Spirit of the financial age – 30 years after the City’s Big Bang October 27, 2016 The Big Bang City revolution of 1986 — exactly thirty years ago — was a game-changer that allowed the City to become not only de-regulated but a brave new world of graduate opportunity. Today, it is very different: with much tightened regulation, tough new ‘ring fencing’ of the old casino banking system (separating investment banking [...]
Davos Diary: Prime Minister May’s reception as cold as the weather January 20, 2017 At the very least, this week’s Davos agenda had a weary air of familiarity about it: sustainability, artificial intelligence and income inequality all competing to be hailed the zeitgeistian focus of the world’s power-brokers’ power breakfasts. In that respect, little has changed. But if the Trump presidential machine rolls into town this time next year, I [...]
OAP (Old And Partying): UK pensioners have higher average incomes than their working age children, and spend more on having fun February 15, 2017 For the silver generation, this truly is a golden age. Two reports released in the last week indicate that pensioners have never had it better. The first, Tilney’s “The Cost of Tomorrow”, debunks the myth that supposedly frivolous twenty-somethings spend more on having fun than retirees, either in absolute terms or as a percentage of their [...]
If you dream of hurtling down deserted mountains, slaloming trees and ducking overhanging branches, the Canadian Rockies may be for you January 17, 2017 Sunshine Village sounds like a misnomer for a ski resort deep in the Canadian Rockies. A Caribbean beach complex, maybe, but a ski arena that straddles the Continental divide of the Americas? But when you’re at the peak of Mount Standish, an impossibly blue sky hanging over a seemingly endless white expanse, it starts to [...]
The kids heading back to school drove sales at John Lewis as the warmer weather continued to help Waitrose September 13, 2016 The John Lewis Partnership's sales have been boosted by the summer sun and families stocking up for the start of the school year. In the week to 10 September, sales at John Lewis were up 9.1 per cent on the same period last year, reaching £82.7m. Fashion sales did particularly well, up by 6.8 per cent. Children's [...]
Wine prices could go up by more than 29p a bottle due to Brexit October 18, 2016 Wine from the EU could increase by an average of 29p per bottle as a direct result of Brexit, drinkers have been warned. The latest statistics from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association show that an average bottle coming from within the EU could go up by 29p, and those from outside the EU could go [...]
There’s a restaurant in the Maldives that’s entirely underwater and it’s pretty nice October 31, 2016 To visit the Maldives is to bathe in the clearest ocean of purest aquamarine blue. To visit the Maldives is to revel on soft white sand and eat delicious fresh pineapple. To visit the Maldives is, crucially, to be handed so many cool mint-scented flannels that you cannot remember what it is like to not [...]
Here’s some of the best (and weirdest) new technology from CES 2017 January 11, 2017 Audio The Doppler Labs Here One wireless earphones returned to CES this year. A more practical alternative to the rather silly Apple AirPods, they’re controlled with an app via Bluetooth and can bionically enhance your hearing in a given direction or block out external sounds, as well as the usual music playback features. If you’re [...]
Marks & Spencer’s 2016 Christmas advert is one for the ladies as Mrs M&S becomes Mrs Claus November 11, 2016 First there was Mrs M&S, the woman few aspire to be. Now there is Mrs Claus, the woman M&S think many would like to be this Christmas. Marks & Spencer has tonight launched its Christmas advert for 2016, with Father Christmas’ wife as the star of the show. The advert was broadcast for the first time [...]
Sons of London’s Sepand Oboudiyat on cow bellies, Italian artisans and fast fashion July 4, 2016 "Bob Diamond wouldn’t hire a guy who had bad shoes," Sepand Oboudiyat informs me. And the latter has done very well out of the City’s predilection for fine footwear. The founder of new men’s shoe brand Sons of London has only been trading for seven months, but he’s already seen 75 per cent growth month-on-month. Sitting at [...]