LONDON BAROMETER July 26, 2012 DIRECTOR OF DOUGLAS & GORDON AS suspected, the extended Jubilee and Bank Holidays combined with the bad weather in June haven’t helped the London property market and although there are still interested buyers, they are not being rushed. Deals are taking longer but they are happening. Pricing correctly is paramount in getting viewings and if [...]
FOCUS ON: NOTTING HILL July 26, 2012 NEED TO KNOW | AREA INSIGHT TRAVEL AND EDUCATION Located in the heart of West London, Notting Hill is among the most desired areas to live in the world. It is served by a wealth of transport links, with the central line from Notting Hill Gate taking just 16 minutes to get into the City. [...]
Q and A July 26, 2012 DIRECTOR, DOUGLAS AND GORDON Q I’ve had my property on since March and, after the Budget, knocked £350,000 off the price to get under the £2m SDLT bracket. I’ve still not sold. What are my options, given I can’t afford to go lower? A No comfort here but many sellers are in the same situation. [...]
No idyll this: Cairo Year One July 26, 2012 All day every day for a year, Nermine Hammam roved around Tahrir Square and Zamalek in Cairo. Armed only with her Nikon camera, she was snapping the Egyptian revolution – the initial 18-day uprising and its grisly aftermath. With 70,000 pictures to choose from by the close of the year, Hammam had to perform an [...]
Have a very VIP Olympics July 26, 2012 THE OLYMPICS have finally arrived and London’s VIP landscape is ready and set to go. There are a number of venues across the capital being transformed to cater to deep-pocketed high-rollers who have a penchant for partying. The first of such pop-ups is The Retreat in the City which is being created this week at [...]
A good week for music at the Royal Albert Hall July 26, 2012 Prom 12: This was the third outing for Daniel Barenboim’s Palestinian-Israeli West Eastern Divan Orchestra this proms, midway through its Beethoven symphony cycle. We were treated to a superbly sonorous, expressive and caramel-like Pastoral Sixth and a slightly too-quiet famous Fifth, interspersed with work by modern French composer Pierre Boulez. There was something of a [...]
Here’s what you could have won July 25, 2012 Apple has said the feverish rumour mill surrounding the impending launch of its next iPhone has dented the growth in sales of its current product, with customers holding off for the next generation. So what exactly has got consumers in such a spin? We take a look at some of the gossip surrounding Apple’s next [...]
BLUE SKIPHONE THINKING July 25, 2012 The wearable iPhone This bizarre device is a kind of clip-on iPhone designed by Federico Ciccarese at CiccareseDesign. It looks like it might get a bit uncomfortable after a while but you’re certainly not going to drop it. ciccaresedesign.com The ultra-slim iPhone This beautiful concept by Antonio De Rosa of ADR Studio looks like a [...]
Living the charmed life July 25, 2012 Pandora Union Jack London Bus charm ‰ £40 ‰ pandora.net Pandora British Rose charm ‰ £40 ‰ pandora.net (£6 goes to ABF The Soldiers’ Charity) Pandora Murano glass charm ‰ £40 ‰ pandora.net Links 18ct Rose Gold Thumbprint Star Charm ‰ £310 ‰ linksoflondon.com Old Bond Street W1 charm ‰ £120 ‰ tiffany.co.uk Wimbledon Hat [...]
Safety still rules at unflashy Volvo July 24, 2012 The law of Jante is a Swedish idea that discourages individuality and showing off. Literally it means: “Don’t think you’re anyone special or that you’re better than us”. It’s a fascinating idea because it’s contrary to the concept of a premium car, which by its very nature means “I deserve the best”. This puts Volvo [...]