Christmas Star still burning bright! January 13, 2011 CHRISTMAS was lovely, but there was something missing – and I’m not talking about sprouts or brandy butter. Well, that something was Kempton’s King George which was claimed on Boxing Day by the frost and will finally be run tomorrow. Regular readers of this column were advised before Christmas to take the even money available [...]
Restaurant Group lifts profit target as it targets new openings to fuel growth January 12, 2011 RESTAURANT Group has forecast full-year profit just ahead of market estimates as better-than-expected trading at its new sites offset the impact of heavy snowfall in the UK. The company, which owns the Garfunkel’s and Frankie & Benny’s chains, said revenue for the 53 weeks to 2 January was seven per cent ahead of 2009, while [...]
British Land bags West End development January 11, 2011 BRITISH Land plans to build an 80,000 square foot mixed use building in Marylebone, the firm said yesterday, after buying two properties from the Portman Estate for £18m. The developer will start to demolish the buildings on the corner of Edgware Road and Seymour Street in mid-2011. Last week Westminster Council gave architect Bennetts Associates [...]
Not so smooth: Clegg falls to pieces in bank bonus chit-chat January 10, 2011 LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg clearly didn’t eat his Weetabix yesterday morning. Normally a consummate media performer, as evidenced by his strong showing in the leaders’ debates, the “trust me, I’m a Lib Dem” act didn’t do the trick on Radio 4’s Today programme. Verbose Scot Jim Naughtie was asking the questions, and he caught [...]
A taste of the north in Clerkenwell January 5, 2011 North Road 69-73 St John St, EC1M 4AN Tel: 020 3217 0033, www.northroadrestaurant.co.uk FOOD 4/5 SERVICE 4/5 ATMOSPHERE 4/5 Cost per person without wine: £30 IF I tell you that the nibbles supplied at the start of this meal consisted of “skin” – of chicken, fish and pig – and then tell you the meal [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS January 5, 2011 NEW RESTAURANT FOR THE RA Not before time, the Royal Academy of Arts is going to be getting the dining room a venue of its stature deserves when restaurateur Oliver Peyton launches his latest there this month. It’ll be joining the dining rooms at the National Gallery, the Wallace Collection and Kew Gardens in Peyton’s [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 3, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINA TRAVEL GROUP PULLS OUT OF AIM Et-China.com International Holdings, the Chinese travel specialist, will today become the first company to quit Aim this year. Shares in the company, which raised £4.4m at 127p a share when it joined Aim in August 2007, were suspended at 103 1/2p in July because of its [...]
The broker who says small firms have to come up with big solutions January 3, 2011 The conventional wisdom is that it is next to impossible for small firms to raise cash, but Phil Adams, chief executive at independent investment broker Altium, says that the picture is more complicated than that. “It is pretty straightforward to raise cash if you are a well-run high-growth firm expanding by around 15 per cent [...]
Four of the best resorts for a wild and wicked break January 3, 2011 BEST FOR CRAZY PEOPLE REVELSTOKE, CANADA WANT to go somewhere genuinely new and yet nonetheless outrageously awesome? Try Revelstoke. Deep in the Canadian Selkirks, this remarkable resort only opened in Winter 2007. It is still, partially, a work in progress, but when it’s complete, it will be North America’s largest ski area, with a colossal [...]
TEMPERS FLARE AT PWC CAROL SERVICE December 22, 2010 YOU might think that playing the organ at the office Christmas carol service is a pretty uncontroversial activity. Not so for a professional organist (as they’re called) engaged for PricewaterhouseCooper’s annual festive singsong. The stage was set, the decorations tweaked and the set list compiled when all went awry. Details are hard to come by, [...]