Top hampers for summer picnics June 8, 2011 SUMMER is on its way and with that the promise of picnicking with friends, taking in concerts, tennis, festivals and Polo events outdoors (the vision, of course, never involves British rain.) Preparing for such affairs can be a kerfuffle, not least the task of arranging a good picnic and drinks, but thankfully London’s food purveyors [...]
Whitbread to expand faster as profits jump 20pc April 28, 2011 Pub and hotel operator Whitbread has pushed pre-tax profits up 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 and committed to further expansion in core brands such as Costa Coffee and Premier Inn. Whitbread produced £287.1m underlying pre-tax profit, up from £239.1m in the same quarter in 2010, as like for like sales increased [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 23, 2011 Agent Provocateur Retail veteran Chris Woodhouse has been appointed as non-executive chairman of luxury retailer Agent Provocateur. Woodhouse, director of Debenhams and chairman of restaurant group Gondola, which owns Pizza Express and ASK, will take a small stake in the lingerie business, which he will oversee alongside his existing role. Agent Provocateur, owned by private [...]
BLACKHEATH, LONDON April 7, 2011 ST JOHNS PARK Price: £3,500,000 This restored Victorian double fronted house is close to Blackheath village and the Heath. It has seven bedrooms, a 20m heated swimming pool under the garden with a viewing gallery and a large back garden and terrace. The driveway is paved with york stone and there is a separate annex [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 3, 2011 BSKYB Credit Suisse rates the media group “neutral” and has raised its target price to 870p, based on the price it believes News Corp might have to pay to secure a takeover recommendation from the board. A News Corp offer for BSkyB could come within days, the broker thinks. Credit Suisse has calculated its new [...]
OTHER PRIZE SPONSORS BY CATEGORY FOR THIS YEAR’S CITY A.M. AWARDS June 30, 2011 Saxo Bank is a global investment bank specialising in online trading and investment across the international financial markets. Saxo Bank enables private investors and institutional clients to trade forex, contracts for difference, exchange-traded funds, stocks, futures, options and other derivatives via multi-award winning online trading platforms, as well as offering professional portfolio and fund management. [...]
WHISKY AT MIDDAY FOR ABERDEEN’S POLAR FEAT June 2, 2011 THE WHISKY came out at noon at Aberdeen Asset Management yesterday to christen the boat the fund managers are sponsoring on its voyage into the Arctic unknown. The Old Pulteney has been designed to withstand some of the harshest conditions on earth, and her six-man crew – led by Scottish explorer Jock Wishart – will [...]
French fare with added va va voom May 23, 2011 CHABROT BISTROT D’AMIS 9 Knightsbridge Green, SW1X7Q1, 020 7225 2238, www.chabrot.co.uk FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £45 ON a wall inside the entrance to Chabrot Bistrot d’Amis hangs a large black and white photograph of a grizzled paysan emitting a gummy grin as he pours red wine from a magnum bottle into [...]
HENDON, LONDON April 14, 2011 DOWNAGE, NEAR PARSON STREET Price: £1.35m This five-bedroomed detached family home stretches across 3,030 sq ft and three floors. It has a landscaped garden, two separate garages and a long driveway with space for more than one car. Contact: Aston Chase on 020 8455 3538 or go to www.astonchase.com TENTERDEN GROVE Price: £699,950 This mews [...]
Living the life of a laird in a private Scottish stronghold August 7, 2011 ACKERGILL Tower is the sort of place that ought to have a permanent backdrop of lighting forks and thunderclaps. An asymmetrical block of granite turrets and chimneys, it’s a brooding, lonely obelisk that pierces the flat coastal landscape at Scotland’s most northerly tip. John O’Groats is just up the road, the next headland over is [...]