Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour play review: a rowdy, sweary look at adolescents escaping to the big city August 11, 2016 National Theatre of Scotland’s breathtakingly rude adaptation of Alan Warner's novel The Sopranos is all about finding the sacred in the every day, even if that consists of getting off your face on magic mushroom lager. Written by Billy Elliot playwright Lee Hall, it follows six Catholic schoolgirls from the rougher parts of Oban who're [...]
Pressure mounts on government to scrap sugar tax as businesses and industry groups join forces in Face the Facts, Can the Tax campaign August 16, 2016 Soft drinks producers, off licences, pubs and sugar businesses have launched a new campaign to ramp up calls for the government to scrap its soft drinks levy. The sugar tax, which was first announced in the March Budget, will be applied to drinks containing more than five grams of sugar per 100ml from April 2018. The [...]
JD Wetherspoon, Pret a Manger, Leon and Zizzi nab prizes in the annual Peta vegan food awards September 20, 2016 JD Wetherspoon may seem to some like an unlikely candidate for a vegan award, but a meat and dairy-free twist on one of its signature dishes has just nabbed it recognition from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta). Those who want to both avoid animal-derived foods and join JD Wetherspoon's weekly curry club can [...]
Building more homes will not solve London’s housing crisis – here’s why December 5, 2016 Let's be clear, the housing crisis is not a crisis just because there is a shortage in housing. It's a crisis because there is a real problem with our access to affordable housing and not enough is being done about it. London homes are the second most over-priced in the world, according to a recent [...]
Branding a sports star: How Wasserman create social media prodigies December 12, 2016 Sports stars want to be rock stars, and rock stars want to be sports stars,” says Lenah Ueltzen-Gabell, executive vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Wasserman. We’re sitting in its newly refurbished headquarters at Aldwych House, an ultra-modern, open space of reductive design, coated with memorabilia gleaned from years of representing [...]
EU referendum: Diageo chief executive backs Remain in letter to UK employees June 20, 2016 The chief executive of Diageo has written to the company's UK staff outlining his arguments for voting to remain in the EU. Ivan Menezes, who has been at the helm of the British giant behind Bailey's, Guinness and Smirnoff since July 2013, said in the letter sent to all 4,773 British employees this morning that his arguments were clearly a [...]
Bluebird and Le Pont de la Tour owner D&D London restaurant group dishes up best ever profits September 26, 2016 Premium restaurant operator D&D London served up tasty growth last year, despite a troubling second half, and has committed to investing in the UK after the vote for Brexit. The figures Chief executive Des Gunewardena has said the second half of the year "was certainly not a bed of roses", though full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation [...]
Fuller’s takes on JD Wetherspoon, warning of “significant” Brexit risk June 10, 2016 Pub chain Fuller’s has gone head to head with rival JD Wetherspoon by warning a Brexit would be a “significant risk to the viability of the business”. But Fuller, Smith and Turner, which today reported a rise in profits and revenue in the year to 26 March, has said it will have in place plans to [...]
Facebook and trend for fewer but bigger nights out lift profits at Revolution Bars Group October 4, 2016 A large Facebook following and people opting for fewer but bigger nights out have revolutionised profits at Revolution Bars Group over the last year. The figures Revenue at the premium bar firm, which operates the Revolution and Revolucion de Cuba brands, was up 6.9 per cent to £119.5m in the year ended 30 June. Like-for-like [...]
Airbnb isn’t only revolutionising the holiday market; it’s also changing the way offices are designed February 23, 2017 When Airbnb sent round a survey to its employees in Paris asking what they’d like in their new office, the request was for a petanque field. For the uninitiated, petanque is a form of boules played with a wooden ball. “We were like, ‘weeeelllll, that may not happen, it could be a little dirty and [...]