London in the Sky: Have a Michelin-starred dinner while dangling 25 metres above St Katharine Docks July 21, 2015 Here's a restaurant that takes the concept of a "pop-up" rather literally: tickets have gone on sale for a "dining experience" which gives diners the chance to have a Michelin-starred dinner cooked for them – while dangling 25m above the capital. Those with weak stomachs need not apply… London in the Sky offers breakfast, lunch, [...]
Broadstone: The Dorset town Londoners are moving to in their droves July 21, 2015 When City A.M. asked Homelet to show us where Londoners are moving to when they leave the capital, we expected the commuter belt to feature heavily. What we didn't expect was that the small Dorset town of Broadstone would beat Brentwood, Brighton and Bristol to come top. According to the figures, 4.1 per cent of [...]
Gaucho steak restaurant deal on the table amid flurry of sales in industry July 19, 2015 The Gaucho chain of steak restaurants, popular with hungry City workers, is up for sale. Bankers at Canaccord Genuity have been hired to work on the sale, with private equity firm ICG and Dutch entrepreneur Zeev Godik hoping to raise up to £150m. The industry has been ripe for deals in recent times, with brands [...]
Why London must retain its lead as the world’s number one retail destination July 16, 2015 One thing underpins Britain’s economic recovery more than anything else: the resilience and potential of London’s economy. While the capital’s financial sector was first to feel the pain nearly a decade ago, London has also led the UK’s economic fightback – attracting global investment, growing employment and pushing up living standards. We are the world’s [...]
Apple Pay: How does it work and is it any quicker? A guide for the new contactless payment system July 15, 2015 Apple Pay has finally arrived in the UK. Well, sort of. If you have the right iPhone and the right bank and you shop in the right place and if the sun is shining at just the right angle – then you can use Apple Pay (okay, we made the bit about the sun up). [...]
Britain’s night-time economy is valuable and needs protecting July 15, 2015 Summer in the UK is renowned for its festival calendar with Glastonbury, Wireless, Reading, V Festival and Bestival attracting revelers – young and old – from across the UK, Europe and further afield. But beyond the headline live music festivals, pop-ups such as Notting Hill Carnival, Lovebox, the Somerset House Summer Series and Opera in [...]
Restaurant review: Les Deux Salons is a reassuringly old-school restaurant July 14, 2015 You wait all year to review a French restaurant and then two come along at once. Last week Les Gourmets des Ternes, with its no-nonsense, unfaffy cooking, reminded me of a time before the gastronomic landscape was dominated by “sharing concepts” and pop-ups and street food and cocktails with bits of bacon in them. Les [...]
Hotel Chocolat co-founder Angus Thirlwell on how he built a chocolate empire July 12, 2015 Europe is awash with chocolatiers and the British consumer is spoilt for choice. So the idea that someone could set up a chocolate company with £10,000 and take it from startup to a market-conquering beast in just a decade seems a little far fetched. But that is what Angus Thirlwell and his business partner Peter [...]
Celebrity hotspot San Carlo eyes expansion as its turnover jumps July 5, 2015 ITALIAN restaurant group San Carlo said sales and profits jumped in the last year as it looks to gobble up more sites in the UK and overseas. The family-run chain, which counts celebrities including footballer Frank Lampard and rock stars Liam and Noel Gallagher among its diners, said turnover increased by 12.5 per cent to [...]
Lovely Laos: Asia’s unspoilt sanctuary is the perfect couple’s retreat July 5, 2015 I arrived in Laos shortly after sunset with my boyfriend in tow. As the tuk tuk trundled into town I caught my first glimpse of the Mekong, a silver streak beneath blueish mountains, lined by flame-red Poinciana trees. Our first stop was 3 Nagas, a boutique hotel spread across three colonial buildings. With original [...]