Why Ocado isn’t delivering as the markets hoped September 19, 2011 WHEN Ocado came to the market in July 2010, to some (its investors) it was a great opportunity to buy into a growth online market with a unique business model and amazing technology. The company had been going for ten years and was just about to break through the tipping point, which would lead profits [...]
We need banks to fail more often – not less September 19, 2011 THE Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) has spoken, but not too loudly and with no real urgency. Even if its main recommendations are eventually adopted (such as ring-fencing the retail and investment arms of banks and raising capital requirements), few people feel that this will fix the banking sector’s problems. Even if these measures work, [...]
RAPID RESPONSES September 19, 2011 ICB bright side The ICB report was puerile: a politically-inspired piece of financial vandalism. But with regulatory damage both capped and deferred, notwithstanding the dire macro outlook and dysfunctional political landscape, we still believe that we are into a (bumpy) period of UK bank share price recovery, but one in which, in relative terms, the [...]
Dandies and femme fatales: a new wave of scent is here September 19, 2011 IN the world of scent, it’s all go. Europe’s top perfumers have unleashed a cascade of fragrances this autumn that are bold, mannered and exciting. Men are being asked to unleash their inner dandy – leather, tobacco and deep fruit are reminiscent of the salons and gentlemen’s clubs of yore. But we’re not talking “new [...]
Get more out of exercise September 19, 2011 FITNESS & DIET EXPERT EXERCISE hit the headlines again last week: new research from Loughborough University found that it not only lowers levels of waistline-enemy ghrelin (an appetite-stimulating hormone), it also raises levels of peptide YY – one of the good guys that suppresses appetite. So if you’re looking to capitalise on the waistline benefits [...]
EPISODE 28: GOOD MORNING MR. CASHMAN September 19, 2011 I LOOSEN my tie and look at my watch. 1.58am. I should have been home six hours ago and in bed maybe four hours ago. I certainly need to be up again and on my way back here within another four and a half hours. I look at the debris littering the bank’s boardroom. Chinese [...]
Making the CUT in style September 19, 2011 CUT 45 Park Lane, W1K 1PN, www.45parklane.com, 020 7493 4545 FOOD **** SERVICE *** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £70 IN the past, finding high-quality steak in London meant ordering plump filet mignon in a superior French restaurant and hoping the chef knew what to do with it. That’s all changed in the [...]
Croatian wine: surprise gem of Europe’s crop September 19, 2011 HEAD SOMMELIER AND MANAGER OF LUTYENS RESTAURANT AUTUMN’S a busy time for the wine trade and the last couple of weeks have been hectic with several tastings a day. The less glamorous side of the business is tasting interminable numbers of similar wines in order to fill a certain slot on the wine-list, the sub [...]
THREE OTHERS September 19, 2011 HIGH TIMBER, 8 HIGH TIMBER STREET, EC4V 3PA City A.M. favourite High Timber has several things to recommend it. One: its Thames-side views. Two: its wonderful South African wine collection, presided over by the exuberant Neleen Strauss. Three: its steak. These are juicy, chargrilled slabs, served with terrific sauces on wooden boards with sides of [...]
Qantas cancels 28 flights in strike blow September 19, 2011 Australia’s Qantas Airways has cancelled 28 flights scheduled due to a planned four-hour strike by ground staff, which the airline said will affect more than 6,100 passengers. Qantas said in a statement on Monday it expected a further 27 flights to be delayed by up to 35 minutes and warned passengers of further disruptions over [...]
