At your service: Meet the concierges who run the lives of London’s elite homeowners June 25, 2015 The humble bowler-hatted doorman was once a tell-tale sign of a prestigious London address. But he’s quickly being replaced by a tenacious new breed of concierge. The industry travels with the global super-rich, arriving at whichever city blossoms into the darling of the international property market. Multilingual, persistent and well-connected, London’s hard-working concierges are on [...]
Greek bailout talks go down to the wire June 24, 2015 HOPES OF a breakthrough between Greece and its creditors were dashed last night after a vital meeting of Eurozone finance ministers broke down after less than an hour. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the country’s lenders had been locked in frantic negotiations ahead of the meeting to produce a draft proposal for ministers but [...]
Restaurant review: Craft London is a real diamond in the rough June 23, 2015 Greenwich Peninsular is getting the regeneration treatment. Right now it’s a sad, grey expanse consisting of a few warehouses and a giant circus tent where you can watch the Foo Fighters. But in five years… It’s going to blow your mind. The brochure says it’s going to be full of flats and a theatre and [...]
M restaurants to serve up second site June 22, 2015 M restaurants is to open a second venue half a year ahead of schedule, the firm said yesterday, after a strong first six months. In the first three months of 2015 the M Threadneedle Street venue enjoyed results 24.8 per cent above its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization budget.
The future of the Top Gear brand lies in its content not the presenters June 19, 2015 Even after the removal of Jeremy Clarkson, it was obvious that the BBC were not going to let go of the Top Gear brand altogether. Not only is it one of the most-watched programmes in the world, with an estimated global audience of more than 350m, it is the corporation’s most lucrative money spinner [...]
Ladies who don’t lunch: Pretty Sagoo talks science, stress and Solvency II June 18, 2015 The whole pension thing was completely by accident,” says Pretty Sagoo, explaining how she ended up in banking, working with insurance and pension fund clients. In the language of the industry, her career has revolved around structuring and pricing deals, de-risking, swaps, hedges and the like. But Pretty doesn’t do jargon. “It just winds [...]
Summer in Chamonix: Celebrating 150 years of climbing in the Alps June 15, 2015 Birthplace of the Winter Olympics and home to some of the Alps’ most challenging pistes, the Chamonix valley in France is a magnet for snow-sporting types throughout the winter months. But as warmer weather arrives and the snow disappears, so do most of the tourists, and the thousands of skiers are replaced by a [...]
New designs unveiled for 22 Bishopsgate – the skyscraper formerly known as the Pinnacle June 15, 2015 The Building Formerly Known As The Pinnacle has become the butt of various jokes over the last three years, after the 63-storey tower was abandoned by its developers during the depths of the property crisis in 2012 with just seven storeys built. Not surprisingly, it's since been known as "The Stump". But now the site's [...]
Food sales lead May uplift for UK pubs and restaurants June 11, 2015 Britain’s pubs and restaurants enjoyed brisk trading in May, offsetting what had been a slow start to the year in the sector. Figures released yesterday by the Coffer Peach Business Tracker revealed like-for-like sales climbed 2.1 per cent compared to the same period last year. The strong growth comes after the tracker, which analyses sales [...]
Work hard? Live harder in the City’s Brutalist Barbican Estate masterpiece June 11, 2015 When the Barbican was first conceived in the 1960s, it was a utopian ideal for inner city-living. Well ahead of its time, its cutting-edge, controversial architecture interweaved with public gardens, restaurants, shops, cultural destinations and a school. Brutalist architects Chamberlain, Powell and Bon then built four large residential towers that would become the Barbican [...]