Minimalism meets France’s Ancien Regime this autumn September 12, 2011 1. Brows If your eyes are the windows to your soul, then your brows are the curtains. This season eyebrows are big and bold, which apart from lending a more masculine look, also defines your eyes. Blinc do a wonderful Brow Mousse that not only defines them and builds body, but holds their shape wherever [...]
The New Forest’s star keeps on rising with this new low-key gem September 11, 2011 THE New Forest is having something of a moment. Thanks to one of Britain’s most insightful hoteliers, in late 2009 it gained the glamorous five-star country house hotel and spa Lime Wood, which was bang on the money for today’s metropolitan weekenders; and now its sister hotel The Pig has opened this summer to much [...]
New approaches: network your way to the top in a private members’ club August 31, 2011 THE IVY, SOHO TYPICAL MEMBER: Members are usually already well connected. Duncan Bannatyne, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the BBC’s Mark Thompson have been spotted there recently. STYLE: The management are hell bent on privacy. No cameras or phones. Membership is through recommendation only. EASE OF NETWORKING: Great speaker events give you access to big-name celebrities. EIGHT [...]
Cheaper long-term mortgages are back August 30, 2011 MORTGAGE rates are plummeting. Interest rates on gilts and swaps – those things that indicate the price of fixed-rate mortgages – have been heading downwards for some time and look to set to stay there. Now lenders seem to have caught on and have started dishing out the goods. Last week, Chelsea Building Society launched [...]
TRAVEL NOTES August 21, 2011 ESCAPE TO THE TOWN AND COUNTRY If you think you’ll be in need of a late summer escape, you can enjoy it in the town and in the countryside with a rather tempting partnership deal between the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge and Cotswolds country house retreat Cowley Manor (pictured above). The package allows you a [...]
Posen dismisses stagflation risk June 27, 2011 The UK’s situation is more similar to the 1930s than the 1970s, with little danger of “stagflation”, the Bank of England’s uber-dove Adam Posen said yesterday. The Bank of England has no reason to raise interest rates, as credit and wage growth are slow, said Posen, who has voted for more quantitative easing.
Apple fails to impress Indian brand survey June 19, 2011 APPLE may be greatly admired and widely feted as an uber brand in the UK and US, but a new survey out yesterday concludes that in India it is rated as only 40th in the brand charts. The survey, conducted by marketing consultants TLG, also reveals that Indian brands make up seven of the top [...]
TRAVEL NOTES June 19, 2011 HEALTH AND LUXURY Forget the usual muddy bootcamps with miserable skimmed-milk porridge and daybreak marathons. Arcanum, above, a new uber-luxurious health spa sanctuary resort just launched offering guests weight loss and rejuvenation, the civilised way. The new resort overlooks the waters of Phuket. All guests receive their own personalised “health journey” program, including nutrition, energising [...]
HOUSE OF THE RISING MEDIA BARON: DESMOND PLOTS THE ANIMALS GIG June 14, 2011 THE CAPITALIST had an entertaining conversation with Richard Desmond this week, in which the media baron revealed the next rock frontman he would like to enlist to perform with his charity band The Crusaders is… Eric Burdon of The Animals. Desmond was speaking at a preview of his CNBC interview with Channel Five presenter Tania [...]
RISKY GAME: WAGES NEAR DANGER LEVEL June 8, 2011 Top-flight clubs have never had it so good but are splashing more than ever on salaries, says Deloitte THE SYMPTOMS have not been hard to spot. First Yaya Toure, an effective if unspectacular journeyman midfielder, charmed Manchester City into lining his pockets to the tune of £185,000 a week. Then some expert brinkmanship from Wayne [...]