General Election 2015: Haynes Publishing Group chairman John Haynes wants a focus on education and a commitment on corporation tax May 5, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 2 DAYS TO GO Every day of the election campaign, we have been asking a business leader to say what policies would entice them to vote for a particular party. Here is our penultimate item. JOHN (J) HAYNES: GROUP CHAIRMAN, HAYNES PUBLISHING GROUP On a Sunday evening it’s not unusual for [...]
PwC ditches A-level criteria for recruitment May 4, 2015 GRADUATES will no longer need spotless A-level grades to land a job at accountancy and business advisory firm PwC. The firm, one of the biggest graduate employers in the country, argued that by using Ucas points – a measure of a secondary school student’s qualifications – to screen applicants, it was missing out on recruits [...]
Razor sharp: Will King talks moving on from King of Shaves, politics, a plan for Tesco and why we need Tinder for voting May 4, 2015 I came, I saw, I shaved, I died’ isn’t how I want to be remembered,” quips Will King. In 1993, he founded King of Shaves, the popular men’s toiletries brand. In frustration over the poor quality of his own products, he turned to his then-girlfriend’s bath oil for a smoother finish. The resulting businesses, including [...]
Golf Comment: Classy Rory McIlroy and deserved joy for Ian Woosnam May 4, 2015 I doubt he sees him as a direct challenge to his No1 status yet but I do think that Jordan Spieth’s win at the Masters will have niggled Rory McIlroy a little. And so it was that Rory won at his very next tournament, the WGC Cadillac Match Play Championship, which concluded on Sunday after [...]
Five reasons why Chelsea’s Premier League title is just the beginning for Jose Mourinho and co May 4, 2015 Four seasons without a league title came to an end for Chelsea on Sunday; a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace ensuring the Blues will wrap their hands around the Premier League trophy for the first time since 2010. The detractors cry that Jose Mourinho's team has won thanks to an unattractive and attritional style of [...]
PwC to ditch A-level requirements to reach students from “wider pockets of society” May 4, 2015 Graduates will no longer need spotless A-level grades to land a job at accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The firm, one of the biggest graduate employers in the country, argued that by using Ucas points (a measure of a secondary school student's qualifications) to screen applicants, it was missing out on recruits from more disadvantaged backgrounds. [...]
Film review: Far from the Madding Crowd is rushed, but Carey Mulligan sparkles May 1, 2015 Cert 12a | ★★★☆☆ In 19th century England, the line between fancying someone and marrying them was terrifyingly thin. Or so you might think from Thomas Vinterberg’s new adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd, in which the twinkly Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) hurdles marriage proposals like a Victorian Colin Jackson. All [...]
London’s General Election: Isle of political dog fights – battle for Poplar and Limehouse at the edge of the City April 30, 2015 A council estate in the East End is not exactly what you envisage as a typical Tory heartland. But on the Isle of Dogs, in the shadow of the financial district, Conservative General Election candidate Chris Wilford is leading an insurgency he hopes one day will make it so. His is a rebellion triggered by [...]
Theatre review: Everyman is a thrilling, touching success April 30, 2015 Olivier Theatre | ★★★★☆ The first play directed by Rufus Norris since he took over as artistic director of the National Theatre is an ambitious, frenetic production that hints at exciting times ahead for the institution. Everyman is a 15th century morality play warning of the perils of pursuing bodily pleasures over the [...]
Story time: Escape to the past with British painter Eleanor Watson April 30, 2015 Eleanor Watson paints light-dappled rooms full of frills, finery and baroque detailing. Sometimes shadowy, sometimes ablaze in brilliant oranges, her paintings have the texture and atmostphere of memories – passionate, randomly detailed and with the occasional blank spot. Working from photographs, she recreates idealised, dreamlike spaces that seem familiar from museums and period dramas. In [...]