Sushi stalwart Itsu posts loss as it eyes expansion in the US September 29, 2019 Sushi chain Itsu fell to a pre-tax loss of £6m last year as stronger sales were offset by expansion in the US. The British food chain, which was founded by Pret a Manger tycoon Julian Metcalfe, pulled in revenue of £116m, up nine per cent on the previous year. Read more: Restaurant insolvencies jump by [...]
Focus on Wapping: First-time home buyers are taking advantage of City connections and ‘sensible’ prices September 27, 2019 Located on the north bank of the Thames just to the east of Tower Bridge, Wapping is one of the few remaining postcodes where you can snap up a flat within walking distance of the City without a completely eye-watering price tag. Formerly the domain of dock workers, large swathes of the area have been [...]
The magic of Macao September 26, 2019 The saying goes that good things come in small packages, and nowhere lives up to this more than Macao, the diminutive Chinese region located on the country’s south-east coast. Measuring at just 13 square miles, it still manages to pack a vibrant cultural punch, with its Portuguese-Chinese heritage creating an eclectic backdrop on which everyday [...]
Putting the new Audi R8 through its paces on some hair-raising roads from Calais to Paris to Provence September 25, 2019 The Audi R8 is a mid-engined supercar with multiple personalities. Ideal, therefore, for a blast through France to visit three characterful but very different hotels. The 2019 Audi R8 might have only received a mild facelift but it can still stop people in their tracks. From the front, I worry that the recent nip-tuck makes [...]
West End landlord Shaftesbury ‘unaffected’ by retail restructurings September 25, 2019 West End landlord Shaftesbury said it has been “largely unaffected” by a recent string of retail and restaurant closures and restructurings. In a trading update this morning the real estate investment trust said it had “limited exposure” to occupier insolvencies. Read more: West End landlord Shaftesbury sued by tycoon shareholder Samuel Tak Lee Tenant insolvencies [...]
‘It’s empowering to buy a shared ownership home’ September 23, 2019 Shared ownership helped West End actor Chris buy a place of his own in his beloved Islington Twenty-nine year old actor Chris Leask says that shared ownership was the “only way” he was ever going to be able to buy his own place in London. Chris, who is currently playing ‘Everyone Else’ in The Comedy [...]
Pub companies: Is now the time to invest in a cheap pint? September 23, 2019 Investors in Greene King are raising a glass in celebration after Hong Kong’s richest man, Victor Li, agreed to buy the UK’s largest publicly-listed pub and brewery company for £4.6 billion (including net debt). A unit of Li’s investment vehicle, CK Asset Holdings, has bid 850 pence per share – more than a 50 per [...]
Feeling the heat: Carluccio’s waiters rise up in row over tips September 22, 2019 Waiters at Carluccio’s are hitting back at the restaurant chain after a change in tipping policy that has allegedly left them hundreds of pounds worse off per month. Employees at the Italian eatery have joined the Unite union in a bid to scrap a new policy that siphons off a great proportion of tips to [...]
Zac Goldsmith shared in £16m payout before All Star Lanes went bust September 22, 2019 Investors including Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, diamond mogul Anthony Oppenheimer and fund manager Jim Mellon are said to have shared in a £16m payout from a chain of bowling alleys just months before it went bust. All Star Lanes, which owns four bowling alleys in London, was sold to Risk Capital Partners last week as [...]
Restaurant insolvencies jump by a fifth as casual dining sector squeeze continues September 16, 2019 The number of restaurants collapsing into insolvency has risen by 20 per cent in the last year amid tough competition on the UK high street. Roughly 1,410 restaurants went insolvent in the year to the end of June, up by a fifth on the previous 12 months, according to figures compiled by accountancy firm UHY [...]