iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus: Release date in China, India, eastern Europe, South Africa and 36 more countries revealed by Apple October 13, 2014 The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in another 36 countries by the end of the month, Apple has announced, the fastest ever roll out of any of its devices. The new smartphones will go on sale in the majority of countries in eastern Europe as well as large – and potentially [...]
Gherkin bought by Safra Group: Meet the Brazilian-Lebanese billionaire behind the £700m deal November 10, 2014 The City's iconic Gherkin has been snapped up for more than £700m by the Safra Group, the investment giant controlled by Brazilian-Lebanese billionaire Joseph Safra. Safra, which last month won a $682m (£430m) takeover battle for banana group Chiquita, said yesterday it had agreed to buy the 590-foot tower at 30 St Mary’s [...]
Rouble falls to a new low against dollar and pound as sanctions bite October 8, 2014 President Putin celebrated his birthday yesterday, but it's just as well he is a tee-totaller because Russia's currency is probably giving him enough of a headache to worry about. The rouble has fallen to a new low against both the dollar and the pound today, as sanctions and falling oil prices continued to hit [...]
Plot your watch shop route November 6, 2014 If some nifty wristgear features in your beloved’s letter to Father Christmas, you need to plan your shopping expedition with appropriate precision – easy thanks to London’s bulging watch-retail scene The Square Mile The Royal Exchange, Bank Probably the UK’s most luxurious shopping mall, REX has become a mini-hotspot of horology, thanks to the recent [...]
Theatre review: Made in Dagenham starring Gemma Arterton November 7, 2014 ★★☆☆☆ Adelphi Theatre If you ever wondered why Carry On Camping, Carry On Up the Nile and Carry On Up The Jungle were never followed by Carry On Second Wave Feminism, or Carry On Women’s Liberation, then watch Made in Dagenham, a new musical in which slap, tickle and gender politics make uneasy [...]
The four horsemen of the chocolate apocalypse: Here’s why there’s a chocolate shortage November 18, 2014 Say it ain't so. Leading confectioners have warned the world could be about to run out of chocolate. In its annual results published earlier this month, Barry Callebaut, the world's largest chocolate manufacturer, said it had sold 1.72m tonnes of the brown stuff in the year to the end of August, an 11.8 per cent [...]
Central London completions to hit 10,000 next year, says JLL September 17, 2014 HOUSING completions in central London could reach 10,000 in 2015 for the first time in years thanks to a surge in construction activity, even as new housing starts and prices at the centre of the capital start to slow. According to a report released today by property firm JLL, there are now 21,900 units under [...]
Cain Hoy extinguish interest in a deal to control Spurs boardroom September 25, 2014 NEWLY-ESTABLISHED American private investment firm Cain Hoy Enterprises has formally declared the company has no further intention of exploring the possibility of purchasing Tottenham Hotspur. Cain Hoy Enterprises had announced its interest in a possible takeover earlier this month and had until 10 October to state whether a formal offer was to be made. The [...]
West End landmark Trocadero to be turned into budget hotel September 11, 2014 THE TROCADERO in Piccadilly is to be given a makeover after Europe’s largest hotelier Accor announced yesterday it had struck a deal to turn the famous West End landmark into a budget three-star hotel. Owners Criterion Capital, run by property magnate Asif Aziz, have already begun work on redeveloping the building into a 583-room hotel, [...]
Ash London’s Amanda Ibgui and Sharon Elalouf bring the French interior design Touch to the City October 30, 2014 Imagine how Sharon Elalouf and Amanda Ibgui felt arriving in London from their native Paris on a rainy day in 2006. Not only did they have to contend with English food and English weather, the pair also came up against English interior design. Enthusiastic devotees of modern French style (which for them means clean [...]