestion Charge. Then scientists started noticing how London’s nitrogen oxide levels were spiking. Indeed, Oxford Street is one of the dirtiest roads on [...]
These priceless Henry Moore sculptures are all free to view in and around London March 26, 2015 When Henry Moore’s eight-foot bronze Reclining Figure: Festival sold at a New York auction house for £19.1m in 2012, it made him the second most expensive British artist of the 20th century, ahead of Lucian Freud and Damien Hirst. With this fact in mind, it’s amazing that so many of his sculptures are still freely [...]
Here is everything we know about BHS’ new owner Retail Acquisitions, and what it is planning for the department store March 12, 2015 After 15 years of being part of Sir Philip Green's retail empire, the downmarket department store BHS has been sold. The name of the new owners is Retail Acquisitions, but other than that, not much is known about the company that is planning to steer this 90-year-old institution back to growth. Here is what we [...]
Kensington and Chelsea leads fall in London house prices after boom peters out February 12, 2015 London house prices stalled in December, dipping 1.1 per cent on the month, LSL Property Services said today. The fall does not unwind all of the gains of the boom-period, as prices are still up 13.9 per cent on the year to stand at an average of £576,093. Kensington and Chelsea has the most expensive houses [...]
The mansion made for Versace where Mayfair meets Milan March 12, 2015 Many houses are marketed as a fusion of the old and the new, east meets west or even luxury meets shabby chic. But 50 Charles Street is a rare fusion of Mayfair mansion and Milanese palazzo. This unusual combination is the result of one of London’s most ambitious conversion projects, designed to woo one of [...]
Change right-to-buy to stop rural communities becoming out of reach for young families, urges Chartered Institute of Housing February 24, 2015 We've all got used to the fact that young people and those on lower-to-middle incomes are being priced out of the city. Now it seems they are being priced out of the country too. The Chartered Institute of Housing has warned that continuing the right-to-buy scheme as it currently stands is making it increasingly difficult [...]
Hugo Boss sales target scrapped on low spending March 12, 2015 High-end German fashion house Hugo Boss yesterday scrapped its sales target for 2015 because of slower spending in Europe, the US and China, sending its shares lower. Like other companies targeting more affluent customers, Hugo Boss has been hit by lower spending abroad by Russian and Chinese shoppers. Its original revenue target of €3bn (£2.15bn) [...]
Bovis Homes is upbeat despite cooling market January 15, 2015 BOVIS Homes said yesterday it is on track to deliver a significant hike in profits after the UK’s buoyant property market helped the housebuilder to sell a record number of homes. The FTSE 250 company, which builds most of its homes in the south of England but outside London, completed 3,635 property sales in the [...]
Budget 2015 summary: Analysts, economists and think tanks give their verdict on Osborne March 18, 2015 George Osborne delivered a Budget stacked with facts, figures and policies intended to ward off Labour's cost of living offensive and get the electorate on side before May the reactions are already flooding in. Here is a sampling of analysts' reactions to the final set-piece event of the coalition government. BNP Paribas' Dominic Bryant gives [...]