South America’s capital of glamour July 21, 2013 With its sprawling sandy beaches, iconic landmarks and buzzing atmosphere, Rio de Janeiro is in a league of its own, says Gabriel O’Rorke WITH the World Cup and the Olympics on the horizon, Brazil is preparing to become the focus of the world’s attention. One city that is used to the limelight is Rio de [...]
Greece’s latest austerity measures could push government over the edge July 18, 2013 The narrow approval of fiscal reforms demanded by troika lenders in the Greek parliament late last night will put further pressure on Antonis Samaras’s government, potentially resulting in early elections. Robin Bew, chief economist and editorial director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, said today: #Greece agrees civil service layoffs to keep bailout alive. But politics [...]
Walkie-Talkie awaits more calls July 17, 2013 PROPERTY giant Land Securities said yesterday that it expects the Walkie-Talkie skyscraper to be two thirds let by its completion next year, in a sign of growing confidence in the market. The City office market has seen a pick-up in leasing activity in the past year as companies who had previously shelved plans rushed to [...]
La Casa Negra Shoreditch restaurant review: achingly hip Mexican food with added attitude July 17, 2013 Street food. That’s a thing. Street food! Isn’t it great? It reminds me of that time I was travelling in Guatemala, and some indigenous people were just, you know, making food in the street, and it was all, like, totally authentic. Except that never happened. I’ve forced down slimy noodles in Tokyo; binned inedible grey [...]
Plans for £160m new Smithfield Quarter given the green-light July 16, 2013 PLANS to turn part of Smithfield market into a new public quarter with offices, shops and restaurants, was given the all clear yesterday. The City of London Corporation voted in favour of Henderson Global Investors’ £160m mixed-use scheme called the Smithfield Quarter, despite campaigns against altering the 150 year-old site. The McAslan + Partners-proposed development [...]
Google pays $1.3bn for sat-nav app Waze June 14, 2013 GOOGLE has pipped both Apple and Facebook to buy Waze, an Israeli social mapping service popular amongst commuters. Waze, which has almost 50m members, uses a smartphone’s location data to improve its maps and create real-time traffic information, allowing drivers to take the fastest route to a destination. It is now expected that Google will [...]
YO! Sushi owner gets taste for Byron burgers June 9, 2013 THE OWNER of high street restaurant YO! Sushi has emerged as a potential suitor to snap up hamburger chain Byron after submitting a bid for the company, it is thought. Quilvest, which bought the Japanese restaurant in 2008 and also owns Mexican grill restaurant Tortilla, is in the running alongside Searchlight Capital Partners to take [...]
Permira nets a €250m Norwegian fish vaccine deal April 5, 2013 PERMIRA, the London-based owner of Birds Eye Fish Fingers, has snapped up Norwegian fish vaccine maker Pharmaq for €250m (£210.9m). Permira will buy the 28-year-old company, which makes aquatic vaccines for fisheries in Norway, Chile and the UK, from Nordic fund managers Orkla and Kverva, who acquired a majority stake in the firm in 2008. [...]
Mama buys Hoxton Bar & Kitchen for £1.9m March 20, 2013 MAMA Group, the music venue owner which was sold by HMV to private equity firm LDC in December, has snapped up East London’s Hoxton Bar & Kitchen for £1.9m. Its parent company Barworks confirmed yesterday it has sold the restaurant, bar and live music venue to Mama, which owns the Jazz Cafe and Barfly in [...]
Dedicated Federer of fashion February 27, 2013 THERE IS a problem. It is 8am in Dubai and a freak storm has descended over the improbable desert city. Where there should – statistically, at least – be clear, azure skies, there is a mulch of saggy grey cloud. This is a problem because I was supposed to be boarding a helicopter to Roger [...]