Tom Aikens: The comeback kid November 11, 2012 TOM AIKENS is tired, and it shows. It’s 9am on a Friday morning and he’s already clocked up 72 hours during the week, working in his hugely successful eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant in Chelsea. For a chef, those kinds of hours are standard but Aikens has had to work particularly hard this last few years after [...]
India 10 years on: The rise of a tourism superpower November 11, 2012 INDIA DRAMATICALLY straddles the ancient and modern worlds: as well as having a space programme, it is home to layers of ancient civilisations, leaving an intricate cultural legacy. But an under-developed service sector used to make it difficult to enjoy India as a holidaymaker. I wanted to find out if the tourist industry was keeping [...]
London & Stamford makes offer for Metric November 9, 2012 Property investment company London & Stamford today made a £209m takeover offer for developer Metric Property Investments, three days after announcing they were in advanced discussions to merge their businesses. London & Stamford is offering 0.94 of its shares for every Metric share. Under the terms of the merger, Metric would own 25 per cent [...]
Housing lifted by government scheme boost November 8, 2012 MORTGAGE lending climbed rapidly through the third quarter and into October, two sets of data showed yesterday, as the Funding for Lending scheme finally appeared to be having an impact on lending. This came in tandem with a reversal in the downward house price trend of the past few months, revealed by another set of [...]
London house price growth set to outstrip rest of UK for years November 8, 2012 London house price growth will be well ahead of the UK average for at least the next five years, estate agent Savills predicted yesterday. Central London housing will get 25.6 per cent more expensive over the five years to the end of 2017, the estate agent said, compared to 10.2 per cent growth in the [...]
Alan Bennett’s People is a riotous but touching sideways look at England November 8, 2012 THEATRE PEOPLE The Lyttleton at the National Theatre **** Alan Bennett’s new play, People, slips effortlessly into the canon of his work, with its saucy “Blackpool postcard” humour and undercurrent of resentment and despair. It takes place in a wonderfully rendered, decaying stately home – all mouldy dust-jackets and shards of sunlight creeping through moth-eaten [...]
The Sapphires is a partial hit but The Alps has a mountain to climb November 8, 2012 FILM THE SAPPHIRES Cert 12A | By Alex Dymoke *** Soul music and Chris O’Dowd’s face must be two of the most inherently likeable things on the planet. Given that both feature prominently in Australian movie The Sapphires, it is perhaps unsurprising that the film has landed in the UK to an enthusiastic chorus of [...]
I spy with my Discerning Eye, some hot new talent November 8, 2012 ART ING DISCERNING EYE EXHIBITION The Mall Galleries, The Mall, SW1 This year’s ING Discerning Eye Exhibition is gearing up for its grand opening next week, when a wealth of fascinating works will go on display. The exhibition features exciting pieces from artists including Harry Pye, whose poignant block-colour paintings beautifully capture everyday hope and [...]
Where to drink November 8, 2012 The Parisian-born phenomenon Buddha-Bar launched last week, reincarnated in Knightsbridge following the closure of their Embankment-based venue two years ago. This very different proposition has a modern take on its Eastern influences and is poised to reclaim glory with delectable cuisine, incredible decor from renowned sculptor David Begbie, inspired mixology and the live DJ sets [...]
House repossessions fall to five-year low November 8, 2012 House repossessions fell to a five-year low in the third quarter, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said today. A total of 8,200 properties were taken into possession over the three months to September, down from 8,500 in the second quarter and 9,600 the year previously, the trade body said. Over the first nine months [...]
