CITY VIEWS: WILL YOU BUY NOW TO AVOID THE VAT RISE? December 6, 2010 MARK RODDIS | HISCOX “No, I won’t make any big purchases because I don’t have any big purchases to make before then. I’m not really bothered by the 2.5 per cent increase in costs to my everyday life. The post-Christmas sales might help to counter the effect as well.” ASHLEY STRATTAN | CRS YACHTS “I [...]
SCENTS FOR CHRISTMAS December 6, 2010 Guerlain: Arsene Lupin fragrances Exclusively available at Harrods’ brand new centre of male indulgence, the Gentleman’s Lounge, and inspired by the French gentleman thief. £135 (100ml) www.harrods.com Carthusia: Uomo A subtle, luxurious fragrance with light refreshing top notes of sea air and fresh fruit, with warm, refined tones of leather and musk. £55 (100ml) from Avery [...]
4m to buy tablet this Christmas December 6, 2010 Over 4m Brits plan to buy a tablet computer like Apple’s smash hit iPad over Christmas, spending a total of £1.4bn, according to a survey. The research from price comparison site USwitch found a further 21 per cent of people plan to buy one within the next year – even though 94 per cent already [...]
OUT OF OFFICE December 6, 2010 SAVILE ROW SUIT UP FOR GRABS Fans of fine tailoring can get their hands on an exclusive bespoke suit made by Savile Row legends Norton & Sons in an online auction being held by industry body the Campaign for Wool. The suit will be made from wool woven by cloth merchants Taylor & Lodge from [...]
Shoppers return to stores after snow December 5, 2010 SNOW may have kept people at home for much of last week, but consumers hit the stores as soon as milder weather returned, according to data released yesterday. John Lewis recorded falls in sales on Wednesday and Thursday, compared to the same days last year. However, a weekend surge saw the department store surpass £100bn [...]
Twin imposters triumph and disaster lurking December 5, 2010 So here we are just a few weeks before Christmas and those twin imposters triumph and disaster lurk behind every corner. England lose a brilliant World Cup bid that they could never win, only for the cricket team to comprehensively outplay Australia and take control in the Ashes. On Coronation Street four actors will lose [...]
It’s snow fun for the shops, but a winter wonderland for gas December 5, 2010 WITH THE great freeze ongoing this morning, a lot of people will not be too happy struggling through the cold to work. 73 per cent of companies had staff off work last week, and many more undoubtedly will have failed to get to work today. The costs of cold weather to the economy are far [...]
Sterling rewards when surfing silver December 5, 2010 SILVER traders might feel like the comic book character the Silver Surfer (pictured above) when they sit down to Christmas dinner this year. Surfing the silver wave has been a very profitable affair. The precious metal hit a 30-year high in August and has even outperformed gold as shown by the gold: silver price ratio. [...]
THE TIPSTER December 5, 2010 THE Scottish oil producer, Cairn Energy, has seen its share price knocked thanks to a fruitless drilling operation off Greenland back in October, but last week’s award of a new exploration license is injecting a degree of life back into the stock. That, in addition to the painfully slow ongoing attempt to dispose of part [...]
TRAVEL NOTES December 5, 2010 Run away for Christmas If you experience a sudden urge to run away to the mountains this Christmas, the fabulous five star Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains in glitzy St Moritz still has space. As well as the world-class skiing, the hotel also offers complimentary access to its high alpine spa and a gala dinner [...]