Property focus on Tunbridge Wells: Find pretty period homes and a rejuvenated restaurant scene in Queen Victoria’s favourite town March 13, 2020 Only three towns in England can call themselves ‘Royal’ – and Royal Tunbridge Wells, a town of 56,000 people which lies 30 miles south-east of London in Kent, is one of them. King Edward VII bestowed the title on it in 1909, partly to commemorate the fact that his mother, Queen Victoria, loved the town [...]
New builds: Homes on the market in London this week, from flats for West Ham fans to a Bromley mansion March 13, 2020 Hanworth Apartments, Hounslow From £339,000 for a one-bed Jet setters will want to take a look at Hanworth Apartments, the new phase of homes at Barratt London’s High Street Quarter in Hounslow. Its 38 one, two and three-bed apartments are just ten minutes from Heathrow Airport, with prices starting at £339,000 for a one-bed. A [...]
Europe goes to war on coronavirus March 11, 2020 The Italian government this evening ordered an effective shutdown of the country with a decree closing all shops, bars and restaurants save for grocery stores and pharmacists as it grapples with Europe’s largest coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s dramatic announcement is the latest step in a gradual lockdown of the Mediterranean country. On Sunday, [...]
Top chef José Pizarro talks about his mother’s stew, and making food so good it makes his diners frisky March 11, 2020 Each week we ask a top chef about their life in food. This week: José Pizarro. Who are you? I am José Pizarro, a Spanish chef who calls London home after living here for 20 years. I have published cookbooks on Spanish food and have four restaurants. What’s new? I recently launched rooms at my [...]
World Health Organisation says coronavirus outbreak is a pandemic March 11, 2020 The World Health Organisation (Who) today declared that the worldwide outbreak of coronavirus is a pandemic. “We have…made the assessment that Covid-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,” Who director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing today. “In the past two weeks, the number of cases of Covid-19 outside China has increased 13-fold [...]
Budget 2020: Government will raise living wage and lift floor for National Insurance March 11, 2020 The chancellor Rishi Sunak said today that the government will raise the national living wage to £10.50 by 2024 and will raise the minimum threshold for National Insurance. In his budget speech Sunak announced a goal of raising the national living wage to two thirds of median earnings by 2024 – which would be equivalent [...]
Budget 2020: Business rates cut for more small leisure and retail firms March 11, 2020 Small retail, leisure and hospitality businesses will be exempt from paying business rates for one year as part of an emergency budget to protect the economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. All retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be exempt from paying business rates over [...]
Life inside Italy’s quarantine zone March 9, 2020 I was at home with my family when we learned that our town was one of those being put into the so-called red zone, quarantined to battle coronavirus. We had discussed how nursery closures were affecting our ability to work. But then a leaked draft of the government decree made us realise things were about [...]
Inside the Italy lockdown: Life in Europe’s coronavirus quarantine zone March 9, 2020 I was at home with my family last night when we learned that our town was one of those being put into the “red zone”, quarantined to battle coronavirus. We had spent Saturday evening with friends, discussing how the nursery closures were affecting our ability to work. The cracks in our normal lives have been [...]
Le Farnatchi hotel review: Refined, laid-back luxury in the heart of Marrakech March 6, 2020 Personal space? In the souk, there’s no such thing. Belts. Bags. Trinkets. Shoes. Earthenware. Snakes. All will be thrust under your nose within minutes of entering the old town. Mules kick up clouds of nose-tickling dust. Scooters slalom recklessly through the throng. All around, commerce unfolds as it has done for centuries: aggressive, loud, and, [...]