Automatic for the people? June 30, 2009 THE best high-performance cars come with a manual gearbox, right? Well, not according to Mercedes-Benz. On the evidence of this car, their stance appears to be that machines can change gear more efficiently than humans. But where’s the fun in that? Having driven this car in automatic form, I was yearning to feel how it [...]
Lions have a mountain to climb to top kicking kings in Second Test June 25, 2009 SOUTH AFRICA vs. BRITISH LIONS SECOND TEST – TOMORROW, 2PM – SKY SPORTS 1 THE CURRENT incarnation of the Lions squad may be the first to have gone unbeaten against provincial opposition on a tour since 1989, but that does not really tell the full story of a month of mixed success in South Africa. [...]
Mixing business with glamour and killer heels July 15, 2009 THE TOWERING WORLD OF JIMMY CHOO By Lauren Goldstein Crowe and Sagra Maceira de RosanBLOOMSBURY £18.99 PART business manual and part snoopy fashion reportage, the tale of super-brand Jimmy Choo is by turns compelling and dull. Well, it depends on the reader, actually. If your primary interest is learning about what makes companies successful, then [...]
VEXED IN THE CITY SOLVING YOUR RECESSION PROBLEMS May 26, 2009 DEAR VEXED: The expenses scandal has got me a little ruffled. Not just because of how MPs have been using taxpayers’ money. Mainly, actually, because I’ve been taking a few liberties with my own expenses – money’s tight and all. Now I’m scared of getting called on it and losing my job, to say the [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 20, 2009 SVG CapitalThe private equity firm has appointed Lynn Fordham as its new chief executive officer and Tony Dalwood as chief executive of SVG Advisers, its advisory arm. Fordham joined the SVG Capital board as finance director in July last year, having previously held positions with Barratt Developments, BAA, Boots, Man Group and Chubb. Dalwood joined [...]
Catt: BaaBaas cameo is not my swansong May 28, 2009 VETERAN fly-half Mike Catt has dismissed suggestions that tomorrow’s run-out for the Barbarians is set to be his final hurrah in professional rugby. Catt was expected to call time on his glittering 17-year career when he turns out for the star-studded Baa Baas against his former England team-mates at Twickenham. But the 37-year-old insists he [...]
Catt: BaaBaas cameo is not my swansong May 28, 2009 VETERAN fly-half Mike Catt has dismissed suggestions that tomorrow’s run-out for the Barbarians is set to be his final hurrah in professional rugby. Catt was expected to call time on his glittering 17-year career when he turns out for the star-studded Baa Baas against his former England team-mates at Twickenham. But the 37-year-old insists he [...]
Slick tricks and patter prove Derren Brown is the real deal June 18, 2009 TheatreDERREN BROWNAdelphi TheatreDerren BROWN has been on our TV screens long enough now for most of us to be fairly familiar with his shtick, but that doesn’t make seeing it live anything less than a wholly mesmerising experience. I can’t think there’s a more joyfully entertaining evening to be spent in a West End theatre [...]
Money supply is starting to grow again June 2, 2009 FOR all the much-deserved carnage in Westminster yesterday, the economy is gradually recovering. This doesn’t mean we will enjoy a V-shaped bounce-back: growth, when it returns, will have to contend with massive fiscal tightening to tackle the exploding budget deficit; interest rates will also have to go up, dealing the convalescing housing market a second [...]
Small car, big noise June 2, 2009 WHEN I covered the Geneva Motor Show back in early March, I said I wasn’t a fan of the shape of the new Polo. Now in its fifth generation, it looks like a new Golf from the front but with the Lupo attached to the rear. I just don’t get it. I want to get [...]