Zip can leave McCoy top of the pile again in tomorrow’s Imperial Cup March 5, 2015 BILL ESDAILE PREVIEWS THE BEST OF THE WEEKEND’S RACING THE PIPE family have won tomorrow’s Imperial Cup at Sandown Park (3.10pm) a staggering nine times and current trainer David will be hoping Bidourey or Heath Hunter can give Pond House a record 10th success. Tom Scudamore has picked the unbeaten Bidourey and he will be [...]
The Ivy’s 100th birthday refurbishment: What does it take to reinvent a classic restaurant? March 3, 2015 On 5 January, The Ivy closed its doors. Then it took them off completely. What was probably the most iconic restaurant in London – the hangout of choice for everyone from Joan Collins to Damien Hirst – is now a building site. Planks of wood straddle gaping holes in the ground, wires dangle overhead and [...]
British Land buys up Surrey Quays plots in Canada Water for £135m March 2, 2015 Developer British Land said yesterday it has bought the last of the sites for its £2bn regeneration project in Canada Water – paying £135m for Surrey Quays Leisure Park from Aviva Investors. The FTSE 100 developer has quietly amassed over 50 acres of land in Canada Water over the last five years and is spending [...]
Balfour Beatty developing the Olympic Village March 2, 2015 BUILDER Balfour Beatty will move into property development with a deal to construct 1,500 homes at two new neighbourhoods at the Olympic Village site. Balfour has agreed to put in half of the equity required to complete the project – about £35m – and carry out the building work, which is expected to generate £400m [...]
Olympic Park development: Balfour Beatty just agreed to build two new neighbourhoods in East London March 2, 2015 Builder Balfour Beatty has signed a deal to construct 1,500 homes at East Wick and Sweetwater, the next two neighbourhoods to come out of the Olympic Village. The project, at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will deliver 450 affordable homes, 530 for private sale and 500 to be rented out under a similar model to the [...]
Beyond The O2 Arena: What will North Greenwich look like in 20 years? February 26, 2015 Every weekend, different tribes of people flock to The O2 Arena, from screaming One Direction fangirls to the Game of Thrones enthusiasts heading to the upcoming expo. One thing they all have in common is that they’re inevitably funnelled out of North Greenwich afterwards via the Jubilee Line, knowing next to nothing about the stretch [...]
Diary of a Crowdfunder: Six months on from a transformative funding round February 25, 2015 Frazer Thompson, chief executive of winemaker Chapel Down, explains what it’s like following a successful fundraise We started a journey, 13 years ago now, to transform people’s opinions about English wine. It’s been a long, tough and sometimes frustrating journey. Most people thought we were mad. But some brave folk thought we were not. Over [...]
These amazing images show the designs for the Great Tower of London that never was February 24, 2015 Back in 1890, London authorities launched a competition to design a new tower for the capital. Inspired by the brand new Eiffel Tower in rival capital Paris, a global competition was launched, receiving 68 entries varying from the wacky to the just plain copycat. The Metropolitan Tower Company, incorporated to build the Great [...]
Tycoon Desmond Bloom makes property market return with £12.5m haul February 17, 2015 A listed cash shell set up four years ago to make acquisitions in the music and media industry has been resurrected, this time with the aim of spending £100m on UK property. Imperial Music and Media, which is run by property tycoon and one-time boxer Desmond Bloom, said yesterday it had bought a portfolio of [...]
Mezcal: Has the time finally come for tequila’s cousin? February 17, 2015 Alcohol aficionados have been talking up mezcal for years. For as long as I’ve been writing about drinks, it’s teetered on the edge of being the next big thing. Although it has crept onto the pages of the odd drinks list, it isn’t even out of the starting blocks in competing with tequila, its more [...]