Indulge in Pippa Middleton’s favourite pastime in Oslo September 26, 2014 What do you think Pippa Middleton’s secret is? Cross-fit? Pilates, maybe? Wrong: cross country skiing. The Duchess of Cambridge’s sporty sister took on the infamous nordic skiing marathon at Vasaloppet in 2012, taking seven hours and thirteen minutes to complete the 90km course. Anyone who does that is going to be in the best shape [...]
Listen to Peter Thiel: Politicians must embrace the fact there’s no money left September 25, 2014 MORE must cost less. In his new book Zero to One, entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel observes that the dream of globalisation – expanding the affluent consumption habits of the western middle class to more and more of the world – demands we also commit to radical technological innovation in order to reduce that lifestyle’s [...]
Why Slovenia is the perfect place for a spot of posh hiking September 19, 2014 First things first: backpacking is a lot more fun without the backpack. Forget any student holidays spent hauling grubby camping gear from hostel to hostel. Today’s self-guided walking tours are altogether more grown-up. The company supplies a route, takes care of accommodation and transports your bags. There’s no group walking, you’re free to stride up [...]
Robots won’t take all City jobs – they could even give you a pay rise September 11, 2014 You're back from the summer, but for how long? In case you missed it, one tech visionary thinks many City jobs could be automated within a decade. Dave Coplin, who glories in the title of chief envisioning officer at Microsoft UK, told the Telegraph that “the City could be run by algorithms”. Ten years is [...]
The Wedgwood collection is a key piece of our commercial heritage – let’s keep it together September 4, 2014 We have three months to save a vital piece of Britain’s commercial heritage. The Art Fund, an independent charity which helps buy art for the nation, has already raised a heroic £13m. It is now seeking a final £2.74m in donations by 30 November to keep the Wedgwood collection together in its Staffordshire home. Waterford [...]
Amazon’s Twitch purchase heralds a new age of creative consumption August 28, 2014 It's enough to make an accountant develop a nervous one. This week Amazon snapped up Twitch, a video platform and community for computer gamers, paying the princely sum of $970m (£585m) in cash. That’s a lot of money for something many people have never heard of – more than three times the amount Amazon spent [...]
Lidl by Lidl, the discounters are still on the rise – Bottom Line August 27, 2014 Fresh data, but no fresh hope for the mid-market grocers. Tesco dropped its market share to 28.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 17 August, down from 30.2 per cent last year. Sainsbury’s also edged down. By contrast, premium player Waitrose grew its market share to 4.9 per cent – and its take at [...]
Who’s back: The Doctor is the unexpected freedom fighter our civilisation still needs August 21, 2014 Look who’s back. Tomorrow night Peter Capaldi, formerly swear-master Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It, takes his place at the Tardis console. What makes Doctor Who so enduring? It’s thirty years since it made me cower behind my childhood sofa, but after its bold regeneration in 2005, this bizarre TV series seems like its [...]
BHP Billiton demerger share price drop: Worth digging past the disappointment – Bottom Line August 19, 2014 Plans for a leaner, meaner and more profitable mining giant drew little love from investors yesterday. It was easy to see why – but that doesn’t mean the prospects for a slimmed-down BHP Billiton aren’t shiny. The air of disappointment that saw BHP’s shares fall nearly five per cent over the day was down largely [...]
Iran’s female Fields medalist is a reminder of prosperity’s liberating power August 14, 2014 Amid all the horror and hard choices dominating the global news this summer, it’s important not to miss the brighter trends as well. So it is worth taking a moment to salute Maryam Mirzakhani, who became the first woman to win a Fields Medal, the Nobel of maths, this week. Mirzakhani was among four researchers [...]
