OUT OF OFFICE September 8, 2009 STARS AT TOWER FESTIVALThe Tower Festival is upon us yet again: hurry to get tickets for Nigel Kennedy on Thursday – on Friday there’s a Sadler’s Wells extravaganza not to be missed and on Saturday it just gets better with the divine Lesley Garrett and the Fron Male Voice Choir. Let’s hope the weather holds [...]
OUT OF OFFICE September 8, 2009 STARS AT TOWER FESTIVALThe Tower Festival is upon us yet again: hurry to get tickets for Nigel Kennedy on Thursday – on Friday there’s a Sadler’s Wells extravaganza not to be missed and on Saturday it just gets better with the divine Lesley Garrett and the Fron Male Voice Choir. Let’s hope the weather holds [...]
Find your way to Mayfair’s secret gardens August 13, 2009 THINK of Mayfair and you probably don’t think of greenery. Sure, there’s tidy old Grosvenor Square for you to spread out in at lunchtime on a sunny day, or the island of grass at the centre of bustling Berkeley Square. There’s even Hyde Park once you take your life in your hands and fight your [...]
Clubs vying for capital gains August 13, 2009 LAST YEAR might have been a bad one for the City, but for London’s clubs it was a boom time of sorts. Although Chelsea were the only side to finish with silverware, all five of the capital’s outfits claimed top 10 places, and most have reasonable hopes of improving this season. But on the eve [...]
Clubs vying for capital gains August 13, 2009 LAST YEAR might have been a bad one for the City, but for London’s clubs it was a boom time of sorts. Although Chelsea were the only side to finish with silverware, all five of the capital’s outfits claimed top 10 places, and most have reasonable hopes of improving this season. But on the eve [...]
Nice ice baby August 12, 2009 ICE cream never used to be a gourmet dinner’s crowning glory. Yet London has become a capital for the stuff – from street vendors to high gastronomy. Take Michel Roux at Michelin-starred Le Gavroche, who makes all his ice cream fresh daily – this week that includes fresh mint and peanut butter. Or Justin Saunders [...]
How the Russian oligarchs came to rise and reign in boomtime London August 5, 2009 LONDONGRADBY MARK HOLLINGSWORTH AND STEWART LANSLEYFourth Estate, £12.99ONE of the most visible signs of the times over the past few years has been the increasing Russification of London. The likes of Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, Oleg Deripaska, who made headlines when he entertained the then-EU trade minister Peter Mandelson and shadow [...]
Studio flats mean convenience and access to Zone 1 July 30, 2009 A COUPLE of decades ago it was common enough for City executives to keep a small flat in London to stay in during the week, returning to their family homes in the country at weekends. The heyday of the pied a terre may have passed thanks to improved commuting links and the soaring costs of [...]
Ministers split over timing of VAT increase July 26, 2009 A CABINET rift has opened up over whether VAT should rise to its previous rate at the end of the year. Retail and hospitality executives, who have campaigned for months against the change, were buoyed last week when Harriet Harman said the planned rise from 15 per cent to 17.5 per cent on January 1 [...]
Ministers split over timing of VAT increase July 26, 2009 A CABINET rift has opened up over whether VAT should rise to its previous rate at the end of the year. Retail and hospitality executives, who have campaigned for months against the change, were buoyed last week when Harriet Harman said the planned rise from 15 per cent to 17.5 per cent on January 1 [...]