Shaftesbury profits rise as West End sites fend off retail gloom May 23, 2012 THE PROSPEROUS West End continued to shelter Shaftesbury from the wider gloom in the retail sector as the London property firm posted a 15 per cent jump in first half profits. The company, which owns 500 properties across London’s key tourist hotspots including Carnaby Street and China Town reported a pre-tax profit of £16.1m in [...]
Stamford Bridge scores with Marco May 22, 2012 RESTAURANT MARCO Stamford Bridge, SW6 1HS FOOD ***** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost per person without wine: £50 Here’s an odd one: a banker I know is a Gunner: an Arsenal supporter, that is. But, he confesses, he’s also a regular at Stamford Bridge. That’s enemy territory: home of my team, the Blues, Chelsea FC. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Funds’ €60bn to buy European bank debt Hedge funds and private equity firms have amassed almost €60bn to buy loans from stricken European banks in coming years as many of the continent’s lenders seek to shrink their way to health, according to a PwC survey. PwC estimates European banks have almost €2.5tn of [...]
Mitchells & Butlers profits fall May 18, 2012 Restaurant and pub group Mitchells & Butlers has reported a dip in profits as the rising cost of food and fuel undermined rising revenues. The owner of chains including Harvester, All Bar One and O’Neills, which earlier this year faced a shareholder revolt over management and ownership issues, gave scant details on its search for [...]
Capco secures £70m financing deal ahead of Olympic summer May 15, 2012 CAPITAL & COUNTIES said yesterday it has secured a £70m credit facility from its lenders BNP Paribas and HSBC, as the property specialist continued to make good progress on its major schemes at Covent Garden and Earls Court. The five-year revolving credit facility, which has been secured against some of the company’s Covent Garden assets, [...]
Ex-slickers cooking up a storm May 13, 2012 Poncho 8 FOUNDERS Nick Troen (formerly a consultant at KPMG); Frank Yeung (formerly a trader at Goldman Sachs); Nick Birkett (formerly an investment analyst at BlackRock). BUSINESS The first Poncho 8 in Spitalfields opened in September 2009 with the aim of being the first of a fast-casual Mexican chain. www.poncho8.com WHY DID YOU LEAVE THE [...]
Opulence and elegance in rural England May 13, 2012 I’ve been lucky enough to wake up to some spectacular sights: the glacial, serene Lake Lucerne in Switzerland; the endless, pulsing cityscape of Tokyo; the stark, rugged mountains of Aspen. On the right morning, though, few things can beat the understated grandeur of the rolling English countryside. The view from the window of the Cornflower [...]
The fine philosophy of the world’s third best kitchen May 7, 2012 THEY do things differently in Spain – the football, the recessions and the food. Definitely the food. I’m not talking about the penchant for eating fried calamari in a baguette (carbs? What carbs?) or the way meat trumps vegetables every time or the archetypal beauty of the jamon. No, I’m talking about philosophy: an unironic, [...]
SUNTORY WHISKY AND CIGAR TASTING COMPETITION April 27, 2012 WIN A SUNTORY WHISKY AND CIGAR TASTING EVENING AT EIGHT CLUB, IN THE HEART OF THE CITY Suntory and Eight Club are offering five pairs of tickets to an exclusive whisky and cigar sampling evening conducted by Zoran Peric and Przemek Zaneap at the club’s Moorgate premises. Address: 1 Dysart Street, London EC2 2BX Tel: [...]
Costa coffee rolls in the beans for parent company Whitbread April 26, 2012 A SHARP rise in sales at the Costa cafe chain helped take its parent group Whitbread to an 11 per cent profits rise. The high street coffeehouse grew revenue by 27.5 per cent to £541.9m and upped its profits by 38 per cent to £69.7m in the year to 1 March. The strong performance boosted [...]