Whitbread share price rises as Costa Coffee injects caffeine into sales September 9, 2014 Shares in leisure giant Whitbread opened 1.6 per cent higher, after it posted a trading statement showing Costa Coffee delivered like-for-like sales of 5.8 per cent in the 24 weeks to 14 August, helping to make up for more sluggish growth of 3.1 per cent in its restaurants. Costa enjoyed growth in worldwide sales of [...]
Chapel Down gets taste for crowdfunding September 8, 2014 Chapel Down has turned to crowdfunding to raise up to £4m for its next phase of growth as Britain’s biggest wine-maker more than doubles in size. The Kent-based group, which makes sparkling and still wines as well as craft beers, said yesterday it is seeking to raise between £1m and £3.9m through Seedrs, the UK [...]
Celebrity photos iCloud hack? Steve Jobs wouldn’t have let this happen September 5, 2014 So, it would appear that if I did take loads of photos of myself naked, shot a mucky video or a whole manner of other salacious digital tomfoolery, there’s a good chance it would get backed up to iCloud and I’d be hunted down by hackers who would expose me to the world. Thank goodness [...]
Focus On… The City: residential is finally taking off in the Square Mile September 5, 2014 When it comes to residential developments, the Square Mile has a bit of an image problem. The ancient financial heart of the City of London has been abuzz with business for 1,000 years and it’s still graced by some of the capital’s most impressive architecture. Around 370,000 people go there to work every day, but [...]
Conran feasts on profits from restaurant sale August 31, 2014 CONRAN Holdings, the design empire founded by Sir Terence Conran, has made a return to profit after selling its restaurant business last year. The company behind The Conran Shop and the design consultancy Conran & Partners, made a £6.4m profit from selling its 51 per cent stake in in D&D London, whose sites include Coq [...]
Beer of the realm: Cobra founder Lord Bilimoria talks creativity, GM crops and cracking pubs August 31, 2014 If you haven’t enjoyed a Cobra beer yourself, you’ve probably had a curry with someone who has. Karan Bilimoria founded Cobra Beer in 1989. It’s a well-documented story by now: the entrepreneur and life peer saw the need for a beer that was less gassy than lager but not as heavy as ale. Cobra claims [...]
Chilango raises £2.2m with its burrito bond August 28, 2014 London burrito restaurant Chilango has raised a tasty sum through its so-called “burrito bond”, which it funded through crowdfunding platform CrowdCube. The Mexican food chain raised £2.2m, more than double what it was aiming for. Almost 750 investors bought into the four-year mini-bond, which offers a fixed-rate of eight per cent in cash twice a [...]
London restaurant Chilango raises tasty £2.2 million with crowdfunded burrito bond August 28, 2014 London burrito restaurant Chilango has raised a tasty sum through its so-called “burrito bond”, which it funded through crowd funding platform CrowdCube. The Mexican food chain raised £2.2m, more than double the amount it was aiming for with the retail bond. Almost 750 investors bought into the four-year mini-bond, which offers a fixed-rate of eight [...]
Why it’s high time to revisit the maligned Muscadet August 28, 2014 I was lucky enough to spend a few hours of the bank holiday enjoying a stellar meal at Rick Stein’s Seafood restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall – that place has really moved up a gear or two since I was there last. After the pleasantries came the rather pressured task of examining the wine list; all [...]
Review: TED Restaurant August 26, 2014 I’m a sustainability hypocrite. If I were at a dinner party and the host served bluefin tuna, I’d take great pleasure in making a scene. “How very dare you? Don’t you know bluefin numbers have dropped by 96 per cent thanks to intensive fishing? And while we’re at it, did you know they can swim [...]