CAR TALK November 22, 2011 BMW The World’s press have been driving the new, fifth generation BMW M5. The car’s 560bhp V8 engine replaces the bigger, less economical V10 of the previous M5 meaning fuel consumption is down by 30 per cent to 28.5mpg (combined). Capable of 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds and 155mph the new M5 costs £73,040 OTR. AUDI [...]
Capital Shopping Centres secures new debt facility November 21, 2011 CAPITAL Shopping Centres (CSC), the UK’s biggest mall owner, has secured a £375m credit facility from a consortium of five banks to help provide “general liquidity” to the company. The owner of Manchester’s Trafford Centre and the MetroCentre in Gateshead said yesterday that the revolving facility would replace a previous, undrawn £248m facility that was [...]
London residential rents slip for first time since 2009 November 21, 2011 PRIME London residential rents have dropped for the first time since their recessionary low in June 2009 but still sit near to “an all time high”, research from Knight Frank shows. The property agent said rental levels crept back down by 0.1 per cent last month but rose by 0.6 per cent in the three [...]
More overseas than UK buyers for City offices November 21, 2011 THE LEVEL of overseas ownership of City office properties has overtaken UK ownership for the first time. research by property group Development Securities has claimed. According to new research by the developer and the University of Cambridge, foreign investors now own 52 per cent of the Square Mile’s office stock, growing from 25 per cent [...]
Get roped into a climb at The Castle November 21, 2011 You can see The Castle climbing wall at Manor House long before you get anywhere near it. The gigantic Victorian building looks every bit the fortress it is named for – it’s slightly disappointing when you find out it started life as a lowly pump-house (it also makes you realise how much of a sense [...]
FIT IN THE CITY November 21, 2011 FITNESS & DIET EXPERT If you’re looking to rock your Christmas tux, or slide into your salopettes without a hint of Stella belly, you’ll need to work. Here’s how: Opt for high-energy workouts. In a study at Duke University in the US, 30 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise (the type where you’re sweaty and out [...]
Fornata joins Italian legion November 21, 2011 Fornata 15 Kingly Street, London W1B 5PS Tel:020 8181 8887 FOOD *** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost per person without wine: £20-25 When Casanova came to London in 1763, Soho was his first port of call. At just 38, he was already renowned across Europe as a distinguished polymath. His spheres of expertise included mathematics, [...]
QUAFFER’S CORNER November 21, 2011 Soaking up the Alsatian tastes I had an interesting tasting here at Lutyens last week. Christophe Ehrhart from Josmeyer gave a talk with accompanying wines from the estate he runs in Alsace, the sliver of land between the Vosges Mountains and the Rhine that boasts some of the lowest rainfall in France and a complex [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS November 21, 2011 WINTER-WONDER COCKTAILS AT CASSIS The bar at Cassis, the popular French bistro in Knightsbridge has launched a new winter menu including a new range of dessert cocktails, perfect for those who would prefer a liquid dessert to one of their renowned Provencal tarts. Guests can choose from Tiramisu or Apple Pie cocktails. For a winter [...]
A weekend in Johannesburg November 20, 2011 THERE’S too much history in this town.” So says my tour guide Zac as we speed away from Johannesburg airport. He’s not wrong. Just 125 years old, South Africa’s largest city has developed as though on steroids. The often bloody events that mark its relatively short lifetime read like those of a much older city. [...]