Belle Epoque style enters the 21 century May 27, 2010 AT the turn of the last century a visit to the imposing Mont Pelerine Palace in the Swiss Alps was a favourite pastime among wealthy travellers. They arrived by train to the quiet commune of Chardonne before ascending by funicular to the elegant hotel, enjoying the famous local Charennes wine and mingling with New York [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 26, 2010 Otkritie Securities Otkritie, the UK subsidiary of Russian financial services giant Otkritie Financial Corporation, has appointed Howard Snell as chairman. Snell joined the broker last year as an executive director, having previously been UK chief executive of Russian investment bank Troika Dialog. He was also previously co-head of the London emerging markets desk at UBS, [...]
Murray must wait as light halts progress May 26, 2010 ANDY MURRAY cut a frustrated figure after rain and bad light halted his French Open progress at Roland Garros last night. The British No1 was leading Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 3-3 when play was suspended at 9.30pm local time. Frequent showers meant that the players did not even start their second round showdown until [...]
I’ll battle on, vows out-of-sorts Safina May 25, 2010 AILING Dinara Safina insists she can rediscover her best form despite crashing out of the French Open to a 39-year-old ex-retiree at Roland Garros. Former world No1 Safina, now seeded ninth after falling down the rankings, continued her miserable 2010 with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 defeat to Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm, who only returned to [...]
FORTY YEARS ON AND WE SEEM TO HAVE LEARNED VERY FEW LESSONS May 24, 2010 WHEN you are older than God, as I am, I think you tend to become rather blasé as yet another political or financial crisis unfolds. I was 23 and working as an impecunious bank clerk at Hill Samuel (now part of Lloyds Banking Group, for the youth among you) when I was exposed to my [...]
Norilsk to sell Stillwater stake May 24, 2010 NORILSK Nickel yesterday confirmed plans to sell its stake in Stillwater Mining, the sole US producer of platinum and palladium, which is valued at around $750m (£519m). Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, chief executive of Norilsk, the world’s top producer of nickel and palladium, said the Russian firm would sell the 51.3 per cent stake to streamline its [...]
African billionaire joins the race to buy Arsenal May 23, 2010 AN African billionaire has joined the race to take control of Arsenal. Manufacturing mogul Aliko Dangote, worth over £2.5bn, is understood to be keen to snap up the 16 per cent stake in the club held by Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith. Speculation has been mounting that a bid may be forthcoming from one of the club’s [...]
Mozzarella in Mayfair goes glam May 17, 2010 Cielo/Luxx 3 New Burlington Street W1S 2JF 020 7297 2893 www.cielorestaurant.co.uk, www.luxx-london.com FOOD *** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost per person without wine: £50 THESE days, being a restaurant plain and simple just isn’t good enough. Since the credit crunch bit, we have entered a new realm of added value, and if you like to [...]
Peacocks ready to sell after bumper Christmas May 16, 2010 FASHION retailer Peacocks may cash in on its storming run of form with a sale that could value the business at £600m. The budget store has seen sales rocket as customers flocked to it during the recession. Now shareholders are understood to be keen on a quick sale, with the private equity arm of Goldman [...]
Blues double stars salute Ancelotti May 16, 2010 THE FA CUP FINAL 2010 FRANK LAMPARD and John Terry, two of the players closest to Jose Mourinho during his reign as Chelsea manager, have hailed double-winning boss Carlo Ancelotti as the equal of the self-styled Special One. Ancelotti led his squad on an open-topped bus parade through west London yesterday as ecstatic Blues fans [...]