Billy cycling December 22, 2014 The Elephant and Castle roundabout is infamous among cyclists. In 2013, the last year for which we have complete data, there were 15 incidents involving cyclists on or next to the junction. In May last year, Abdelkhalak Lahyani, a married man of 47, was knocked from his bike as he cycled to work at the [...]
Hong Kong stock exchange chief exec Charles Li writes to Santa to lament loss of Alibaba IPO December 22, 2014 Writing a letter to Santa: At primary school it’s expected, for early teens it’s understandable, for sixth formers it’s a little strange. But for the chief executive of one of the world’s biggest stock exchanges it’s downright bizarre and just a bit bonkers. Charles Li, chief executive of the Hong Kong stock exchange [...]
City Moves for 18 December 2014 | Who’s switching jobs December 17, 2014 Rightster The Aim-listed video distribution and monetisation network has appointed Niall Dore as group finance director. He was previously finance director at Betfair Group, and has also held group financial controller positions at GE Life and Hyder Consulting. Zeus Capital Hugo Chance has been appointed director, head of family offices, at the independent investment bank. [...]
InterContinental Hotels buys US boutique hotel chain for $430m December 16, 2014 INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) said yesterday it has agreed to buy an American chain of boutique hotels for $430m (£273m). The hotelier, which owns the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands, has been expanding its stable of brands to appeal to new groups of customers. In 2012, it launched Even hotels, a boutique chain for [...]
Tom’s Kitchen in St Katharine Docks has great food, but who’s it for? December 16, 2014 Food: ★★★★☆Value: ★★★☆☆Atmosphere: ★★☆☆☆ 1 Commodity Quay, St Katharine Docks, E1W 1AZW; Tel: 020 3011 5433 Cost for two with wine: £150 I’m not sure what I think about Tom’s Kitchen, which is a problem because someone’s paying me to tell you about it. There are four in the chain now – five if [...]
Smokehouses will be hot item in Britain next year, says BDO December 14, 2014 A BOOM in smokehouses and barbecues are among the restaurant predictions for 2015, according to advisory firm BDO. In its annual forecast, released today, BDO said this year saw “the continuing rise of the burger, [and] in 2015 we expect new concepts and roll outs in the smoke and barbecue world to have a great [...]
From Vibease to Elon Musk’s underwhelming big reveal, here are nine of the worst inventions of 2014 December 13, 2014 If you're looking for Christmas present ideas, you've come to the wrong listicle. This is all about the worst inventions of 2014, and there have been some real crackers. If you end up with one of these under the tree, you know your family hate you. 1. Pizza Hut's mind-reading menu app We're pretty certain [...]
Whitbread refreshed as Costa and Premier grow December 11, 2014 WHITBREAD yesterday said it was confident of delivering full-year results in line with expectations, after posting another strong quarter of growth from its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee, as both businesses continued to win market share. In a statement, the group said its strong trading momentum from the first half continued into the third [...]
Orange Wednesdays cancelled: Cinema ticket prices have risen by 47 per cent in the 10 years since promotion was introduced December 11, 2014 EE is pulling the plug on Orange Wednesdays. The promotion, which for 10 years has offered two-for-one deals on cinema tickets and Pizza Express restaurants for all Orange users, will come to an end on 25 February next year. Although Valentine’s Day crowds will manage to sneak in a final two-for-one deal for [...]
Business received more than it hoped for in this year’s Autumn Statement December 7, 2014 It may not be as exciting as an iPad or as romantic as jewellery, but George Osborne’s Autumn Statement last week was in many ways business’s equivalent of Christmas, with rewards for some – and coal for others. On the whole, however, the picture for the City was positive, with action proposed for some of [...]