Car Review: Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde September 9, 2014 I have solemnly sworn to not mention the words “soul” or “passion” even once in a review of an Italian car. With the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifolgio Verde hot hatchback, it’s an easy promise to keep. This Alfa is devoid of either. A quick bit of history. The “Quadrifoglio Verde” boot badge comes from [...]
Celtic to pocket millions from Champions League reprieve August 8, 2014 As Celtic succumbed to a 6-1 aggregate loss to Legia Warsaw on Wednesday night, they appeared to be anything but a side who you could picture competing in the Champions League. Yet in a realisation of every football fan's most wistful day dream (or nightmare, depending on where you're coming from), Legia Warsaw were [...]
Why taking on Islamic State in Syria is a recipe for unmitigated disaster September 28, 2014 For all that he is supposed to be a master communicator – and despite the oceans of ink spilled on the subject – I must confess I have no idea what exactly President Obama is trying to do against the Islamic State (IS). The White House talks of degrading and ultimately destroying the militants by [...]
Bottom Line: New boss has big shoes to fill and very little experience October 15, 2013 IT MIGHT seem churlish to assume that just because Christopher Bailey is a fashion designer, he might not know his way around a financial statement. Plenty of designers before him have founded labels and led them to commercial success – notably Tom Ford, the former Gucci and YSL creative director who jumped ship in 2004 [...]
A hot hatch with big shoes to fill September 3, 2013 It may be nippy, zippy and comfortable too, but can the Peugeot 208 GTI live up to the iconic 205? IS IT fast?” was the first thing my friend Dave said when I pulled up in the new Peugeot 208 GTI. He wasn’t the first to ask either. Peugeot’s designers have done an excellent job [...]
Euro 2016 Qualifier: Roy satisfied as Rooney edges closer to record October 9, 2014 ENGLAND 5 SAN MARINO 0 SATISFIED England manager Roy Hodgson played down the importance of breaking goalscoring records last night after his team maintained their 100 per cent start to Euro 2016 qualifying with the most perfunctory of thrashings. Almost two years to the day since Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck netted in a 5-0 [...]
Simon Fraser is fighting for hearts and minds at the Investor Forum July 2, 2014 Does someone at the new body set up to promote investor long-termism have a bizarre sense of humour? That was one interpretation of yesterday’s confirmation that Simon Fraser, former global chief investment officer of Fidelity, would be its first chairman. After all, Fraser was until recently a board member at the bete [...]
Crowdfunding Hollywood: Why the UK will finance the blockbusters of the future August 31, 2014 Over the years, the nationality of baddies in Hollywood films has offered a pretty reliable barometer of American geopolitical preoccupations. During the Cold War, there was an abundance of Russian villains on the big screen, with snow on their boots, vodka on their breath and their fingers on the nuclear trigger. More recently, jihadi terrorists, [...]
It’s a real family affair during this week’s £300m FDM float June 19, 2014 SOME say that, much like working with children and animals, one should avoid working with one’s other half. But this week’s float of IT services firm FDM has been a real-life example to the contrary. Not only are the chief exec Rod Flavell and COO Sheila Flavell of FDM married, but two of the bankers advising [...]
Brixton’s Deng unfazed by replacing star LeBron August 28, 2014 FOLLOWING in the footsteps of former Miami Heat standard bearer and the most famous player on the planet LeBron James might seem a daunting prospect, but not for transatlantic basketball star Luol Deng. The 29-year-old Great Britain forward signed a two-year deal in July worth $20m with Eastern Conference side Miami, who were earlier this [...]