Hotel focus: Oitavos, Portugal November 3, 2013 TRAVEL writing tradition dictates that a property sitting amid mountains, forestry or, in this case, the windswept dunes of Portugal’s Atlantic coast, should be described as “nestled” among its surroundings. Not the Oitavos Hotel though. The five-star hotel near Lisbon looks like it has crash landed in the sand and grasses – a tower of [...]
Modern drawing room farce disappoints, despite strong cast October 31, 2013 THEATRE RAVING Hampstead Theatre | Two stars I THOUGHT you didn’t agree with stereotypes?” says Keith to his wife Briony. “You’ve restored my faith in them,” she fires back, stingingly. Actor and playwright Simon Paisley Day obviously has plenty of faith in them, too – the whole of Raving is built on them. Keith (Barnaby [...]
Tech whizz who knew online video was more than a fad October 27, 2013 Blinkx founder Suranga Chandratillake talks to Annabel Palmer about his success in Silicon Valley THE MAN behind video media company Blinkx, Suranga Chandratillake has strong views about why Britain lacks its own Facebook. Negative perceptions of tech engineers and software developers are holding people back. Whether this would mean all eight-year old schoolboys, when given [...]
The City A.M. guide to keeping fit, fresh and healthy in the City October 27, 2013 The City is bursting with different ways of getting you back in shape – and most of these activities can be enjoyed in your lunch break 1. Take intensive bursts of exercise LAX St Botolph’s, the City’s largest gym, opens today with a fitness programme specifically aimed at reflecting the lives of busy City workers, [...]
Birds eat berries as BlackBerry app takes flight October 23, 2013 IT’S OFFICIAL. BlackBerry, once the giant of the smartphone world and the nemesis of every holidaying chief executive, is now little more than an app developer – albeit a very successful one. As its updated BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app for Android and iPhone finally went live (a month after leaked software botched the original launch), some [...]
We’re entering an era of real-time business with startups setting the pace October 23, 2013 REAL-TIME reaction is the new currency in business and – for the most part – entrepreneurs and lean start-ups are making mincemeat out of big corporates. “Business has sped up in the past ten years,” says Rupert Lee-Browne, founder of broker Caxton FX, which has evolved from order-taking by fax to instant responsiveness in its [...]
How to stay awake at work October 23, 2013 WHEN you’re working hard and juggling social engagements throughout the week, often it gets to the point when something has to give. All too often, that thing is sleep. When was the last time you got a solid eight and a half hours? When it comes to staying healthy and performing well, the importance of [...]
The range of premium mixers produced to raise gin’s spirits October 21, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks luck, liquor and a lightbulb moment with Charles Rolls, co-founder of drinks label Fever-Tree WHILE gin may not be the most popular global spirit (that prestigious title goes to Korean rice wine brand Jinro), the world consumes 440m litres of it each year. But back in 2000, Charles Rolls, co-founder of the [...]
Merlin gets set for stock market rollercoaster October 20, 2013 ALTON Towers owner Merlin Entertainments is closing in on plans to launch its long-awaited stock market debut after the roaring success of the Royal Mail float and temporary fixing of the US debt ceiling cleared its path to a listing. Merlin, which is co-owned by private equity titans Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, is due [...]
Inside Track: Let’s not overstate London’s appeal for tech flotations October 17, 2013 There’s nothing wrong at all with recently-floated technology companies like Macromac, Netscientific or Centralnic. These three groups, plus 18 others, have all floated on the London stock market over the course of the year and form part of the backdrop to a generally improving climate for flotations and fund-raisings in this city. But they do [...]