The expat life: a tale of two Swiss cities November 4, 2010 CLEAN, efficient, low taxes and great skiing – Switzerland is quite frankly fantastic. Far from being somewhere you are exiled, it’s the sort of place that you should be begging to be sent. And it could happen to you sooner than you think: punitive taxes in the UK have already forced Brevan Howard amongst other [...]
Asda unveils £100m brand make-over September 21, 2010 THE unveiling of Asda’s Chosen By You range saw chief executive Andy Clarke take centre stage as he claimed the £100m project would be “game changing” because it was the first time a supermarket had put so much time and money into updating its mid-range products. More than 40,000 consumers across the UK took part [...]
Facebook couldn’t have been British October 18, 2010 IT is simply untrue that Britain doesn’t produce any wealth and job creating entrepreneurs any more. Take some of the stories in today’s City A.M.; they demonstrate that Britain retains a vibrant start-up and growth culture. Hugh Willis, 50, and Mark Poole, 49, who founded BlueBay in 2001, are today each £82m richer after they [...]
FOCUS ON: HAMMERSMITH September 16, 2010 OVERSTONE RD Price: £264,950 A one-bedroom flat on the raised ground floor of a mid-terrace Victorian house. It is situated between Hammersmith and Brackenbury Village. It also has a reception room, a kitchen and a shower room. The property does lack outside space but it is close to Ravenscourt Park. Contact: Winkworth on 020 7371 [...]
2010’s Christmas book round-up December 1, 2010 BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CRISIS ECONOMICS BY NOURIEL ROUBINI WITH STEPEHN MIHM Pengiuin, £25 More than just another me-too account of the crisis, Nouriel Roubini – often called Dr Doom for his Cassandra-like prophecies – gives a compelling account of the 2008 meltdown. He provides the lay reader with succinct and clearly written explanations of the [...]
Journey into the mighty history of Samarkand December 12, 2010 AROUND Tashkent airport, giant hoardings proclaimed in English: “Uzbekistan Airways Wish You Good Luck”. It might have been more unsettling to read that message driving into Heathrow before our departure. In fact, we’d had an incident-free flight on Uzbekistan Airways to Uzbekistan’s capital. Tashkent sounds endlessly exotic but isn’t really. Much was destroyed by a [...]
Gambler’s luck needed for investment advice September 12, 2010 With my job some assignments are more taxing than others. Take the Fund Forum in Monaco earlier this summer. My producer Rose managed to turn her €100 into €300 in half an hour on the casino’s blackjack table there. She said the result came from clear strategy and gut instinct. But that was in June [...]
Marylebone gets Euro-chic September 27, 2010 Café Luc 50 Marylebone High Street, W1U 5HN FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £36 YOU might assume – I think I did – that Marylebone High Street is hardly in need of another place mixing dining and café culture. But the crowd packed into the recently opened, Belgian-owned Café Luc last Tuesday [...]
Far from the Medina crowd November 14, 2010 MARRAKECH might not immediately spring to mind when choosing somewhere to unwind. And to be sure, its main square Jemaa el Fna delivers noise, commotion, smoke and crowds, with tourists tripping over dancing monkeys and baskets of cobras to get to their next tagine. But there’s another side to the pink city, away from the [...]
Far from the Medina crowd November 14, 2010 MARRAKECH might not immediately spring to mind when choosing somewhere to unwind. And to be sure, its main square Jemaa el Fna delivers noise, commotion, smoke and crowds, with tourists tripping over dancing monkeys and baskets of cobras to get to their next tagine. But there’s another side to the pink city, away from the [...]