Yerma at the Young Vic review: Billie Piper shows her acting chops but the production lacks poetry August 8, 2016 Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s play of the same name, the Young Vic’s new production of Yerma (Barren) is well acted and inventively staged, but undermined by a misguided impulse to modernise. The original was set in rural Spain, following a young woman penned in by society and her beliefs, whose increasingly desperate desire for [...]
City Moves for 8 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 8, 2016 Currencies Direct Currencies Direct, a UK non-bank provider of foreign exchange and international payment services, has appointed Antony Jenkins, formerly CEO of Barclays, as the company's non-executive chairman. He will focus on further advancing Currencies Direct’s digital offering and expanding its existing international footprint, supporting the company’s strong growth potential. For three years, until July 2015, Antony led Barclays [...]
Brockmans is leading the pack in the UK’s “gin-aissance” August 7, 2016 The UK's "gin-aissance" has gone from strength-to-strength, if the results of the UK's fastest-growing, super-premium gin brand Brockmans are anything to go by. The figures Total revenue at the super-premium gin distiller was up 51 per cent to £2.9m in the year to 31 December, from £1.9m in 2014. UK revenue increased 185 per cent last [...]
FC Twente director says Manchester City and Chelsea use Dutch club to help spin profit on young players they’ll never use August 6, 2016 Manchester City, Chelsea and other big European clubs sign young players who they know will never reach the first team but could make them a profit claims the director of Dutch club FC Twente. Technical director at the Eredivisie team Jan van Halst argues that young players such as City's Turkish teen Enes Unal — loaned to FC Twente this summer — [...]
Young Chekhov at National Theatre review: this triple bill of Platonov, Ivanov and The Seagull gives fresh perspective on one of the great dramatists August 5, 2016 Chekhov has a reputation as a miserabilist, due in large part to his recurring themes of suicide and existential dread. But this does a disservice to the comedy that runs through his work – and thank goodness it does, because if his plays were as gloomy as people tend to think, eight hours of them [...]
City Moves for 5 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 5, 2016 PKF Littlejohn PKF Littlejohn has appointed Catherine Heyes as a partner. Catherine joined PKF Littlejohn as a senior tax manager in April 2014. She works with colleagues across the firm to provide clients with holistic advice and solutions in order to resolve problems and present opportunities relevant to their particular circumstances. Her advisory expertise includes employee share schemes, exit strategies, [...]
Rotterdam at Trafalgar Studios review: A touching and laugh-out-loud comedy about being transgender August 4, 2016 “Rotterdam is anywhere/anywhere alone” sang The Beautiful South back in the days of Britpop. Anywhere is right: the Dutch port city acts not only as a setting for this West End transfer, but also as a metaphor for transition, a halfway house where no one feels they truly belong. The story follows three British expats [...]
Focus On Archway: Will a new road system, public square and revamped tube station boost house prices in N19? August 4, 2016 Legend has it that when Dick Whittington was on his way out of London, he reached Archway, heard the peal of the Bow Bells and decided to return to the capital. Its reputation as a hinterland, a border, endured for centuries afterwards. Known originally as Highgate Archway – as in, the place you pass through [...]
A new Gatwick runway would generate as many as 28,000 new jobs by 2050, according to engineering consultancy Arup August 4, 2016 A second runway at Gatwick would create 28,000 new jobs by 2050, according to research conducted for the airport by engineering consultancy Arup. Figures from the firm show that while Gatwick would be boosted by more than 5,000 jobs even without expansion, the airport could generate dramatically more jobs with a new runway. New roles would [...]
Here’s how Philip Hammond can reassure small businesses and investors alike August 4, 2016 Philip Hammond was quick to rule out a post-Brexit Budget after being installed as the new chancellor. Number 11’s latest resident, who will wait instead until the Autumn Statement, has also stated that he will support the City, and wider business, as the UK exits the EU. The challenge, Hammond has observed, is to send “signals [...]