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 [...]
Hammerson shrugs off retail woes as it treads water on Intu takeover ahead of Klepierre deadline April 5, 2018 Shopping centre owner Hammerson today said it had a strong start to the year despite ongoing challenges for the high street. The firm also provided an update on its proposed takeover of Intu, saying it is holding off on shareholder documents as it awaits the next move from French firm Klepierre. Earlier this month, real [...]
Why I’m sick of bad press releases from lazy PRs who have never read me or this newspaper April 3, 2018 On 1 April, I published a column on the City A.M. website. Check it out: it’s a spoof of a press release. You may think it’s hyperbole. It isn’t. It’s the kind of effortful rubbish that I receive every day. In the past, when some grotesquely bad press release hit my inbox, I would mock [...]
Through the grapevine: Les Sources de Caudalie, a family-run hotel amid the vineyards of Bordeaux, is where the A-listers relax March 29, 2018 I’m soaking contentedly in a Jacuzzi constructed out of a giant wine barrel. Set among rolling vines, Les Sources de Caudalie delivers the holy trinity of life’s finer things; exquisite food and drink, world-class spa pampering, and Hollywood stars making their arrival by chopper. The hotel, located 20 minutes from Bordeaux, is part of an [...]
Lucy Watson and Clive Watson discuss Tell Your Friends, London’s upcoming vegan foodie hotspot March 19, 2018 Growing up as the daughter of a man who has launched and sold several successful pub chains, Lucy Watson never thought she would launch her own hospitality business. “I always thought of it as quite a manly industry,” she says. Apart from sometimes working as a waitress in his pubs, her aspirations were fixed elsewhere. [...]
Editor’s Notes: Jeremy Corbyn’s Russia position is the latest in a shameful line-up, the IoD strides on and City AM bucks the industry trend March 16, 2018 Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal to recognise the hand of the Russian state in the Salisbury attack puts him at odds with the British government and its intelligence services, Nato, the United Nations Security Council, France, America, Germany and a host of other allies. It also serves as a reminder that if the British label you an [...]