1898 The Post hotel review: Spend a long weekend in Ghent and you can stay at this converted post office June 29, 2018 Despite being Belgium’s fourth-largest city, not many people seem to know about Ghent, which is a total shame, as it’s full of well-preserved medieval architecture (thanks to its former mayor, who basically bribed advancing German troops in WW2 not to bomb it), criss-crossed by picturesque bridges over the meandering river Lys, and liberally scattered with [...]
Pub giant Marston’s signs five year deal with leading US craft brewer Founders Brewing Company June 26, 2018 UK pub giant Marston’s has made a distribution deal with an American craft brewer as it looks to corner a growing market for independent beer. Marston’s, which owns chains such as Pitcher & Piano and Two For One, will be hoping that the five-year deal with Founders Brewing Company will help the firm recover from [...]
Hummus Bros dips into administration June 26, 2018 London food operator Hummus Bros has closed as a "perfect storm" of costs and competition pushed it into administration. The six-strong Mediterranean chain posted on twitter late last night to inform customers that the business had closed after 13 years of trading. Humms Bros said that "rising costs, reduced demand and over-supply in the market" [...]
Wine over matter: TV wine expert Amelia Singer on working with Jamie Oliver and binge-drinking Brits June 25, 2018 “I wasn’t going to start with this statement, but hey why not – I’m all about cross-dressing when it comes to wine,” says Amelia Singer, with a glint in her eye. What she means is that wine is best served with life’s other great enhancers – like art, music, and food. That might sound obvious [...]
Beirut survived 15 years of civil war, and now Lebanon’s once-beleaguered capital is a highlight of the club scene June 22, 2018 It’s barely nine o’clock in the evening, and I’m uncomfortably close to my first brush with death. Or, to be more precise, Death, a lethal-sounding concoction made with gin, vodka, cognac, sherry, lemon, orange and cinnamon, stored in a bottle featuring a skull and crossbones on the front. It’s the creation of a small, dapper, [...]
Beirut survived 15 years of civil war, and now Lebanon’s once-beleaguered capital is a highlight of the club scene June 22, 2018 It’s barely nine o’clock in the evening, and I’m uncomfortably close to my first brush with death. Or, to be more precise, Death, a lethal-sounding concoction made with gin, vodka, cognac, sherry, lemon, orange and cinnamon, stored in a bottle featuring a skull and crossbones on the front. It’s the creation of a small, dapper, [...]
Pure Gym buys Soho Gyms to bulk up London presence June 22, 2018 Pure Gym has snapped up the 10-strong London Soho Gyms chain and will convert all the branches to the Pure format. The addition of the Soho portfolio, which includes sites at Tower Hill and Farringdon, will bring the number of Pure sites in London up to 59. Pure charges significantly less than Soho, with a [...]
Escape to Tea Country: With over 150 years of tea making heritage, Sri Lanka is a brew-lover’s paradise June 18, 2018 Sri Lanka, the teardrop shaped island in the Indian Ocean, is the size of Ireland, yet it’s home to an incredible diversity of wildlife. In the deep waters off the southern cape, blue whales, the largest animal on earth, come to breed. Herds of the largest land animal, the elephant, freely crisscross the island. Leopards [...]
Editor’s Notes: Without the UK, the EU can resume its march to ever closer union, Nex’s Michael Spencer backs British bubbly and Lady Wilson remembered June 15, 2018 Earlier this week I chaired a discussion at TheCityUK’s annual conference, where several people, including the lobby group’s chairman, John McFarlane, stressed the point that “there’s life beyond Brexit”. It can’t be said often enough, given how much of our national attention and energy has been sucked into the black hole of Brexit: the uncertainty, [...]
The Deliveroo vs Just Eat food fight has only just begun June 14, 2018 In the City, you never know when you might be someone else's breakfast. Firms are hungry for market share, and a competitive edge is the dish of choice. Just Eat's shares plunged yesterday after Deliveroo announced an expansion of its platform which saw it square up to the FTSE 100 giant. For the first time, [...]