Spoiled for choice: the skies are full of options for business travellers June 7, 2009 Iberiawww.iberia.comSeating: Ergonomically designed with a double back pillow and additional massage function. Once you get comfortable the seat can be programmed to remember the setting. Adjustable lighting for reading as well as a satellite phone, laptop plug and a 10.4 inch touch screen for sending texts and email. Entertainment: 15 audio channels and 26 video [...]
English wine comes of age June 2, 2009 KETTNER’S in Soho is one of the best-known wine bars in London, with a champagne list of over 100. So it was intriguing to hear that, for one week only, it was having an English Wine Festival. It was a small affair, with four wines on the list, but I was curious. If even Kettner’s [...]
Profits surge at pizza chain July 22, 2008 Pizza chain Domino’s yesterday reported a 33 per cent rise in first-half profits, as cash-strapped customers save money by getting a takeaway instead of dining in a restaurant. The country’s largest pizza delivery firm said that pre-tax profit for the first half of the year was £10.9m, compared to £8.2m last year while sales at [...]
Tesco to open wholesaling chain in India August 13, 2008 Supermarket giant Tesco yesterday said it was pushing into India by launching a wholesale cash-and-carry business. At the same time it announced a deal with Indian titan Tata to help it expand its fledgling hypermarket business. Tesco will invest £60m in its wholesale business – which will supply Tata’s chain of food stores, as well [...]
Six-star hotel in City July 2, 2008 Russian oligarch Vladimir Chernukhin is set to transform a landmark City building into London’s first six-star hotel. Chernukhin, a former Russian Deputy Finance Minister, was yesterday granted planning permission to redevelop the former Midland Bank headquarters – the imposing Grade 1 listed building situated on Poultry behind the Bank of England – into a luxury [...]
There’s no business like l’eau business, but is it all just an expensive con? July 3, 2008 As more bottled water comes on the market, can anyone tell the difference? A time comes in the life of any product that it goes from being naff, to being promoted by a Beckham. Last week a story emerged – was it leaked, perhaps? – that David B, the model and sometime footballer, is to [...]
Rising food costs getting you down? Try a spread bet July 21, 2008 A spread bet on commodities offers you an excellent opportunity to get even, according to Katie Hope You would have had to have spent the past year in a cave not to be interested in commodities. For car drivers, the price of petrol is an ever-growing concern, while rising food prices have caused riots in [...]
Whitbread wields axe as speculators circle October 24, 2005 Whitbread is expected to reveal plans to axe a quarter of its head office work force tomorrow. As he reports disappointing interim figures on Tuesday, chief executive Alan Parker is expected to confirm that up to 250 jobs will go at the leisure group’s Luton headquarters. Parker is fighting to keep the disparate business together. [...]
‘No talks’ at Whitbread October 26, 2005 The wind was knocked out of Whitbread’s sails yesterday after chief executive Alan Parker moved to quieten the takeover talk that has buoyed its shares. The leisure group was one of the biggest fallers of the day after Parker said there had been “no talks” with private or trade buyers about selling off any of [...]
The Power Struggle November 3, 2005 The fate of Battersea’s famous structure is still far from certain, reports Robin Marriott To the Chelsea residents on the north side of the Thames, Battersea Power Station stands out like a monument to a bygone era. The four chimneys no longer emit smoke and the days when it generated electricity must seem as distant [...]