Ladies who don’t lunch: Maike Currie talks to financial services entrepreneur Joanne Smith about dry January and why compliance is the “new rock ‘n roll” February 18, 2016 My lunch date with Joanne Smith, financial services veteran turned entrepreneur, is long overdue. I have been using stalling tactics and to be honest it’s due to her area of expertise: compliance. (Read: boring box-ticker.) But it’s a New Year and, cloaked in noble resolutions, I finally make the time to meet her at a [...]
Don’t want to cook? Left booking late? Try these excellent London options for Christmas dinner December 6, 2016 Rivea Knightsbridge, SW7, £105pp, rivealondon.com Toast Christ’s birth in the glittering basement of the Bulgari Hotel, where executive chef Alexandre Nicolas has created a traditional menu with decadent twists. Scottish salmon gravlax and a pear and chestnut yule log rub shoulders with more unusual delicacies, such as a foie gras terrine with muscat grape gelee [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: John Lewis, M&S, Curry’s PC World, Asda or Argos – which retailer gets the gold star for best ad? November 6, 2015 The retailer race to be top of the tree this Christmas is on. Retailers including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Iceland have been teasing their Christmas advertising for weeks, but now the majority of the campaigns are officially launched, who will be sitting pretty at the top of the Christmas list? This year it’s clear than [...]
Cheap iPhones and Apple Watches? Here are the best Apple Black Friday deals November 25, 2016 Retailers always go big on tech and electronics for Black Friday, but Apple itself did not jump into the fray last year. In 2016, the company has changed its tune and will hold a "one day shopping event" on Black Friday. The exact deals have not yet been revealed, but will be available here, so [...]
NBA Global Games 2017: “The actual location of a game is less and less relevant”, says NBA European chief Ben Morel ahead of London visit January 11, 2017 As far as sales pitches go, the case for the NBA can rarely have had more ammunition to draw on than in recent years. The basketball league today brings a fixture to London for the seventh successive year when the Denver Nuggets play the Indiana Pacers at the O2 Arena – part of ongoing efforts [...]
Deflation station: Fidelity International’s Maike Currie explains where to invest in a world of no inflation November 18, 2015 It is likely that I will have to write further open letters to you over the coming months…” If you think these are the words of a hopeless romantic penning a letter to their long-distance love, you’re wrong. It’s the Bank of England governor Mark Carney, writing to chancellor George Osborne to explain why [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: It’s not just about John Lewis – here are all the other adverts including Marks & Spencer, Burberry, Waitrose, TK Maxx, Curry’s PC World, Argos – but nothing from Tesco yet November 6, 2015 Yes, yes, we know, there's a mournful man on the moon and a girl with a telescope and the whole of the UK is crying. But Christmas is not just about the John Lewis advert. There are some other retailers with festive ads of their own to share. Here's the best Christmas adverts the UK [...]
Ed Glitterballs. Former Labour MP confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing August 8, 2016 Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls is set to become the first male politician to compete on the main Strictly Come Dancing show, after the BBC confirmed his spot. Ed Balls — BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) August 8, 2016 Balls follows former business secretary Vince Cable in taking to the dancefloor, although the former Lib Dem MP only participated [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: Currys PC World has already had a record-breaking start to the deals day November 27, 2015 Currys PC World has reported its best-ever start to Black Friday, with more than seven million shoppers visiting its site already this week and eight items being sold every minute so far this morning. Yesterday's traffic to the electricals specialist almost matched that of Boxing Day last year – typically retailers' busiest day in the [...]
Dixons Carphone has created an Amazon Dash style button prototype September 20, 2016 Dixons Carphone is experimenting with the Internet of Things (IoT) to create an Amazon Dash style button that can be used to provide customer support when their devices go wrong. Like a "panic button on a submarine", if your washing machine starts leaking, simply pressing the button will trigger a call back from Dixon's call [...]