Spirits showcase Whisky Show: Old & Rare goes digital February 20, 2021 Since 2017 the Whisky Show: Old & Rare has afforded aficionados an annual opportunity to sample some of the most elusive and legendary spirits in the world of whisky. Next week it returns, as a virtual event. This time round, the Whisky Show: Old & Rare will consist of four masterclasses, which will be streamed [...]
Best of travel: Conquest, casinos and copious wine in Georgia February 19, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. Today we revisit Noo Saro-Wiwa’s journey to Georgia, Europe’s most surprising destination. ••• It has been said that Georgians ‘think with European minds and feel with Asian hearts’. Their nation, clamped between Russia and Turkey, is neither [...]
How China is lighting up the spirits world at home and abroad February 19, 2021 The spirits market in China is flourishing. With income among Chinese consumers rising, more Western spirits are now getting into China than are coming out. But the decades-long popularity of dark spirits among the Chinese middle classes are starting to bear fruit in the form of premium spirits now being imported into the UK. Changyu [...]
Week in Sportbiz: England Netball weighing up approaches from private investors; plus Manchester City’s humble new partner club and ‘super spikes’ February 18, 2021 Netball’s prodigious growth has not gone unnoticed by the private investors who have embarked on a trolley dash of sporting properties. England Netball successfully launched its Covid-adapted 2021 Superleague season last weekend – another feather in the cap of an organisation that has doubled participation in a decade. The governing has renewed its broadcast deal [...]
Best of travel: A feast for the senses in Zanzibar February 18, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. Today we revisit Noo Saro-Wiwa’s extravagent journey to the island of Zanzibar. ••• Visiting tropical islands usually involves sacrificing the richness and depth of continental culture for the simplicity of ravishing sun, sea and sand. Zanzibar, however, [...]
A VAT break on booze would allow entrepreneurs to rebuild British high streets February 18, 2021 Hospitality employs 9 per cent of the UK’s workforce. Or perhaps ‘did employ’ is a more accurate phrase. Undoubtedly, there will be more redundancies within this sector – at a phenomenal cost, ultimately, to the taxpayer. We all know that hospitality has been one of the worst hit sectors in the economy as a result [...]
Vaccine passports mean no nightclubs until autumn, warn industry figures February 17, 2021 Vaccine passports will likely shut young people away from venues such as nightclubs, theatres and cinemas until the autumn, hospitality chiefs have warned. The Prime Minister announced on Monday that the government will prioritise rapid Covid tests to reopen “those bits [of the economy] that have been the toughest nuts to crack”. He said a [...]
Pub and restaurant giants circle struggling firms and property in post-pandemic expansion push February 17, 2021 Pub and restaurant giants and private equity firms are circling smaller chains and vacant properties, looking to snap up expansion opportunities at a discounted price during the Covid pandemic and reap the rewards when the industry bounces back. Merger and acquisition activity in the hospitality industry has already begun. Figures from restructuring firm Resolve showed [...]
Coronavirus: London suffers ‘heaviest job losses in UK’ during pandemic February 16, 2021 London suffered the largest number of job losses of any UK region during the pandemic last year, as the capital continues to feel the weight of a “geographically unequal crisis”, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The number of London employees on payrolls dropped 5.5 per cent between February and December last year, [...]
Sadiq Khan to keep London rent control policy in election manifesto February 16, 2021 Sadiq Khan is set to keep his trademark rent control policy as a key part of his mayoral election manifesto, despite London’s plummeting rental prices. The mayor of London will double down on his call for central government to hand him powers to implement a cap on rents in London if he wins the May [...]