WH Smith: High street profit slumps ahead of Modella sale April 16, 2025 WHSmith’s high street division has reported a significant drop in trading profit, falling by over 30 per cent as it prepares for its sale to private equity firm Modella Capitlal. The retailer’s high street business delivered a profit of £15m for the six months to Febuary 28, 2025, down from £22m in the same period [...]
Aboard the real Orient Express train from Europe to the East April 9, 2025 It has always irked me that trains billed as the Orient Express, like the Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express, only go as far as Istanbul. Why evoke the romance of the Orient only to end the journey at the edge of Europe? It’s a disappointment, but more gallingly for anyone passionate about long-distance train travel, it’s also a missed [...]
The City Break: holiday like a royal in the New Forest April 8, 2025 For this week’s City Break, Justine Gosling goes to the most-loved national park in the south Once a royal hunting ground for William the Conqueror, the New Forest National Park is the UK’s most visited, and among the smallest and most accessible of the UK’s national parks. Stretching over 380 km sq across Hampshire and [...]
Five key business travel trends in 2025 and beyond April 1, 2025 Just three years ago, the future of business travel hung in the balance. Office spaces were being relinquished, metaverse technologies promised a life of WFA (Work From Anywhere), and the threat of another Covid wave loitered on the horizon. But a new “Business Travel Trends 2025” report co-authored by the trend forecasting agency Globetrender and Amadeus [...]
Discover the Best of Hong Kong: From breathtaking landscapes to unforgettable city experiences March 27, 2025 This content was paid for by Hong Kong Tourism Board, and produced in partnership with the City AM Commercial department. Hong Kong is a city of contrasts, where towering skyscrapers meet lush green mountains, and vibrant markets sit alongside Michelin-starred restaurants. Whether you’re an outdoor enthusiast, a culture seeker, or a foodie, Hong Kong offers an [...]
Libby’s Naked Wines diary: I visit Oxford’s trendy new rooftop March 26, 2025 This week in Libby’s Naked Wines diary, our wine columnist visits Oxford Simon Drake glides up to me in a jacket that looks and feels like he has skinned the Velveteen Rabbit. Indeed, it is so soft I pause for just longer than is potentially acceptable to stroke his velvety arm – before he gently [...]
I went storm chasing in Canada – but this Hawaii-style holiday offered so much more March 25, 2025 The irony is not lost on me that on the day I fly out to Canada’s Vancouver Island to chase some of the world’s gnarliest weather, the UK is being battered by its biggest storm in decades. Flights are being cancelled by the minute – airport boards lighting up red like Eighties arcade machines; travellers [...]
CitizenM breaks every Paris hotel rule – here’s why I love it March 22, 2025 CitizenM Gare de Lyon breaks every Paris hotel rule, but it's one of the most memorable stays in the city, writes Anna Moloney.
Hannes Myburgh’s Meerlust Estate is wine tasting paradise March 18, 2025 Meerlust Rubicon was the first wine I bought en primeur. This is the process of buying wine while it is still aging, ahead of it coming to market. It means securing sought-after bottles at potentially lower prices while the winemakers receive an early cash flow. I felt very grown up and sophisticated and rather lucky [...]
Aboriginal healing: mind-body-spirit therapy unlike anything else March 10, 2025 Aboriginal healing therapies use some of the oldest techniques in the world. Lisa Kjellsson ventured into the wilderness to look inwards I’m in a location on the travel wish list of landscape photographers the world over. The sandstone cliffs above Number 16 Beach, in Rye on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, overlook a rock formation that resembles a dragon’s [...]