Turbot charged Hawksmoor turns attention to the fruits of the seas November 19, 2012 RESTAURANT HAWKSMOOR AIR STREET 5a Air Street, London, W1J 0AD Tel: 020 7406 3980 FOOD **** VALUE *** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost for two people: £140 PROPPING UP a cocktail bar amidst the art deco surroundings of Hawksmoor’s Air Street branch, my mind mused over the agonising misfortune of having been born into the wrong era. [...]
Boisdale restaurant chain returns to profit October 28, 2012 BOISDALE, the Scottish seafood and steak restaurant chain, swung back into profit in the year to April 2012 and almost doubled its turnover to £10.5m. Companies House filings showed the group made pre-tax profits of £235,000, up from a £585,000 loss in the year to April 2011. Boisdale described the results as a “Curate’s egg [...]
Queen and Prince Philip inspect Bank of England’s gold stash December 13, 2012 WHEN they weren’t making insightful observations on the state of the UK’s financial regulation yesterday, The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh seemed to enjoy the rest of their visit to the vaults of the Bank of England yesterday. As tradition dictates, the Queen and Prince Philip both signed an unissued £1m [...]
Costa energises first-half profit for Whitbread October 23, 2012 WHITBREAD yesterday warned that growth in the second half of the year would be more subdued after the Olympics and a wet summer helped drive up first-half profits by 11 per cent. The owner of Premier Inn and the Costa coffee chain said a strong performance across both brands had helped push revenues up by [...]
TfL to open the Waterloo & City line on Sundays November 13, 2012 THE WATERLOO & CITY line is set to run a regular Sunday service for the first time in 65 years, City A.M. has learned. The news will be a welcome boost to shops and restaurants in the City of London – as well as good news for commuters who are forced to work on the [...]
Results season start drags on cliff euphoria January 8, 2013 US stocks fell yesterday, retreating from last week’s rally on the “fiscal cliff” deal in Washington, as companies started to report results for the fourth quarter. After a 4.3 per cent jump in the two sessions around the close of the fiscal cliff negotiations, the S&P has declined a bit, with investors finding few catalysts [...]
Summer of love for Symphony sends portfolio values soaring October 24, 2012 INVESTMENT firm Symphony International, which owns firms that sell lifestyle goods to people in Asia, yesterday reported a jump in fund value on the back of a stellar summer for its business investments. The London listed company, which backs a host of companies owning beach resorts, fast food restaurants and television stations, said the net [...]
It’s Davos, but not as you know it February 3, 2013 DESPITE being a 30-something supposed grown-up, I must confess to still suffering from the occasional nightmare. While on duty as a night editor of this newspaper, for example, my sleep can be disturbed by a recurring dream in which I’m culpable for printing over 130,000 front page headlines of “UK ECOMONY DIPS AGAIN” (yes, reread [...]
Prezzo toasts strong first-half September 5, 2012 Italian restaurant chain Prezzo posted a jump in first-half revenues and profits as it continues to roll out its expansion programme. Sales rose 14 per cent to £68.1m in the 26 weeks to 1 July while adjusted pre-tax profits increased by four per cent to £7.6m. The company opened 12 restaurants in the period bringing [...]
Dedicated Federer of fashion February 27, 2013 THERE IS a problem. It is 8am in Dubai and a freak storm has descended over the improbable desert city. Where there should – statistically, at least – be clear, azure skies, there is a mulch of saggy grey cloud. This is a problem because I was supposed to be boarding a helicopter to Roger [...]