Now trending: The simple tile is the unsung hero of 21st century interior design; here are some of the best to transform your home June 29, 2016 There is a story, probably apocryphal, that when architects were designing Apple’s new Cupertino headquarters, Steve Jobs spent a few minutes looking at the blueprints before telling the architects to go away and make the building half a foot longer. “Half a foot? How on earth will that make a difference?” they implored, knowing it [...]
My House: Make-up artist Laura Pye, whose portfolio includes working backstage at the BAFTAs, talks about her converted church in Stepney June 29, 2016 The flat is in a converted church, so it has loads of funny architectural quirks where the developers had to work around existing features. My favourite part is the beautiful stained glass windows, which let in loads of natural light. I’m a make-up artist so that’s really important; it means I can invite people round [...]
Addison Lee is buying rival Tristar as part of its US expansion strategy June 28, 2016 Addison Lee, the UK private car hire company owned by private equity giant Carlyle, is buying rival Tristar. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but City sources put the valuation at around £30m. Tristar, which operates the largest luxury car fleet in the UK, has revenues of £50m per year. Read more: Addison Lee is taking the [...]
Curzon Cinemas targets expansion around the world June 26, 2016 Curzon Cinemas, a chain that began in London in 1934 and has since opened 10 more cinemas across the country, is now targeting international growth through its digital offering. Philip Mordecai, director of home cinema at Curzon, is aiming to grow the digital side of the business and sees it eventually competing with the likes [...]
Forget the Nexus, Google is set to launch its own smartphone by the end of the year June 26, 2016 Tech goliath Google is expected to release it own smartphone by the end of the year in a bid to get a bigger slice of the smartphone market. The search giant has approached mobile operators to discuss manufacturing a Google-branded phone, sources told the Daily Telegraph. Currently the tech giant provides operating systems for smartphones [...]
Culture, coffee and cocktails. A tour of arty and historic Vienna June 24, 2016 The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the death of Franz Joseph I of Austria – head honcho of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for nearly 70 years – presents a grand opportunity to delve into Vienna’s imperial past while catching up on some of its more contemporary delights as well. Franz Who? No, not Archduke Franz [...]
The Frog restaurant in Shoreditch review: Masterchef contestant Adam Handling launches an intense new venture that defeats our critic June 21, 2016 Pop quiz: who invented molecular gastronomy? Was it Heston Blumenthal, with his test tubes full of liquid nitrogen? Or Ferran Adria in his beach-side epicurean lair, churning out unholy delicacy after unholy delicacy? No, no, no. That’s all PR. Like most things, molecular gastronomy – a term most chefs, including Heston, hate – was created [...]
Italian job: Law firm Fieldfisher agrees merger with Italy’s SASPI June 21, 2016 Fieldfisher has today agreed a merger with Italian law firm Studio Associato Servizi Professionali Integrati (SASPI). The merger, which will take the form of a Swiss verein style association, will take effect at the start of next month and SASPI will be adopting the Fieldfisher brand name. The two firms combined will have around 970 professionals and [...]
The UK is about to become a world leader in artificial intelligence June 20, 2016 With the news that Magic Pony has been acquired by Twitter, we are witnessing a crucial turning point – five of the world’s biggest technology companies have now purchased UK-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies. See Magic Pony Technology and Twitter, SwiftKey and Microsoft, VocalIQ and Apple, DeepMind and Google, and Evi and Amazon. Over the coming days [...]
Apple shares could be about to fall further. Here’s why June 20, 2016 Apple's stock could be about to fall further and its market capitalisation shrink by more than the $200bn it already has this year. The annual reshuffle of the Russell Index is due to take place on Friday and Apple's movement means a bit of a change. The tech firm's weighting is expected to be 27 per cent smaller [...]