The Steeple Times

Tag: banks

  • Daniel Rosenfeldt: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    Daniel Rosenfeldt: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    The Steeple Times asks the magician and musician Daniel Rosenfeldt: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?

    Stephen Fry.

     

    “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    Madonna has a great one: “Don’t cheat”. You can do what you like in life but you have to put in the work.

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?

    The fighting happening in the Middle East. People in this day and age killing each other over religious beliefs. How thick do you have to be to kill another person because they choose to believe in something different to you? It blows my mind.

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    Tony Blair being Prime Minister… Not. ”Me?” Nothing at all. I’m rocking a fairy tale. Great childhood, great friends and family, I live in Copenhagen and I play guitar and perform magic for a living. What’s to miss?

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    Peace of mind is priceless stuff.

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank.” What’s your view on the banking crisis?

    If this is the case, then the Greeks would be laughing, but they don’t look so happy to me so maybe Donald got it wrong. And it wouldn’t be the first time: he also backed Romney.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

    When people say: “To be honest”. It implies that they lie most other times.

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    I think we should help where we can. I perform magic in hospitals and for charity events. Everyone loves magic. Please look on my website to book me for this. I do it for free and it’s a big part of the reason I do what I do. I’m planning a tour through the hospitals in Copenhagen which starts in February.

     

    The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    That judge had it coming. Anyone against Gerard Butler is toast! Have you seen 300?

     

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    The entire cast of QI, Rune Klan and his dog Balthazar, Benjamin Earl, Klaus Mulbjerg and Roland Rudd who would naturally start the speeches.

     

    Daniel Rosenfeldt

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    Steak béarnaise at home with my parents and brothers.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    I put beer in pancake batter and it’s never too early for pancakes 🙂

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    An ice cold beer, please.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    I like the ones that sneak up on you, you’re busy having fun and then all of a sudden Dario is dancing on the couch with a sheepskin and a lampshade on his head, air drumming.

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    I don’t feel guilty about things that please me. Except maybe Dario dancing on the couch with a sheep skin and a lamp shade on his head…

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    Dario dancing on the couch… Nah!

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    Rune Klan.

     

    If you were a car, what marque would you be?

    I would like to imagine myself as a vintage Rolls but I think I’m more of a husky drawn sledge.

     

    Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    I’m constantly surprised that I surprise people for a living. My parents are even more surprised!

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    I look forward to having my own mantelpiece.

     

     

    Daniel Rosenfeldt is a magician and musician. His website can be viewed at: http://www.danielrosenfeldt.com Follow him on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/danielrrosenfeldt?ref=ts&fref=ts

     

    Watch a YouTube video of Daniel Roesenfeldt’s “A Christmas in South Africa” at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxvK7ZYn69I and an example of his magical talents at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUydpcbb_lo

     

  • Jax Martin: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    Jax Martin: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    The Steeple Times asks the financier turned fashion designer Jax Martin: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?

    Love.

     

    “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit.”

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?

    Reality TV personalities are unacceptable in any year (but to be clear Kerry Katona is still unacceptable).

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    Sleep.

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    High quality education for all children.

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank.” What’s your view on the banking crisis?

    Bankers who created complex financial instruments should not receive the brunt of the blame. Let us not forget the inept regulators who permitted these activities to flourish, causing the crisis to become much worse than it might have been.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

    “Reaching out.”

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.” Plato. I anonymously support several charitable causes related to: education, medical research, the arts and women’s and children’s issues.

     

    The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. But, I have no interest in listening to other people’s loud conversations on their mobiles.

     

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    Oscar de La Renta, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mao Tse Tung, Madonna and Ronald McDonald.

     

    Fashion designer Jax Martin

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    I LOVE to eat; I would have a very large meal comprised of chateaubriand with shallot sauce, Cajun chicken and fries from Le Bilboquet and a bacon cheeseburger with grilled onions from Corner Bistro. All of the aforementioned would be served with a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin. For dessert, I would have a slice of mille-feuille with fresh cut strawberries on the side. If I were allowed to dine outside of death row, I would have the meal served in either Trancoso in Bahia, Brazil or José Ignacio in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    This question makes the assumption that somehow one has stopped partying from the previous evening.

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    A martini.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    It doesn’t matter who throws the party, it’s the company you carry that makes the party.

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    Lucy.

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    Can’t say.

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    A phoenix.

     

    If you were a car, what marque would you be?

    A Koenigsegg Agera R.

     

    Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    While I was in engineering school, I was also a professional dancer.

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    An antique Buddha, candles and a couple of black and white family photographs.

     

     

    British designer Jax Martin is a former financier and professional dancer. A graduate of Columbia University, Martin also has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and began her career in the hedge fund business. She now creates “chic clothing for today’s woman” and states: “I live to make women feel great and look fabulous”.

     

    For more information about Jax Martin, go to: http://jaxmartin.co.uk

  • Breakfast hawks

    Breakfast hawks

    A review of Hawksmoor Guildhall, EC2V

     

    In the first of a series, we publish a number of the most popular articles from the blog that conceived The Steeple Times. Here, in a February 2012 piece, Matthew Steeples reviews a boozy breakfast at Hawksmoor Guildhall with Anthony Brown. After seeing an image of their breakfast on Facebook this morning, we were reminded just how good it truly is, so if you haven’t tried it already – you really should.

     

    On arrival at the Hawksmoor Guildhall, in the heart of the City of London, I immediately found myself thinking about Edward Hopper’s iconic painting Nighthawks.

     

    Nighthawks (Art Institute of Chicago, 1942) by Edward Hopper (1882 – 1967)

    The main dining area at Hawksmoor Guildhall

     

    Here, in this vast space, which can seat 160 in the restaurant and 75 in the bar, was a venue that very much combines the feel of an old banking hall with something akin to a friendlier version of the American café diner in Hopper’s Nighthawks painting. Though, to my mind, the City is indeed a lonely place, the welcoming staff and the somewhat noisy suited brokers created an atmosphere that truly reflected the stature of this fine establishment.

     

    My companion and I wrongly assumed that this relatively new restaurant had simply taken the space of something that had been there before. In fact, this was just a clever trick. The owners, Will Beckett and Huw Gott, collaborated with the Macaulay Sinclair design studio, who were also responsible for their Seven Dials site, to create a style that combines solid mahogany panels made out of Natural History Museum specimen cabinets, a bar formed out of the counter of a Dutch bank and teak flooring taken from the University of the Arts Building near Bond Street. The result is truly impressive.

     

    We opted to share the Hawksmoor breakfast for two priced at £35. This superb offering was served in a large pan with a smoked bacon chop, the most phenomenal sausages made from pork, beef and mutton, black pudding, short-rib bubble and squeak, trotter baked beans, fried eggs, grilled mushrooms, roast tomatoes and HP gravy. Served with unlimited toast, not that it was actually required, this bargain of a meal was a breakfast fit for a king. After this, you really won’t need to eat again for several days.

     

    Also on offer for breakfast, on a menu designed by the Hawksmoor’s executive chef, Richard Turner, are wild mushrooms on toast with poached eggs Hollandaise (£10), a 200g fillet steak with fried eggs and hash browns (£25) and a twist on McDonalds in the form of the sausage and egg HkMufin (£8.50). Scotch pancakes come available with streaky bacon and maple syrup (£6) or with roasted plums (£5).

     

    Urged to try the breakfast cocktails, we sampled the Hawksmoor’s Marmalade Cocktail (£8) of gin, lemon juice, homemade orange bitters and a dash of Campari and another named Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew (£8.50) that consisted of gin, homemade ginger syrup and lemon juice topped with London Pride. The first was sharp and a perfect awakener and the second, described on the menu as “a turbo –shandy for the discerning drinker,” surprisingly worked utterly brilliant in terms of the ingredients it combined.

     

    Open for breakfast from 7am and serving until 10.30pm at night, this is a restaurant of which the Metro’s Marina O’Loughlin rightly comments: “As Homer Simspon might say, mmmnmnhrhmm…”

     

    Hawksmoor Guildhall, 10 Basinghall Street, London, EC2V 5BQ. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7397 8120. Website: http://thehawksmoor.com/locations/guildhall

     

    Follow Hawksmoor on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/HawksmoorLondon

     

  • Greed ain't that good

    Greed ain't that good

    Matthew Steeples reports on the sentencing of Maria Michaela

     

    Today, Maria Michaela was sentenced to 9 years in jail at Harrow crown court for her role as the lynchpin in a fraud of epic proportions.

     

    Maria Michaela attempts to look remorseful as sobs in her mugshot
    Convicted fraudster Mary-Jane Rathie

     

    Termed as “Britain’s biggest female fraudster” by the Evening Standard, Michaela is someone I came across in Lennox Gardens, London. In the building where I lived, she was often spotted with an associate collecting money from a tenant, Stephen Hunter-Scott, also known as Stephen Short, who was jailed alongside her.

     

    In due course this Knightsbridge apartment was repossessed by an Irish bank but the aforementioned associate returned a year later and forcibly took possession. The apartment concerned was eventually taken back and sold on a short lease for just £200,000 recently.

     

    Meanwhile Michaela disappeared but it was not until she appeared on the BBC’s Crimewatch wanted list that she again came to my attention. On the show, it was reported that this woman, who operated under countless aliases that numbered “Joanne Sarah Pier,” “Anjali Sharma,” “Mia Cul” and “Nadia Ali,” had, with the help of a corrupt chartered surveyor named Mary-Jane Rathie, obtained loans of £10.5 million from HBOS and £2.5 million from the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2007 and 2008.

     

    Michaela, who may well in reality be called Bruna Louise, had posed as a wealthy South African heiress to secure the funds she supposedly required to fund the purchase of properties in Chelsea, Belgravia, Pimlico, Greenwich, Clapham, Stoke Newington and the Docklands. In reality, Rathie, who was bribed with £910,000 in cash, a £49,000 Range Rover Sport and a £143,000 Bentley Continental, vastly overvalued each allowing Michaela to pocket, for example, £6 million for a Cheyne Walk house that was in reality worth just £3.5 million.

     

    Whilst Rathie, a former employee of Ashdown Lyons, was jailed for 6 years in July 2011, the fraudster Michaela managed to evade capture for three years. She was eventually caught this January in Bexleyheath working as a mortgage broker. In various preliminary hearings, her pleas of insanity did not help her cause and nor did her unwillingness to provide evidence of her true identity. This morning, she got just what she deserved.

     

    Of her conviction, Detective Inspector Andy Fife of City of London Police commented:

     

    “Maria Michaela created a web of deception that duped banks into handing over vast sums of money and then perpetuated her crimes by assuming a new alias to try and secure more loans. False identities and a corrupt property surveyor were the tools she used to make millions, turning herself into one of the, if not the, most prolific female fraudster the UK has ever seen.”

     

    The lesson of Michaela and her cohorts, I’d argue, is simple. Greed may well be good in the eyes of Gordon Gekko, but the greedy generally get caught in the end and generally it is down to their own vanity. As she rots in her cell, perhaps she ought to consider this folly.

  • John King: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    John King: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    The Steeple Times asks John King, the sales manager for No. 11 Cadogan Gardens: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?

    My parents.

     

     “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    “Don’t get mad, charge more.”

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?

    Victoria Beckham. The woman is despicable and the unhappiest celebrity there is.

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    My business: a lettings agency in Brixton.

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    An island, a super yacht and a supermodel.

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank.” What’s your view on the banking crisis?

    Coca Cola was once funded by the bank. We all need banks.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

    “In’it.”

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    When I have enough to give, I won’t discriminate.

     

    The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    Anywhere except the dinner table.

     

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    My parents, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Muhammad Ali and Sir Alex Ferguson.

     

    No. 11 Cadogan Gardens sales manager, John King

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    Mince and tatties in my mum’s living room.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    Any time after 12, I’m not declaring which 12 I mean.

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    None of the above. I like a champagne cocktail at the bar at No. 11 Cadogan Gardens.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    My own because my closest friends are with me.

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    My five year old nephew, Charlie.

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    Glenmorangie 18 years old.

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    A motto which says: “What’s for you, will not go past you.”

     

    If you were a car, what marquee would you be?

    A Porsche 911 Carrera in red.

     

    Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    I’d say that it is that I have managed to live in London for 9 years.

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    My watch. I stupidly left it at home.

     

    John King is the sales manager for No. 11 Cadogan Gardens, London, SW3 2RJ. Website: http://www.no11cadogangardens.com

     

  • Diamonds Aren't Forever

    Diamonds Aren't Forever

    The resignation of Bob Diamond

     

    Today, Bob Diamond finally bit the dust and resigned as chief executive of Barclays in a dramatic move designed to save the bank from further embarrassment in the wake of their having being fined a record £290 million last week for attempting to manipulate the interbank lending rate, Libor, between 2005 and 2009.

     

    Bob Diamond, centre, with John Varley and Marcus Agius

    Of his decision, Diamond commented:

     

    “No decision over that period was as hard as the one that I make now to stand down as chief executive. The external pressure placed on Barclays has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise – I cannot let that happen.”

     

    Meanwhile, George Osborne MP added:

     

    “We now have an opportunity to fix what went wrong and move on.”

     

    The Chancellor’s attempts to sweep this scandal under the carpet illustrate how out of touch he is with public opinion on this subject and Gina Miller, founder of the True and Fair campaign, raises a far more valid point in her statement on the affair:

     

    “Bob Diamond’s departure and the Libor scandal shows lack of oversight, accountability and regulation in the City. Current industry self-regulation, overseen by the FSA, has been widely abused by the financial services industry and has failed to protect consumers or provide a level-playing field for the more responsible financial services companies.”

     

    With an inquiry looming next into professional standards in banking, one has to wonder which other heads will roll next. As someone said to me in a Facebook message this morning: “Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank; Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.”

     

    For more information on the True and Fair campaign, go to: http://www.trueandfaircampaign.com