A gritty tale of love and intrigue in 1930s London March 17, 2010 AT THE CHIME OF A CITY CLOCK BY DJ TAYLOR Constable, £12.99 by Zoe Strimpel “If he had looked back, he would have seen her walk off not in the direction of the bus stop but away east towards Barnsbury. Only he didn’t look back. He hurried on, thinking of the office in Finsbury Pavement, [...]
HUMAN LIE DETECTOR BOOSTED BY CITY COMPANIES ON THE WARPATH December 20, 2009 WE ALL know businesses are rather jumpier than usual given the difficult ride they’ve had over the course of the recession, but I hear some are taking truly unprecedented steps to counter risky office behaviour. Darren Stanton, who calls himself a “human lie detector”, tells me he has seen a surge in requests from corporates [...]
US retail chains look to get a foothold in the British market November 8, 2009 VICTORIA’S Secret is crossing the Atlantic as part of a wave of US companies looking to establish a foothold in the UK and Europe. The US lingerie retailer is owned by Limited Brands, which has announced plans for international expansion. It follows news that Gap-owned Banana Republic, the smart-casual clothing chain which already has a [...]
Hunker down in a cosy bar this autumn October 19, 2009 WHEN temperatures drop – as they did rather suddenly at the weekend – it’s time for a change of tack when it comes to drinking venues. Those breezy summer cocktails in light-filled bars don’t seem quite the thing when it’s dark and blowing a freezing gale outside. What we need is intimacy and comfort – [...]
Brown is back, with silly plots, codes and terrible prose back September 16, 2009 THE LOST SYMBOLBY DAN BROWNBantam Press, £18.99 WITH AN initial print run of a million copies in the UK alone, and 6.5m worldwide, there is no doubt that Dan Brown’s latest – the follow-up, as you will know, to the Da Vinci Code – will be a publishing phenomenon. Robert Langdon, professor of symbology at [...]
It’s summer time and the boozing is easy … and delicious July 8, 2009 WHEN was the last time you really felt you were drinking a perfect drink? The right glass, the right temperature, the right mixture, composition, a veritable wash of refreshment and taste? Chances are, most of the time you knock back whatever is on offer – be it in the pub, or from your fridge at [...]
White bags and Burmese rubies: a practical guide to stealth wealth May 18, 2009 THERE was a time, not that long ago, that guests at Nobu would be eager to show that they were raking it in. Expensive bottles of sake would be ordered and placed on the table for all to see. But in these straitened times even the wealthy are less inclined to be seen to spend [...]