French fare with added va va voom May 23, 2011 CHABROT BISTROT D’AMIS 9 Knightsbridge Green, SW1X7Q1, 020 7225 2238, www.chabrot.co.uk FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £45 ON a wall inside the entrance to Chabrot Bistrot d’Amis hangs a large black and white photograph of a grizzled paysan emitting a gummy grin as he pours red wine from a magnum bottle into [...]
Lavishness amid the lonely splendour of the Welsh coast May 22, 2011 SOUTH Wales is home to a duality like nowhere else in the British Isles. It’s a land of timeless verdancy, endless summers and persistent rain. It’s a land torn apart by poverty, and before that the machinery of heavy industry. It is also my favourite place on earth. On the train eastwards from Swansea, this [...]
M&B shares fall after profit drop May 20, 2011 Pub and restaurant giant Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) shares fell more than 4.9 per cent as they reported a drop in half-year profits. Pre-tax profit for the 28 weeks to 9 April was at £43m, compared with £72m in 2010. Revenue was down by almost nine per cent to £946m, compared with last year. The [...]
Booker cashes in as shoppers look for cheap deals in grim consumer climate May 19, 2011 BRITAIN’S biggest cash and carry wholesaler Booker yesterday said it was benefiting from consumers’ “search for value” as it beat forecasts with a 25 per cent jump in annual profit. The firm, which runs around 172 branches supplying convenience stores, restaurants, pubs, schools and prisons, made a pre-tax profit of £71.4m. Chief executive Charles Wilson, [...]
Five fabulous roof terraces May 18, 2011 NOTHING spells summer in the city better than an ice cold cocktail sipped at leisure from a roof terrace. The warm breeze, the open spaces and skyline views make for an alluring combination as the temperature rises. (Not to mention the feeling of calm and distance they offer from the hustle and bustle on the [...]
Derwent sells bonds to beef up war chest May 17, 2011 CENTRAL London property group Derwent embarked on a money-raising drive to pay for acquisitions yesterday, selling off part of its Covent Garden estate and issuing £175m worth of convertible five year bonds. Derwent sold five properties in King Street and Floral Street to Capital & Counties, who paid for the £68m purchase in cash from [...]
BELSTAFF DIRECTOR ON-BRAND IN PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN CAMEO May 16, 2011 NEVER mind the drawn-out takeover struggle by its largest shareholder Peel Holdings – the real action at Pinewood Studios has been filming the next instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, out tomorrow. Cinemagoers hoping to catch Pinewood’s chairman Sir Michael Grade in a cameo in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will [...]
Private pools, crystal blue waters and snorkelling Thai island paradise at sensational Soneva Kiri May 15, 2011 TALK about arriving in style. Soneva Kiri, a far-flung resort on the Thai island of Koh Kood, is the kind of place that keeps its own private plane. A single-engine propeller job but a luxurious one, it picks you up from Bangkok airport, climbs over the rice paddies and swings out to sea, descending 45 [...]
The glamorous way to drink May 11, 2011 IF you want the finest cocktails served by the most talented bar staff in the most spectacular setting – and let’s face it, who doesn’t – London’s swish hotels are right now the place to find them. Thanks to a slew of upgrades and openings, the ever-burgeoning popularity of sophisticated cocktails and the continuing cultural [...]
Domino’s US restaurants prosper May 5, 2011 The US business of Domino’s Pizza posted a big quarterly profit yesterday, beating forecasts, as sales at restaurants open at least a year were stronger than expected and costs for commodities like cheese and meats rose less than feared. Net income for the three months to the end of March rose 10.6 per cent to [...]