‘The world of Cat TV is more cut throat than you would ever imagine’ – inside the strange business of TV… for cats
Sweet deal: Challenger bank OakNorth lends £21m to Strawberry Star for Wandsworth development September 4, 2017 Property developer Strawberry Star has nabbed a tasty £21m from challenger bank OakNorth, to buy a site in Wandsworth to convert into luxury apartments and office units. Along with a further £4.9m of debt from RM Secured Direct Lending, the firm will use OakNorth’s loan to develop 77 residential units with a combined floor area [...]
The Secret’s out: Secret Escapes to become largest central European holiday and travel deals operator with Czech takeover | City A.M. August 30, 2017 Secret Escapes has become the largest holiday deals operator in central and eastern Europe after snapping up a Prague-based group as part of its “aggressive” growth strategy. The acquisition of Slevomat Group means Secret Escapes will be at break-even on a run-rate basis when the 100 per cent share purchase completes by the end of [...]
Democratising luxury travel: Behind the successful business model of holiday site Secret Escapes July 31, 2017 With 19.5m active members worldwide, at this point it’s safe to say Secret Escapes is living up to its early tagline that it’s “the worst-kept secret in luxury travel”. The company has flourished since launching in 2011 as an online-only, deals-based travel agent offering flash deals with up to 70 per cent off luxury hotel [...]
There’s more to Chinese culture than willow-patterned plates or Ming vases; we explore Beijing’s fast-growing contemporary art scene July 28, 2017 Picture the likes of London’s White Cube, the Saatchi Gallery, and the Serpentine, all transported to, say…Hounslow. Would you be as inclined to head there of a weekend to take in the latest exhibition by Damien Hirst, or Tracey Emin? Serious collectors from around the world as well as art-loving Chinese investors are doing something [...]
Airbnb isn’t monopolising the homestay market, it’s popularised it for a new generation of business travellers July 27, 2017 A recent report by PWC found that hotel companies and peer-to-peer home swapping platforms account for the second largest share, in terms of volume of activity, of the UK’s sharing economy. With the meteoric growth of Airbnb in particular, most people assume that traditional rental and aparthotel operators, like myself, are concerned about the impact [...]
Focus On Woolwich: Crossrail, a huge regeneration project, cultural quarter and affordable housing in SE18 July 14, 2017 The West End, the Southbank, Shoreditch and now… Woolwich? Could this south east London suburb be the new place you head to on a Saturday night to soak up some culture? If it’s astronomical house price rises over the past five years are anything to go by, it could well be. In March, planning permission [...]
“Britain has woken up to opportunity India”: Cobra beer founder Lord Karan Bilimoria on trade, immigration, and Brexit July 9, 2017 A month ago the received wisdom across the political spectrum was that Prime Minister Theresa May was about to command a majority of Margaret Thatcher-like proportions as she led the UK to Brexit. A month later the context has changed utterly: although we have the same Prime Minister, the hung Parliament has thrown the government [...]
American investment in London property is at an all time high due to the fall in sterling. But what are they buying and where? July 7, 2017 Earlier this week, US citizens all over the world were celebrating Independence Day, yet for the first time in a long time, many of them had one eye on the fireworks and another across the Atlantic on the bargains to be had back in the Old Country. Following the fall in the pound due to [...]
Six Senses Zil Pasyon: The Seychelles island resort that’s reintroducing native wildlife to the surrounding environment July 7, 2017 Two of Felicite island’s landscape gardeners wave as they scoot past me in their electric tractor, and I am caught, yet again, intently photographing giant boulders. I’m becoming obsessed. I’ve been on this Indian Ocean island hideaway a few days already, but still I’m captivated by its ancient rocks. They have the all the drama [...]
Steve Aoki – the cake-slinging, social media conquering, genre-defying superstar DJ – on his philosophy for life July 5, 2017 You can spend several hours watching international superstar DJ Steve Aoki chucking cakes at his fans. Big rectangular cakes, the kind you’d get on a round-numbered birthday or at a bad wedding, hurled with force from the stage into an expectant crowd. By the time the cake is airborne the audience has been whipped into [...]