OUT OF OFFICE September 16, 2009 BOOK NOW: AN INSPECTOR CALLSStephen Daldry’s award-winning production of JB Priestly’s The Inspector Calls is back in the West End of a limited eight-week run. The parable, which takes the form of a police investigation into the death of a young girl, explores the conflict between selfish individualism and social responsibility, is riveting and a [...]
Back in the real world: how the rest of the country is coping a year on September 14, 2009 LET ME tell you about two pieces of writing. The first, a sign in an independent wine shop in an expensive part of London which I regularly cycle past on my way to work. It reads: “Just because we’re in recession doesn’t mean we have to drink bad wine.” The second is a piece of [...]
The Galvins’ new City restaurant will be the ultimate family affair September 9, 2009 IT’S not about the money,” says Chris Galvin, as he sips a cappuccino outside the site of his new restaurant next to the glass buildings that stand around the revamped Spitalfields market, with the Gherkin poking its head over the buildings in the distance. His brother and his wife nod. It’s an unusual thing to [...]
Six myths about the financial crisis September 6, 2009 A comfortable, corporatist consensus is building up about how to deal with the financial crisis. Led by Alistair Darling and his French and German counterparts at the G20 finance ministers’ summit on the weekend, this consensus is essentially that the financial crisis “proves” that global free market capitalism has “failed” and that everything is the [...]
Swapping blue chips for poker chips September 3, 2009 IN LAS VEGAS the locals have a new term for betting. It’s not gambling, it’s a “contributory anti-recession programme”. Even the bell-boy who attends to your special-price Palazzo suite says not “have a nice day”, but “thank you for contributing to our economy”. They said Vegas would be recession-proof, that even in a downturn people [...]
Calzedonia swoops on undie store September 2, 2009 ITALIAN fashion company Calzedonia yesterday bought its flagship London underwear store Tezenis from landlords Great Capital Partnership for £22.9m. The Spirella House store, on the busy shopping corner of Regents Street and Oxford street, was sold at a price 12.5 per cent above its March 2009 book value. It comprises a retail unit over three [...]
Alibaba eyes European expansion from London September 1, 2009 CHINESE e-commerce firm Alibaba has opened a new European headquarters in London in an attempt to accelerate its expansion outside of China. The world’s largest business-to-business online marketplace, which has based its new home in the West End, has also announced the launch of a multi-million dollar global advertising campaign to aid its overseas growth. [...]
Terry nails colours to Chelsea mast with new five-year deal August 31, 2009 CAPTAIN John Terry has demonstrated his long-term commitment to Chelsea by putting pen-to-paper on a new lucrative five-year deal. The deal, reported to be worth £150,000 per week, will keep Terry at Stamford Bridge until 2014 and Blues chiefs are hopeful the 28-year-old will now finish his career in west London. Crowd favourite Terry has [...]
FULL CIRCLE IN SPORT RETAILERS’ WILY WORLD August 19, 2009 IS THERE no end to the incestuous intricacies to the colourful sports retail sector? The current hot potato in the industry is the tide of bad feeling towards JJB chairman Sir David Jones, whose past emails criticising the firm’s directors were recently leaked by former chief executive Chris Ronnie, the man widely blamed for bringing [...]
Shaftesbury enjoys West End shoppers August 17, 2009 LANDLORD Shaftesbury said yesterday a record influx of overseas and domestic tourists has boosted tenants in its core West End market. The property firm which owns more than 450 properties in Theatreland, Chinatown and Carnaby Street, said it continued to see healthy demand for its shops, restaurants and residential accommodation. The group said that the [...]