SELLING August 26, 2010 MANAGING DIRECTOR, PROPERTY HUNT Q.Dear Russell, with property prices projected to fall and interest rates forecast to rise, should I buy? A.As with anything to do with property, it is all about timing. The latest surveys – whether they are from the major lenders, the high-street banks or the online property portals –are all pointing [...]
Looking good, kid: autumn style August 26, 2010 WHEN I was a child in the US, back-to-school fashion (we didn’t have uniforms) was a matter of two new scrunchie hairbands and a new pair of spandex rose-patterned cycle shorts. Oh, and a side pony tail. These days, kids from middle class families are expected to be almost as fashionable as their parents. More [...]
The angry wannabe queen August 25, 2010 THE RED QUEEN BY PHILIPPA GREGORY Simon & Schuster, £18.99 MEGA-novelist and Tudor historian Gregory returns to her new series, The Cousins’ War, with an instantly, electrically gripping story about Margaret Beaufort. Who? Indeed. Beaufort, the grandmother of Henry VIII, was merely a shadowy character on the edge of The White Queen, Gregory’s previous book [...]
GOING OUT August 25, 2010 IT may still be peak holiday season but in our cosmopolitan capital you can complete a world tour whenever you like by taking a glamorous (if slightly less exotic) journey around London’s more exclusive international nightlife. Starting with Japan, the chic Kyashii has just re-launched on Upper St Martin’s Lane offering a sophisticated, ultra modern [...]
Should Daddy David really take leave now? August 25, 2010 ANDREW WATSON YES AS experienced a father as David Cameron may be, he absolutely needs to be around in these first formative weeks not just to build a relationship with the baby, but to help his wife and older children adapt as well. Crucially, he must establish a pattern of involvement that will last long [...]
Feisty, fun, and a little confused August 24, 2010 THE Mazda3 MPS was once the most powerful front-wheel-drive hot hatch you could buy, an accolade that now belongs to Ford’s Focus RS. Even so, it’s quite possible you may not even be aware of its existence because the model before this one was so understated there was literally nothing about the way it looked [...]
CAR TALK August 24, 2010 CITROEN’S LIMITED EDITION HOT HATCH This is the DS3 Racing, the latest hot hatch from Citroën. With a specially tuned 1.6-litre 207hp engine, a top speed of 146mph and a 0-62mph time of just 6.5 seconds the car has been extensively modified by Citroën’s Racing division. The car has an upgraded chassis, running gear and [...]
Stress-busting for City professionals August 23, 2010 IT seems pretty impossible to avoid stress at some point in the working week, but is stress a word we use too easily? Neil Shah, world-renowned well-being expert and director of the Stress Management Society, offers a straightforward definition when he says we cope with life like a bridge: when the structure has more and [...]
Efficient running requires a close relationship to your heart August 23, 2010 PERSONAL COACH AT FULL POTENTIAL THE human heart weighs about nine ounces and beats 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime. But what has it got to do with your running? Well, its performance and efficiency are unique to you and therefore a great indicator of training and recovery levels. But while many will nod [...]
The finest dining to be had on High Street Ken August 23, 2010 Park Terrace Royal Garden Hotel 2-24 Kensington High Street W8 4PT 020 7937 8000 www.parkterracerestaurant.co.uk FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE LIKE the hotel that houses it, Park Terrace looks blandly corporate, even despite its Hyde Park views. Yet it was refurbished and relaunched in May, and while it may lack aesthetic vim, its food bears the hallmarks [...]