Tougher income checks if you want a mortgage October 24, 2012 INTEREST ONLY mortgages will not be banned under new proposals published by the regulator today, but banks will have to be more careful to ensure borrowers can pay back the loans. The richest borrowers will not need to go through extensive affordability checks under the new mortgage market review (MMR), while small changes to contracts [...]
Apple has a little something for you October 24, 2012 Great things come in small packages As the name would suggest, the mini is small. How small? Try 7.9-inches. It’s 1.3-inches smaller than its older sibling and while it’s still larger its competitors, the bigger size allows for 67 per cent more screen usage compared to the Google Nexus 7 when browsing the web in [...]
The top five 7-inch tablets on the market October 24, 2012 Amazon Kindle Fire HD The HD version of Amazon’s original design is ideal for people who use their tablet for watching movies and online shows. Considering the affordable price, the features on offer provide great value for money and the speakers are pretty good too. Google Nexus 7 by Asus Despite it being made of [...]
McQueen sets up shop on Savile Row October 24, 2012 The highly-anticipated store is open for business Stylish. That’s the word that springs to mind when stepping into the new Alexander McQueen menswear store. The label is big — even more so since its creative director, Sarah Burton, designed Kate Middleton’s wedding dress last year — so you might be surprised, then, to hear that [...]
Volkswagen gives you two-in-one October 23, 2012 Few cars become iconic in their own production lifetime; they have to be unusually good and dearly loved by a loyal customer base. Over the years, Volkswagen has achieved this several times: there was the Beetle, of course; then the sporty Golf GTI, which single-handedly created the hot hatchback segment when it was introduced back [...]
CAR TALK October 23, 2012 Jeep’s new S-Limited model features a powerful audio system Jeep has announced the launch of a new Grand Cherokee “Sports Line” version, the S-Limited. Powered by a 3.0-litre V6 CRD diesel engine, the S-Limited has muscular looks with a distinctive black grille, rear light bar and black gloss alloys. Inside, a 825-watt Harman-Kardon audio system [...]
Hard-to-beat meat at Beard To Tail October 22, 2012 RESTAURANT BEARD TO TAIL 77 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3BS Tel: 020 7729 2966 FOOD ***** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost for two people with wine: £100 I’m ONE of of those awful meat eaters that should really be a vegetarian but in actual fact, loves poor-quality canned meat and a post-pub kebab too much [...]
Take advantage of this year’s hard crop and invest in vintage wine October 22, 2012 bottle.opener@cityam.com Any day now, in some corner of a vineyard in South West France, the last grape of the 2012 harvest will be picked and put into a basket and then, the serious business of making the Bordeaux vintage will begin. Right now, the whole wine world is waiting in bated breath to find out [...]
Prepared food need not give you nightmares October 22, 2012 Head chef, Paternoster Chop House Thinking what to have for dinner tonight? How about some corned beef, pickled herring or brawn (jellied pig’s head) with fermented vegetables in salt? I’m sure these aren’t top of your wish list – they may even bring back nightmares of bad school dinners – but it could be worth [...]
Bosideng London founder Mr Gao is a man with a plan October 21, 2012 THE LAST time you walked on South Molton Street you would have gone past The Hog in the Pound, a not especially enticing-looking pub that sat at the top of the famous road where it meets with Oxford Street. Walk there today and it looks completely different. Let’s just say it’s had an upgrade; £25m [...]