Clerkenwell controversy: The award-winning development that could be torn down July 12, 2019 London’s walking tours are a great way to read the streets. Layers of history are all around us – every brick, every alley has a story to tell, and guides familiarise us with architectural styles, from modern to maverick. During this May’s Clerkenwell Design Festival I found not one but two design walking tours of [...]
Property of the Week: Enter the Dragons’ Den in Hackney July 12, 2019 For £3.25m, you could live in the warehouse conversion where budding business tycoons once pitched for cash. Does the sheer force of your entrepreneurial spirit get you out of bed in the morning? Do you like the idea of living in a place where dreams have been made and broken? Or perhaps you are just [...]
Turnaround time for struggling food giant July 12, 2019 | City Talk By Rodney Hobson from interactive investor. The proof of the pudding lies with a new chief who looks set to sell off poor performers to boost spending on premium lines. A heavy burden lies on the shoulders of Miguel Patricio, who took over as chief executive officer of food and beverage giant Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC)last month. The reputation of [...]
In the case of sugar, the nanny state really does know best July 11, 2019 Boris Johnson created a furore last week by announcing that he was considering getting rid of the so-called sugar tax. Was he right to question the levy, or does it serve a purpose? Introduced in April 2018, manufacturers now have to pay more tax if their drinks contain a high amount of sugar. The producers [...]
Peter Gynt at the Olivier is a toe-curling, overlong adaptation of Ibsen’s mad epic July 11, 2019 Before the curtain rose for this reimagining of Ibsen’s allegorical play Peer Gynt, audience members were surreptitiously snapping pictures of the set, presumably to impress their Instagram followers. “I’m at the theatre! #culture”. How appropriate for a play (originally a poem but adapted soon after) that asks if a life can be fulfilled simply by winning the [...]
A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is an unbridled summer joy July 11, 2019 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of three London companies presenting the Bard’s most mischievous and magical comedy this summer. How, then, does director Dominic Hill make his Dream stand out? From the outset, it’s a fresh, fun interpretation. It opens to a Riot Club-esque dinner party, with flashing lights and blaring music. The [...]
Why Ocado shares have been chased sharply higher July 9, 2019 | City Talk A costly warehouse fire hasn’t dented enthusiasm for the shares. Our head of markets explains. Ocado (LSE:OCDO) transformation from online retailer to cutting-edge technology provider remains clear for all to see. The Andover fire in February was an unwelcome distraction and has come at a cost both in actual terms as well as in lost [...]
Noises Off at the Lyric Hammersmith is a farce in all the wrong ways July 5, 2019 Noises Off is either the worst professional production I’ve seen in some years, or something so groundbreakingly metatextual that I am simply unable to comprehend its brilliance. Noises Off is clearly a huge success; at least historically. The farce debuted at the Lyric in 1982, before going on to multiple runs in the West End [...]
Midsommar review: follow up to Hereditary is an unqualified triumph July 5, 2019 The instant Midsommar finished, I knew I would need to see it again. It has that rare, painterly quality of great horror, the sense that the images you’re seeing will never leave you. Director Ari Aster’s debut Hereditary had it too, though Midsommar is probably the superior film. It has a richer, more constituted vision, [...]
London’s decadent Tramp club sets out to woo Mayfair’s bankers July 5, 2019 Private members club Tramp has put out the call from Piccadilly to the Mall for well-heeled neighbours to celebrate its 50th anniversary in style – with an annual membership slashed to just £50. The nightclub, a hotspot for A-listers since its early years in the 1970s, usually costs members £1,000 per year. But in celebration [...]