TRAVEL NOTES November 28, 2010 Family Christmas in Gleneagles Don’t miss this offer at Scotland’s most romantic hotel. Highlights include skating lessons taken by former Olympic coaches, fireworks on Christmas Eve and sumptuous food. A children’s activity programme, surprise visits from the elves on Christmas Eve and of course Santa Claus himself on Christmas Day. Prices from £3,085 for three [...]
Time for festive frocks November 28, 2010 CHRISTMAS party season attracts its share of Grinch-like moaners. But let’s face it: a chance to roll out one fun frock after the next is good fun. Regarding the phrase “fun frock” – feel free to substitute “fun” with “glamorous” or “hot” or “lovely”. Anyway, the point is that you have to have a party [...]
A CHANCE TO DRESS UP: NOW THAT’S WORTH CELEBRATING November 28, 2010 WOMEN come into their own during Christmas party season – it’s a non-stop party and that means a non-stop fashion parade. There’s something about wearing a frock that makes you feel good, in the mood, flirty and pretty. Dressing up, especially at Christmas, gives you that sense of occasion and makes you feel “Christmassy”. Wearing [...]
ALAN SUGAR BECOMES A CHRISTIAN COVER STAR November 28, 2010 ALAN Sugar likes to boast that he was in the Jewish Lads Brigade in Hackney, flew Jewish comedian Jackie Mason over from New York for his 40th birthday party and when a contestant on The Apprentice told him “I’m Catholic and I give you my word”, he replied: “I’m Jewish and I couldn’t give a [...]
Double digit trading rise at John Lewis November 26, 2010 UPMARKET retailer John Lewis has reported strong trading figures over the past week after festive shoppers turned out to spend on Christmas. The department store chain took £88m in the week ending Saturday 20 November was up 11.5 per cent on the same period in 2009 and 29 per cent higher than 2008, the company [...]
No bonus cut at Stan Chart November 25, 2010 EMERGING markets bank Standard Chartered yesterday distanced itself from talks between the UK’s biggest banks over limiting bonus payouts. RBS, HSBC and Barclays are reportedly in discussions with each other and the government over potentially cutting 2010 bonuses as well as lending more to businesses. The UK’s five biggest banks may also contribute up to [...]
INTERIORS November 25, 2010 Andrew Dunning HEAD DESIGNER AT APD INTERIORS Q.Dear Andrew, we now have guests visiting for Christmas. How can we prepare our home in time? A.Christmas is a lovely time to have guests but the additional people, decorations and presents can make your home feel very crowded. If you are house-proud then you want your home [...]
Real estate shares surge as bid for CSC sparks appetite November 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares pushed higher yesterday, buoyed by strength in heavyweight miners and banks, and by gains from real estate issues as Capital Shopping Centres bounced on bid interest. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 41.83 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,698.93, dipping back in the closing auction after hitting a late-afternoon [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS November 25, 2010 TRYING TO TIME THE MARKET IS COSTLY Research commissioned by Barclays Wealth has revealed that investors’ habit of chasing performance is costing more than one percentage point a year in returns. The study, which analysed fund flows between 1992 and 2009, discovered that market timing decisions by retail investors (when investing in equity mutual funds) [...]
Retailers confident of Christmas boom as sales rise again November 25, 2010 RETAIL sales have unexpectedly shot up in the UK, according to figures released yesterday. In a survey conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 55 per cent of retailers said sales were up compared to this time last year. Only 13 per cent said that sales had fallen. And confidence is returning to the [...]