Grind coffee bars and restaurants founder David Abrahamovitch talks Instagram, airports, and the City May 1, 2018 Since the company’s inception in 2011, Grind coffee shops and restaurants have captured the imagination of London’s millennials as a place to eat, party and Instagram. Now the brand is set to expand beyond the capital in a deal with travel food operator SSP. City A.M. caught up with Grind’s founder and chief executive David [...]
From huskies to supercars, the wilderness of Finland is transformed into a billionaires’ playground by McLaren May 1, 2018 I’ve been promised 567 horsepower, but first I get to experience the propulsion of seven huskies. I’m scrambling through the forests of northern Finland, hanging onto a rickety two-man sled, zipped up against the Arctic cold. I eventually arrive at McLaren’s kota, a traditional wooden hut 2,000 miles as the crow flies but more realistically [...]
Poundworld to close as many as 100 stores as latest retail CVA is put on the table April 26, 2018 Poundworld has become the latest retailer to consider store closures and rent reductions. Some 100 stores could be shuttered under new plans, according to Sky News. The retailer is set to follow the likes of New Look, Carpetright and Toys R Us with a mechanism called a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). Hundreds of jobs are [...]
Yo! Sushi buys London-based Waitrose supplier Taiko April 23, 2018 Restaurant group YO! Sushi has continued its expansion drive with the acquisition of a London-based Waitrose supplier. Taiko Foods, which employs 220 people in West London, makes sushi for supermarkets including Waitrose. It follows YO!’s acquisition of 600-branch US and Canada restaurant chain Bento Sushi for £59m last year. Details of today’s deal were not [...]
Velaa Private Island review: On this real life Bond island, guests can pilot their own complimentary submarine April 20, 2018 Velaa Private Island is a resort for billionaires, by billionaires. Where else, in addition to the standard private pool and butler, does the hotel provide a personal submarine? Welcome to the real life James Bond island. In true 007 style, as if seeking an exotic rendezvous with Scaramanga, I arrive at sunset by seaplane. Velaa [...]
Principal London and Bloomsbury Hotel revamp to draw in a younger crowd April 20, 2018 We had no brief when we started this project,” says interiors guru Tara Bernerd, showing me around the former grandiose Hotel Russell on Russell Square. It re-opened on Monday but rechristened as the Principal London. Built in 1898 by the English fin-de-siecle architect Charles Fitzroy Doll, its magnificent Renaissance-revival terracotta exterior is Grade II-Listed, along [...]
Debenhams profit drops 84.6 per cent and CFO leaves for greener pastures April 19, 2018 Debenhams announced a dramatic drop in profits this morning, while its finance chief departed the company for a position at Selfridges. But chief executive Sergio Bucher insisted that the retilaer is on the right track to return to profitable growth. Shares in the company were down as much as 12.6 per cent in early trading [...]
Our CANZUK friends should be welcome in post-Brexit Britain | City A.M. April 16, 2018 The flags around Parliament Square are up, the hotels, bars, restaurants, and meeting rooms of the City are fully booked, as the heads of 53 Commonwealth governments fly into town. But while we’re rolling out the red carpet for visiting dignitaries, there’s a chillier welcome to their citizens. Britain has never quite found its role [...]
Greene King share price (GNK) bubble up despite the Beast from the East hitting sales April 12, 2018 Greene King’s sales were bitten by the so-called Beast from the East earlier this year as winter storms swept through the country, but its shares jumped at the market open as it toasted the future, saying it remains well placed to combat a challenging market. The pub group said like-for-like sales fell 1.8 per cent [...]
How gyms are filling spaces left vacant by retailers and restaurants around London April 8, 2018 Exercise is basically the new clubbing. At least, that’s what Casey Phillips, a property agent at Shelley Sandzer, tells me as we’re discussing why the fitness industry is currently booming. “Instead of getting drunk, you do a class together,” he says. “You just feel incredible afterwards.” The wellness and fitness industry is estimated to reach [...]