Mortgage lending drops July 20, 2011 Gross mortgage lending fell three per cent on the year in June but was 16 per cent up on the month, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said. The CML said gross mortgage lending totalled £12.6bn in June, the highest monthly total in almost a year. It said lending in the first half of this [...]
Vacancy rate falls at Land Securities July 19, 2011 LAND Securities, the UK’s largest real estate investment trust by value, said vacancy rates fell in the past quarter as it confirmed it was stepping up its development activity as stronger retailers look to take new floor space. The firm said yesterday it had cut its vacancy rate to 3.9 per cent at the end [...]
Mercedes’ ultimate ticket to ride July 19, 2011 SOME days are good, some days are great. And no doubt about it: being driven around Goodwood in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG gullwing supercar by former F1 world champion Jody Scheckter is a great experience. Scheckter, now an organic farmer at Laverstoke Park Farm, says he’s not been on a race track in years. I [...]
CAR TALK July 19, 2011 PEUGEOT’S NEW FLAGSHIP Peugeot has shown its new flagship 508 RXH diesel-electric crossover ahead of its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The four-wheel drive estate is powered by a 2.0-litre HYbrid4 drive unit which produces 200bhp and can be run in 100 per cent electric mode. Emissions are just 109g/km of [...]
Keeping the flag flying for boozers July 18, 2011 The Surprise 6 Christchurch Terrace, W3 4AJ Tel: 020 7351 6954 www.geronimo-inns.co.uk/thesurprise FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £23 THE Surprise (named after a warship) is a pub in Chelsea and the latest project from Geronimo Inns, the company with a slew of beautiful gastropubs across London. So good is Geronimo at turning [...]
Episode 19: A visit from the parents sees Dad in a less than supportive mood July 18, 2011 MY mother hobbles into our living room, a walking stick in each hand. Breathless, she asks, “How is she darling?” Before I can answer my father bursts into the room, laden with bags. “I hope you’re pleased with yourself David. She should be at home, resting. Not…” “Lawrence, please. We’re here to see Emma.” “No, [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS July 18, 2011 SHEEKEY’S TURNS SPEAKEASY J Sheekey Oyster Bar, the baby brother of the famous J Sheekey seafood restaurant that sits next door, is running a season of monthly Sunday performances. Lively music, theatre, comedy and improv performances are the order of the day, inspired by speakeasy cabarets of the prohibition era. Tickets are £30 and include [...]
House prices fall in London and rest of UK July 17, 2011 House prices have dropped for the first time this year, according to a well-regarded Rightmove index released this morning. Prices fell 1.6 per cent across the UK in July, with even London’s houses experiencing a 1.4 per cent dip, the figures showed. In June, the average residential property in the capital hit an all time [...]
Seaweed and bog myrtle? Yes please July 17, 2011 IT is a bright spring day in the gentrified area of Christiana in Copenhagen, and the houseboat that is the Nordic Food Lab – or the ministry of bonkers food as it should be known, is a hive of activity. Birch twigs are being slowly cooked “sous-vide”, to be turned into tea. Buttermilk is being [...]
TRAVEL NOTES July 17, 2011 VIP SKI LAUNCHES IN VERBIER The luxury ski holiday operators have added two chalets in Verbier for the 2011/12 season. Up for grabs are the super-stylish Chalet Tortin and Chalet Mont Fort, both of which sleep six and are situated in a prime position at the heart of the village, three minutes’ walk from the [...]
