Cosiness meets luxury in the new generation of pub hotels May 22, 2011 IF you’re skipping out of town for a weekend, you don’t always want the ultra-plush, waited-on-hand-and-foot trappings of a smart hotel any more than you want the chintz and limited comforts of a B&B. For cosiness, convivial hospitality and excellent nightcap options, a stay at a pub with rooms can be the answer, not least [...]
PROPERTY NEWS February 17, 2011 BLOCK MANAGEMENT REVOLUTION A computer programme called “Blockcare”, designed to manage the administration of small apartment blocks, has been launched by managing agent Ringley Group. The software could significantly lower the fees that leaseholders are charged by traditional managing agents – up to 90 per cent over the course of a year. There is a [...]
More people should be The Apprentice February 6, 2011 WHEN the City opened its doors to the barrow boys of the East End – the wheeler dealer market traders who were first let loose on the London Stock Exchange in the 1980s – they were a roaring success. They had the drive, the hunger and the charisma to allow them to thrive in the [...]
Over a million riders have used Mayor Boris’ bikes October 7, 2010 LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson’s flagship cycle hire scheme passed the million journey milestone yesterday – ten weeks after its launch. More than 90,000 people have signed up as members, with around 20,000 journeys being made every weekday, with the average journey made under 30 minutes. Johnson said: “A million thank yous go to Londoners for [...]
Investors need to get used to lower returns June 20, 2010 Until last week I’d never been in The Galerie Doree, but if you ever get the chance it’s well worth a peek. Situated inside what is now the the Banque de France but was once the Hotel de Toulouse it equals anything in Versailles with a French version of the of the Sistine Chapel on [...]
OUT OF OFFICE April 13, 2010 HAIR COMES TO THE WEST END Back in the age of flower power and the sexual revolution, James Rado and Gerome Ragni’s counter-culture musical was a defining cultural event. Its recent Broadway revival has been an award-laden smash hit and the production has now come to London with the full, tie-dyed Broadway cast. Until 25 [...]
Bullock is Miss Sentimentality in her apple pie Oscar role March 25, 2010 Film THE BLIND SIDE Cert: 12A IT’S certainly a remarkable story. “Big Mike” Oher, a poor black kid from the Tennessee projects abandoned by his junkie mother, became a major star in American football after being rescued by rich housewife, Leigh Anne Tuohy. She and her millionaire husband (Tim McGraw) adopted him as a teenager, [...]