In defence of Peppa Pig, an unlikely flagbearer of Britain’s financial finesse OINK OINK Whisper it softly, but hidden in Boris Johnson’s bungled speech to the CBI on Monday, was a half decent idea struggling to get out. Forget the repeated apologies, the shuffled papers or the bizarre anecdote about his weekend, the star of the show was Peppa Pig, that irritating cartoon creature that toddlers adore. As the [...]
London: Two millennia of pestilence and not out Anyone with a cursory knowledge of London’s history will not be surprised that our city is the epicentre of Britain’s coronavirus outbreak. Ever since its Roman foundation, London has been a microbial soup, a cauldron of pestilence. Time and again plagues have swept across the capital, threatening to wipe it out. On every occasion, times [...]
Patel is in a Priti pickle Sympathy for Priti Patel is not necessarily widespread in Britain at the minute. The home secretary has incurred the wrath of the civil service, much of the establishment and indeed much of the media for her ripe language and uncompromising attitudes at work. So much so that it has put her job — and political [...]
Corporate reputation is too valuable to leave to chance July 4, 2019 Corporate reputation is a ubiquitous phrase today. Companies spend enormous sums trying to burnish their reputations. An army of corporate governance experts, politicians, regulators and, dare I say, journalists queue up to judge those efforts – and often find them wanting. Shakespeare, as you might expect, has the best lines on the subject. “I have [...]
Have trainers, will travel: Nothing beats running when you need to get to know a city October 24, 2018 On Friday morning, somewhere along the windswept shore of Lake Ontario, I will pass a significant and, many will say, rather self-obsessed milestone. If all goes to plan I will run a minimum of five kilometres through Toronto, allowing me to add Canada to the list of countries I’ve run in, bringing the total up [...]
The London Stock Exchange is shrinking: Why the capital needs to float more IPO boats August 29, 2017 Something strange is happening to London’s equity market. In a word, it is shrinking. Steadily, but surely, and over a long period of time. This threatens to have long-term financial and economic consequences for all of us. This may surprise you since on the face of it everything looks rosy. The FTSE 100 is sitting [...]
Why you should serve a magnum on Christmas day December 21, 2016 Yes, Yes, Christmas is a time for giving. But it is also a time for a decent glass of wine or two and sharing them with friends and family. One of the greatest pleasures in collecting and appreciating wine is choosing the wines that will work just right with the occasion and the planned menu [...]
Why it’s time to stop drinking prosecco November 10, 2016 Three years ago, when I was just starting out with this column, I boldly predicted the rise of prosecco in the hearts of the British quaffing classes. And oh how it has turned out to be true. Clever marketing, combined with the British love of cheap fizz, has propelled prosecco relentlessly up the wine charts. [...]
Lord Stuart Rose interview: Former M&S boss opens up on the ill-fated Stronger In campaign and his 10,000 bottles of wine November 9, 2016 Lord Rose of Monewden knows how to do things in style. In the space of a 45-year business career he managed to navigate his way through more boards, bids, bust-ups and blow-ups than seems possible in a single lifetime, collecting a knighthood, then a peerage and a comfortable fortune on the way. More to the [...]
Malbec in Bordeaux and in Burgundy bottles to boot: The new label extraordinaire going against the grain October 4, 2016 France has always been a nation of revolutionaries, whether they are political ones like Robespierre and Danton, scientists such as Marie Curie, or philosophers like Descartes or Jean Paul Sartre. So I suppose I should not be surprised to find a genuine wine revolutionary living next door to my new home in Gascony, who is [...]
