Tesco prepares to sell off restaurant chain Giraffe March 31, 2016 Tesco is preparing for another disposal and sounding out potential buyers for restaurant business Giraffe. The supermarket bought the chain in 2013 for £49m, with plans to open Giraffe branches beside its stores. At the time, Tesco said the deal was an "opportunity to develop some of the space in our larger stores to create retail destinations [...]
World’s wealthiest sportsmen: David Beckham and Michael Jordan top rich list for retired athletes March 31, 2016 Michael Jordan and David Beckham are living proof that there's plenty of life left to be lived after retirement. Despite earning unprecedented riches in their chosen field (or court) of dominance, both men are making more money now they've traded trainers and trackies for a suit and tie. Basketball icon Jordan has topped a Forbes list of [...]
Ladies who don’t lunch: Maike Currie talks to Jane Andrews about religion, money and fund management March 31, 2016 Britishness dictates that one should never discuss money, politics or religion in polite company. It’s right up there with knowing your place in the queue and keeping up to speed with the weather. But not if you’re having lunch with Jane Andrews, veteran fund manager at investment house Smith & Williamson, who specialises in finding [...]
Byron avoids a grilling, serves up healthy profits for its “proper hamburgers” in 2015 March 30, 2016 Still pursuing its goal to turn the UK into a nation of "proper hamburger" lovers, Byron saw healthy growth in sales and expanded into eight new venues (mostly outside of London) in 2015. The figures Profit after tax at the posh burger chain remained flat at £4.4m, while turnover jumped by 25 per cent from £55.2m to [...]
Why some IPOs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be March 30, 2016 Despite a high number of hotly anticipated flotations in recent years, 2016 has been slow going for initial public offerings. Now the dust has settled, it is interesting to examine the wide variations in performance. Compare Just Eat, Auto Trader, Poundland and AO World. All four came to market in the first few months of [...]
M Victoria review: The new restaurant serving up raw kangaroo March 30, 2016 M on Threadneedle Street is a City staple, a thrumming lunchtime emporium comprising two restaurants: the steaky M Grill and and fishy M Raw. Opened last November, M Victoria matches its older twin beat for beat in SW1, presenting with an eerie familiarity bordering on deja vu. This is unmistakably M: from the steak and [...]
Working Lunch review: Does Obica’s mozzarella bar have what it takes to storm the City? March 23, 2016 Obica St Pauls | 4 Limeburner Lane, EC4M WHAT? The latest of five restaurants bringing the Italian “mozzarella bar” to London. The St Pauls flagship opened last week, quite literally catering for casual walk-ins, business dinners, deli lunches, takeaway pizzas and cocktail fiends. WHERE? In a quiet street just off Ludgate Hill in a 120-seat, copper and stainless [...]
Ding’s Mark Roden talks Dubai, Elon Musk and the importance of sticking to what you know with Harriet Green March 21, 2016 While on what was supposed to be a relaxing family holiday to Dubai in 2005, Mark Roden was cooking up a business. “I’d taken my wife Nicola and our then three under three away to celebrate the sale of my previous business to RBS.” Roden owned a successful network of in-store cash ATMs, which he had [...]
Fashion retailer New Look to move 800 staff to new London headquarters at King’s Cross March 21, 2016 New Look is moving 800 staff to new headquarters at King’s Cross after signing up for seven floors on the 67-acre regeneration site. The fashion retailer, which was bought last year by South African billionaire Christo Wiese, has taken a lease for 123,000 square feet of space in building R7 on Handyside Street on the north-eastern part of the site. It [...]
Focus On Canning Town: For affordability and an easy commute to Canary Wharf, the only way is E16 March 17, 2016 East London’s post-industrial landscape is rapidly disappearing in favour of quirky cultural venues, artfully rustic cafes and glassy residential towers. While the investment potential in Hackney and Tower Hamlets has been well-documented, other locations that are just as accessible have managed to slip under the radar. One of these is Canning Town, a part of [...]