Discount website snapped up May 16, 2010 Buyout vehicle Groupon has acquired money-saving website MyCityDeal for an undisclosed sum. Groupon recently raised $135m through a fundraiser and has been speculatively valued at about $1.35bn. MyCityDeal offers discounts on restaurants and cinema tickets in 16 European countries and employs over 600 people. In the UK, the company offers daily deals in 17 cities.
Anyone with dicey cooking skills, please apply within May 16, 2010 AM I a desperate housewife? I’d like to think only occasionally (technically I’m no one’s wife although I do have a partner and a child), however when it comes to rustling up something interesting for us to eat this side of midnight after rushing home from work, it’s fair to say that sometimes it can [...]
The stylish way to take a hike May 16, 2010 THE LAKE DISTRICT The Samling Poking out of a secluded forest on the shore of Lake Windermere, The Samling must be one of the most magnificently appointed hotels in the country. It occupies a pretty Victorian mansion, but it’s no chintzy country hotel – the interiors mix heritage classicism with boutique style, the restaurant has [...]
BOULTON, CAMPBELL IN BUST UP OF THE YEAR May 10, 2010 IF ANY readers were holed up behind a desk yesterday evening without access to a television, it’s time to indulge yourselves with a quick internet search, pronto. Yesterday’s Sky News coverage of Gordon Brown’s resignation as Prime Minister contained one of the best live TV snippets in years, as the channel’s political editor Adam Boulton [...]
The return of iconic lips May 10, 2010 WHEN Tom Ford brings out a line of clothes, perfume, makeup – or even a film, as he did earlier this year – we all instantly know it’s going to be the season’s must-have (or must do). So with the launch of his Private Blend range of lipsticks, it has become blazingly obvious that any [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS May 10, 2010 M. ROUX GOES TO WESTMINSTER As the post-election fall-out rolls on, Michel Roux Jr (below), chef patron of London’s most famous French restaurant and feared critic of Masterchef’s professionals edition has moved into politics – sort of. Yesterday saw the opening of the Le Gavroche maestro’s new project, Roux at Parliament Square, in a grand [...]
Mid-sized UK firms poised to create profits May 9, 2010 WHO would have thought that the FTSE 250 – often considered a better reflection of the UK economy than the FTSE 100 – would have outperformed the larger index? Even after the swings in the financial markets at the end of last week, the mid-cap 250 index is currently 5 per cent higher than it [...]
Go hide away in the sun-drenched valleys of Jordan May 9, 2010 THE afternoon sun is browning our sweaty pink skin as we lie by the pool at Evason Ma’in, nudged between a massive yellowstone fortress-style hotel and a water-spewing rock face. Well, it may be all lemonade, glossy magazines, dramatic scenery and sun-tanning poolside, but just a few kilometres away on the Dead Sea’s south-east coast [...]
LONDON TURNS OUT IN FORCE TO WATCH FINAL ELECTION SHOWDOWN May 6, 2010 FITTINGLY for one of the most important elections in this country’s history, turnout smashed expectations yesterday – and we’re talking of the bars, pubs and restaurants of London, rather than of the polling stations. The City, eager to know what the next government will have in store for them, flocked to parties as the results [...]
French foray for Compass May 5, 2010 COMPASS Group, the world’s biggest caterer, bought French food service business Caterine Restauration for an undisclosed sum yesterday. The French caterer, which specialises in the provision of services in the education and healthcare sectors, posted revenues of €41.8m (£35.8m) for the 12 months to 31 August 2009 with gross assets valued at €34m (£29m). Compass [...]