The critics are wrong: Our bold plans for new homes for London will benefit all December 21, 2014 As London's population soars towards the 9m mark, it’s vital that we take every step we can to deliver the jobs and homes our growing city needs. And Old Oak Common, a once-forgotten part of west London, represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to create a brand new piece of the capital with up to 24,000 new [...]
After a dismal year for the FTSE 100, could 2015 finally see it go past the 7,000 mark? December 21, 2014 Laith Khalaf is senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Yes. As we enter 2015, the prospects for UK stock markets and the FTSE 100 in particular are finely balanced. There are a number of destabilising events at play. First, the general election in May is likely to give the markets a case of the jitters, [...]
Stepping outside: Exterion Media CEO Shaun Gregory on the future of out-of-home advertising December 21, 2014 You've almost certainly seen an Exterion-owned ad site today – dozens, actually. They’re smattered all over the inside of London’s Tube stations: up and down the escalators, on platforms, inside the carriages, as well as on the sides of the capital’s buses. Social media and content marketing have predictably drawn the bulk of column inches [...]
Content isn’t just for Christmas: Reflections on 2014’s seasonal ads December 21, 2014 One of the wonders of Christmas is the gift of giving, and brand marketers have been wrapping up content in abundance this Christmas. For the major retailers, it’s no longer simply about occupying the most television airtime over the festive period. Content now starts with YouTube and Facebook, becomes amplified through Twitter and is spun [...]
Meditation obsession: This mindfulness craze is madness December 21, 2014 The new obsession with meditation is a sign of exactly how mindless our places of work have become. Imagine leaving the office on a cold winter evening. You are tired, stressed and all you want to do is stretch out on the couch, drink a large glass of wine and laugh at D-list celebrities [...]
One-minute guide to mindfulness December 21, 2014 LEGEND has it that the Buddha sat under a Bodhi tree in India for 49 days straight before achieving enlightenment. Some Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programmes today pledge to get you close after just a dozen or so sessions. In its current form, mindfulness owes its existence largely to Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn, who earned his [...]
Gimme 5 December 21, 2014 …APPS FOR CUTTING DOWN ON STRESS Schedule Planner Free Staying on top of your daily routine and tasks is surely one of the best ways of making your working day less “mindless”, or stressful. And Schedule Planner is one of the most-loved planning apps out there. It’s designed with busy users in mind, and the [...]
Reach for the Isle of Skye for a bracing winter weekend away December 21, 2014 The island off the west coast of Scotland has a rugged charm during the colder months – and the food is first class. My heart is yearning to thee, O Skye! Dearest of Islands! There first the sunshine gladdened my eye, On the sea sparkling”. So wrote Scottish poet Alexander Nicolson about the largest [...]
48 hours in… Oslo December 21, 2014 WHERE TO STAY The 140-year-old Grand Hotel has an illustrious cultural history in the city. It hosts the annual Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and past live-in guests include playwright Henrik Ibsen and explorer Fridjof Nansen. grand.no WHERE TO GO Bask in the green surroundings of one of Norway’s most important heritage sites, the Akershus Fortress, [...]
Premier League: Skrtel reopens old wounds as Arsenal falter December 21, 2014 LIVERPOOL 2 ARSENAL 2 ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger blamed a hangover from last season’s 5-1 humiliation for a lukewarm performance and another late surrender at 10-man Liverpool yesterday. Goals from defender Mathieu Debuchy and striker Olivier Giroud cancelled out Philippe Coutinho’s opener and put the Gunners on course to take all three Premier League points [...]