Episode 38: It’s the final countdown November 28, 2011 I lie in a hot bath, a little too much of my expanding waistline visible above the steaming surface of the water. I am contemplating turning forty. “Life begins at forty,” I keep hearing. My namesake, my mother’s great uncle David, had signed up at 17 and fought in the trenches in World War One. [...]
Jamie’s new kitsch kitchen November 28, 2011 UNION JACKS 4 Central St. Giles Piazza, WC2H 8AB Tel: 020 3597 7888 FOOD *** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £22 Sometimes moments come along that give you a real sense of your own mortality. For the most part they’re fairly clichéd, like realising you can’t name a single song in the [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS November 28, 2011 POILANE OPENS ALL-DAY VENUE Artisan bakery Poilâne has launched its first dining venue in the UK. The Cuisine de Bar by Poilâne at 39 Cadogan Gardens hopes to attract customers already familiar with its renowned chain of Parisian bakeries. Open until 8.30pm, it promises to serve wine as well as its famous bread and coffee [...]
QUAFFER’S CORNER November 28, 2011 Wine marketing is a tricky game I was asked for my opinion the other day about iPad wine-lists. For what it’s worth I’m not really in favour for a variety of more or less abstruse reasons. But I want to use it to expand on the larger issue of marketing led decisions, especially where they [...]
Osborne unveils £20bn loan plan November 27, 2011 The government will guarantee £20bn of UK bank debt over the next two years, chancellor George Osborne revealed yesterday, in a desperate bid to unfreeze credit markets. The Treasury’s credit easing programme will see the government underwrite chunks of lenders’ debt to bring their borrowing costs down, in return for which they will cut the [...]
Army on standby for strike November 27, 2011 THE Army has been put on standby to run Britain’s borders amid fears Wednesday’s mass strike over pensions will paralyse public services. Up to 18,000 immigration officials will join the industrial action, which is set to close up to two-thirds of schools, trigger chaos at ports and airports and disrupt services ranging from refuse to [...]
Chancellor’s plans are a mixed bag November 27, 2011 THIS week’s Autumn statement by the chancellor will be like the proverbial curate’s egg: good in parts, bad in others, and as a result not entirely digestible. While bits of George Osborne’s plans rightly focus on liberating companies and individuals, others involve creating special schemes, funds and interventions, many of them gimmicks, and seek to [...]
The City wants tax cuts – but does not think Osborne shares its hope November 27, 2011 CUTS in corporation and income taxes would benefit the City, but expectations are low for George Osborne to offer any in tomorrow’s Autumn Statement, according to the Voice of the City survey published today. More than two-thirds (69 per cent) said they would be “very favourable” or “somewhat favourable” towards a proposal to cut corporation [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 27, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES PLEA TO BRUSSELS OVER AUDIT SHAKE-UP The heads of several midsized audit networks have issued a last-ditch appeal to the European Commssion not to dilute sweeping proposals aimed at reducing the dominance of the four biggest accountants and improving audit quality. In a joint interview with the Financial Times, the chief executives called [...]
US Black Friday sales up 6.6pc November 27, 2011 US Black Friday sales were 6.6 per cent up on a year ago, according to retail data and consulting firm ShopperTrak. The gains were the strongest since 2007 and topped last year’s weak 0.3 per cent rise. The firm, which instals monitoring devices in stores to gauge foot traffic, said many retailers extended trading hours [...]
