Pinkster gin the tipple of choice for crowdfunders at Growthdeck May 20, 2016 Premium gin brand Pinkster has ridden high on the "gin-aissance" sweeping the UK and smashed through an equity fundraising target of £600,000 in six weeks. Pinkster, a fast-growing, Cambridge-based gin produced with fresh raspberries, raised £758,000 in 47 days since it placed its listing on the relatively new crowdfundraising platform Growthdeck on 31 March. Unlike most crowdfunding platforms, Growthdeck does [...]
Coffee nation: The UK’s caffeine addiction revealed as coffee chains take over May 19, 2016 Over-caffeinated Brits are fuelling a boom in coffee shops, according to new data from CBRE. Over the past 17 years, there has been a massive 20-fold increase in coffee chain outlets, from just 215 in 1998 to 4,234 in 2015. And the coffee shop trend shows no sign of abating, with an increase of six per [...]
Marston’s raises a glass to growth from posh pub food and its beer business in its half-year results May 18, 2016 Premium pub owner and brewer Marston's raised a glass to strong growth across the board in its half-year results today, with extra boosts from its beer segment and posh pub food. The figures Marston's, which has an estate of around 1,600 pubs in the UK, posted growth of 11.5 per cent in group underlying revenue in the [...]
Has craft beer lost its flavour to globalisation? May 17, 2016 It's 2001, it’s a Friday night, and I’m enjoying a well-earned sip or two of a raspberry-flavoured wheat beer after a hard week of college. The pub in question was the Greenwich Union, in southeast London. Only just opened in 2001, it housed some of the finest offerings from the local Meantime Brewing Company. These beers [...]
Fast food chain Wendy’s warns over forthcoming sales growth May 11, 2016 US fast food chain Wendy’s has posted better-than-expected results for its first quarter, though it warned that sales growth will struggle in the coming three months. For the quarter, Wendy’s posted a profit of $25.4m (£17.5m), down from a year-earlier profit of $27.5m. Revenue slipped 16 per cent to $378.8m, mostly down to the sale [...]
Eight of London’s best rooftop bars and summer terraces in London to drink cocktails, eat BBQ and get sunburned, from Chelsea to The City to Canary Wharf May 11, 2016 The weekend's mini-heatwave may already seem like a distant memory, but fear not – we're due plenty more long, hot afternoons that are good for nothing but sitting on a terrace sipping pink cocktails and sweating. But where can one achieve such a glorious thing? Well, let us tell you – here's a round-up of some [...]
Pizza Hut ready to serve up super size £40m UK and Ireland expansion May 10, 2016 Fast food giant Pizza Hut Delivery is planning to serve up a £40m expansion in the UK and Ireland over the next four years that will create at least 3,000 new jobs. By 2020 the pizza firm is planning to launch 200 new takeaway stores, of which around one in four will take the Pizza [...]
The blockchain payments app: How Circle plans to change the way we spend – and think about money May 9, 2016 You don't pay to send someone an email – to send information from one place to another. And merchants typically pick up the cost of actually making the transaction when you buy something online. And the founders of Circle – the free, blockchain-enabled payments app – don’t think you should pay to send money, either. [...]
The Long Weekend review: Taxidermy hares and a Scandi-cool spa invigorate The Wild Rabbit hotel in the Cotswolds May 6, 2016 The weekend With the gentle Cotswolds hills and honey-coloured villages on your doorstep, you can spend entire days out exploring this beautiful part of the UK. Then bed down in The Wild Rabbit, a modern day inn perfect for cityfolks looking for a manicured version of the country break. Where? The village of Kingham is [...]
Reviving the Mary Celeste of property: Wandsworth’s most astonishing home May 5, 2016 When city recruiter Susan Cuff first viewed her home in Wandsworth, it was a bit like a residential Mary Celeste. Abandoned 18 months previously, there was still washing in the machine and uneaten food lying around. But underneath the debris of bachelors gone by, she saw there was potential for it to be an incredible [...]