The Steeple Times

Tag: business

  • Positivity From Pleurat

    Positivity From Pleurat

    Refugee turned “one-man vodka band” Pleurat Shabani shares a message of positivity (and a reminder that we’ll all be having a martini or three together again soon)

    Having escaped the civil war in Croatia, Kosovo born Pleurat Shabani headed to London in 1994. He, unlike Dick Whittington, did not find streets paved with gold but ended up working as a lavatory cleaner and kitchen porter.

     

    Later, forced onto the streets after losing his job at Soho House, Shabani “hit rock bottom” but did not give up. He found a job as a glass washer at Oliver Peyton’s Atlantic Bar & Grill – which ironically was later ‘sunk’ by Marco Pierre White’s Titanic restaurant – and after being promoted to a role as a bartender, began a journey that ultimately resulted in the creation of his own vodka, Konik’s Tail.

     

    Shabini, without the big money backing most spirits brands garnered in the early-to-mid 2000s, is a surprising success story. We reported on it back in 2014 and in spite of his shoestring budget – and the fact he literally had to glue his own footwear together (he considers them “ part of his journey”) – Konik’s Tail is now stocked in everywhere from Dukes Hotel to Waitrose.

     

    Now, at this time of lockdown, the notoriously shy luddite Shabani has taken to social media and on Instagram, a place he’s only posted once before, shared a message of positivity that we should all heed. It follows in full below:

     

    “First of all, I hope this finds you well in these increasingly challenging times of disruption and enormous changes to the daily lives of all of us. Together, we have learnt that passion, optimism and community will help us all come out stronger.”

     

    “The pride of who we are as a community is not part of our past, it defines our present and our future. You have inspired me. Your presence has inspired me. Your friendship has inspired me. And, your stories have inspired me.”

     

    “Together we will succeed and that success will belong to everyone of us. Better days will return. Stools behind the bar might be empty, no late nights, no last calls, but this – you are not forgotten. Our hearts are full of love until we are reunited again. I know we will be with our friends again, with our families again and I know we will share a Konik’s Tail martini again.”

     

    “Spread the love and positive energy, help a friend, even a stranger. Until we meet again, be well, be safe and love each other. My warmest wishes to you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

     

    Konik’s Tail Vodka is available from Waitrose for £38 for a 70cl bottle. Thankfully they can still deliver it – so have your chilled martini glasses at the ready.

     

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  • Sod Off Branson

    Sod Off Branson

    In a rare moment of sanity, Katie Hopkins entirely rightly sums up the public’s attitude to the reprehensible attempt by job killer Sir Richard Branson to grab British taxpayer’s money

    Katie Hopkins doesn’t often get it right (in fact, she mostly gets it entirely wrong), but in calling out Sir Richard Branson she’s, for once, spot on.

     

    In a video that has gone viral on social media, Hopkins stated:

     

    “Just to interrupt the coronavirus crisis for one moment with a special announcement for Richard Branson. Richard Branson would like us, the furloughed British taxpayer, to bailout his airline, Virgin Atlantic.”

     

    “A few facts on Dick: Dick has $4.1 billion. Dick is one of the largest shareholders in Virgin Atlantic. Dick sued our NHS for compensation when he didn’t get the contract he thought he should have been awarded. Dick lives on a private island and bases his businesses offshore so that he pays zero tax into the UK economy. And Dick is actually a bit of a dickhead.”

     

    “So actually, Richard, we don’t want to bailout your airline. Don’t come to the British taxpayer for that. We have a simple message for you, no expense spared: We would quite like it if you could SOD OFF.”

     

    “Thank you, Richard. All the very best.”

     

    Miss Hopkins then predictably returned to her old-self and took to Twitter to rant about how she wants people to “stop clapping at the sky.” We sadly knew her being decent could never last.

     

    Pictured top: Birdbrain Katie Hopkins (left) and self-absorbed job killer Sir Richard Branson getting busy with an especially classy looking woman’s breasts (right).

     

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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr7UYnPrWss
  • A Corona Cut Church

    A Corona Cut Church

    Converted church in Knightsbridge has its asking price cut by £11 million during the coronavirus lockdown; its price is still 340% higher than it sold for in 2003

    In December, we featured the launch to the market of a £55 million property in Walton Street, Knightsbridge. Now, in the midst of London’s coronavirus lockdown, just three months later, that price has been cut by the staggering sum of £11 million.

     

    A Corona Cut Church – Knightsbridge church price cut by £11 million – Converted church in Knightsbridge has its asking price cut by £11 million during the coronavirus lockdown; its price is still 340% higher than it sold for in 2003 – St Saviour’s House, Walton Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA is for sale for £44 million down from £55 million through Knight Frank.
    Yours for £11 million less than in December 2019 – St Saviour’s House, Walton Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA.

    St Saviour’s House, as it is now known, forms one thirds of a church and its conversion to a 12,102 square foot house did not delight everyone. Of it, back in 2001, The Telegraph’s Anne Atkins went as far to say: “[It is a] ghastly temple to Mammon… It is so awful I hardly know where to begin… Not my idea of a cosy home… Hideous and tacky… I tried to imagine living with this… The monstrosity of it… Vile.”

     

    Knight Frank, who remain the selling agents, plainly still think otherwise and now market what they describe as an “extraordinary seven bedroom home” for £44 million. Referencing the pandemic directly, they add: “Owing to our commitment to keep both our colleagues and clients safe during this period of recommended isolation, we have many self-serve viewing options available to you. These include video walkthroughs, 360 virtual reality viewings and enhanced comprehensive photography.”

     

    To see more pictures of this most curious conversion, click here.

     

    The Numbers – St Saviour’s House, Walton Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA

     

    April 2020 – Reduced in price to £44 million ($54 million, €50 million or درهم198 million).

     

    December 2019 – For sale for £55 million ($73 million, €66 million or درهم269 million).

     

    April 2014 – Sold to a Saudi businessman for £41 million ($55 million, €49 million or درهم201 million).

     

    2009 – Sold to a Thai businessman for £13.5 million ($18 million, €16 million or درهم66 million). An additional £10 million ($13.3 million, €12 million or درهم49 million) was spent on redevelopment.

     

    2003 – Bought by lyricist Alain Boublil for £10 million ($13.3 million, €12 million or درهم49 million).

     

    1998 – Half the church and the church hall sold by the Diocese of London for about £1.2 million ($1.6 million, €1.4 million or درهم5.9 million) for conversion into two dwellings. The central portion of the building retained as a place of worship.

     

    1837 – Plot on which entirety of St Saviour’s Church now sits sold for £300 or the equivalent of £33,000 today ($44,000, €40,000 or درهم162,000 today) to the Metropolitan Church Fund.

     

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  • A Wyatt Wonder

    A Wyatt Wonder

    “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson

    Designed by Robert Adam’s rival James Wyatt in 1773 and “clothed in the Italiante manner” in 1859 to 1860, “grand and beautifully executed” Abbey Leix in County Laois is considered “one of Ireland’s most important country houses.”

     

    Placed for sale last June for £17.8 million ($22 million, €20 million or درهم81 million), the main house on the 1,120-acre estate, Abbey Leix House – also known as ‘Abbeyleix House’ and’ Abbeyleix Castle’) – is vast and includes 26,910 square foot of accommodation. Aside from 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, the classical building has amongst other things 3 major rooms on the park front, a deep hall, a music room with original Wyatt plasterwork, a library and a conservatory.

     

    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    Sir David Davies (born in Wales in 1940) at Abbey Leix.

    Renovated and remodeled since being sold to the Welsh born, twice divorced, father of five Sir David Davies in 1995 by its previous owners of the 250 years, the de Vesci family, Abbey Leix is described by agents Sotheby’s International Realty as a “21st century family home with an appropriate balance between comfort and informality on the one hand and grandeur for entertaining and the display of art on the other.”

     

    As well as Ireland’s oldest oak tree being within the grounds, the property also includes some of the “last surviving remnants of Ireland’s ancient woodland” and frontage to the River Nore. There is also a stud farm with 24 loose boxes, a separate farmyard with many outbuildings and 10 lodges and cottages on the estate. The present owner’s private airstrip was created because he wanted to be able to “fly from wherever in the UK straight into the estate.”

     

    Of why he is selling Abbey Leix, “superstar banker and businessman” Sir David – who has variously held senior posts at Chase Manhattan Bank, Hill Samuel, MEPC, Hardine Matheson, Hong Kong Land, Johnson Matthey and EFG Private Bank – told the Business Post:

     

    “I’m organising my whole estate for the benefit of my children… Although the children all love this place very much, none of them wanted to take it on… The typical refrain is ‘Dad, this is your project,’ and I’m lucky enough to have Killoughter House, the home of my childhood, to return to.”

     

    Though born in Wales, Sir David – whom was knighted “for his work as chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment” in 1999 – has maintained a home in Ireland throughout his adulthood. He “proudly” became an Irish citizen after Brexit and described “inept” Theresa May as “going from one catastrophe to that leads to the next catastrophe.” Of her successor, the opera loving son of a South Wales steel mill owner went further and recently remarked: “I have no time for Boris Johnson: he doesn’t do his homework, and can’t be trusted.”

     

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    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
    A Wyatt Wonder – £18 million for Sir David Davies’ The Abbey Leix Estate, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland through Sotheby’s International Realty – “Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
  • Sarah Winchester (née Pardee, 1839 – 1922)

    Sarah Winchester (née Pardee, 1839 – 1922)

    New Haven, Connecticut born Sarah Winchester became one of the wealthiest women in the world after the death of her Winchester Repeating Arms Company heir husband, William Wirt Winchester, in 1882. With a 50% holding in the rifle making manufacturer plus a legacy equivalent to £426 million ($529 million) in 2020, this true eccentric – whose only child died aged just one – took the advice of a medium and moved west to California.

     

    Here, in San Jose, this grief obsessed and beyond superstitious, American equivalent of Queen Victoria spent the remainder of her life constructing a mansion that she believed would appease the spirits of her relatives and those of the victims of Winchester weaponry. Known as ‘The Winchester Mystery House’ and built (but never completed) between 1884 and 1922 at a cost estimated at the equivalent of £57 million ($71 million) today. Starting from an 8 room farmhouse, the property grew to 24,000 square foot and eventually included 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 160 rooms, 52 skylights, 47 stairways (some leading absolutely nowhere), 17 chimneys (some that didn’t even reach the roof), 13 bathrooms, 6 kitchens and a séance room (that was once used by Harry Houdini).

     

    Described as being a “woman of independence, drive and courage,” Sarah Winchester died of heart failure in her sleep in September 1922 leaving a will written in 13 sections that was signed 13 times and a safe that contained a lock of her infant daughter’s hair. She was portrayed by Helen Mirren in the 2018 horror film Winchester.

     

    ‘The Winchester Mystery House’ was sold five months after its creator’s death and has been open to the public for tours since June 1923.

     

    Eccentric heiress Sarah Winchester (née Pardee, 1839 – 1922) – Widow of Winchester firearm magnate Sarah Winchester is best known for her eccentric mansion, The Winchester Mystery House, in San Jose, California.
    The vast Winchester Mystery House, 525 South Winchester Boulevard, San Jose, California, CA 95128, United States of America.
  • Riccardo’s Responds

    Riccardo’s Responds

    Riccardo’s restaurant in Chelsea leads the way in showing community mindedness during the coronavirus outbreak

    Across the land small businesses are doing their bit for their communities and a case in point in Chelsea comes in the form of Riccardo’s, the popular Tuscan style Italian restaurant on Fulham Road.

     

    Riccardo’s Responds – Riccardo’s in Chelsea helps during coronavirus – Riccardo’s Italian restaurant in Chelsea leads the way in showing community mindedness during the coronavirus outbreak. 126 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 6HU.

    Owner Riccardo Mariti, having had to close for seated lunch and dinner service, has most helpfully turned his premises into a deli and is offering a delivery service also. Not only is the restaurant selling standard items such as pizza and organic chicken from the Rhug Estate in North Wales, but they also offer lavatory roll at £2 per pack (limited to one per order), fresh milk, mixed fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and wine also. Food and other items can either be delivered or collected.

     

    Whilst many others are providing such, Riccardo’s is going one stage further and is also offering use of their maintenance crew to help with shopping and emergency repairs in the locality as well. Here, indeed, is a fine example of selflessness and here is a business that deserves to be saluted. If you’re nearby, here’s a far better solution than facing the queues at Sainsbury’s.

     

    Riccardo’s, 126 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 6HU. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7370 6656. To see what is available and order, click here.

     

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  • A Poirot Curve

    A Poirot Curve

    Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum

    Featured as the main article in Country Life just 15 days after the start of the Second World War on 16th September 1939, Hamstone House on the 946-acre St. George’s Hill estate in Weybridge, Surrey was constructed between 1937 and 1938 for Herman Peter Thygesen Lind (1890 – 1956), the founder of a firm that later constructed both Waterloo Bridge and the BT Tower in London.

     

    Now offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates, this Grade II listed “classical” house is described on British Listed Buildings as being “in Georgian tradition” and of “brown ham stone ashlar,” but has a look that is more akin to something out of Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels. In 1987, Christopher Warman of The Times, lauded it as “the most important architectural centrepiece of St George’s Hill” and “[looking] like the bridge of a huge ocean going liner.”

     

    Accessed via a Grade II listed double gatehouse, Hamstone House is curved in shape and was somewhat mockingly featured in Punch magazine as “[standing] out like the Duchess of Windsor’s flamingo brooch in a local jewellers window.” Its 8 acres of gardens and grounds were listed as “not [looking] out of place in the grandest of crematoria.”

     

    Refurbished most recently in 2006, the 23,546 square foot freehold property now includes amongst other things 5 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and an indoor swimming pool. The second floor is dominated by a large roof terrace accessed via an office, from where no doubt Mr Lind no doubt planned many a business manoeuvre as he looked out across what is listed as “rural grandeur.”

     

    Sold to a company connected to Oleg Deripaska, the somewhat controversial oligarch and associate of Peter (now Lord) Mandleson in 2001, Hamstone House was previously marketed for £5 million ($5.7 million, €5.4 million or درهم21.2 million) in 1987 according to Wikipedia.

     

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    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
  • A Tale of Two Lukes

    A Tale of Two Lukes

    Luke Johnson is wrong to urge consumers to embrace alcohol free spirits whilst Luke Jones was right to urge them to love martinis

    Under Luke Johnson’s reign Patisserie Valerie collapsed. He claimed the experience of masterminding the destruction of a business that employed 3,000 people “shattered [his] self-belief.” Oh diddums for the poor lamb.

     

    After not so modestly admitting he was “arrogant at times,” Johnson announced: “I still have a contribution to make” and in the last edition of The Sunday Times, he decided to patronizingly lecture the British public about the con that is alcohol free spirits.

     

    Lauding the Emperor’s New Clothes of the drinks sector – given that their manufacturers charge the same price for them as for their heavily taxed alcoholic counterparts (and thus make vastly more in profit) – Johnson claimed “entrepreneurs will quench that thirst” and should “embrace” appalling tasting products such as Seedlip.

     

    Frankly, another columnist for The Times named Luke made more sense the following day. In a one page feature, Luke Jones spoke of being “tired of hearing friends boasting of their abstinence” and shared his experiences of drinking martinis every day during January. We say an almighty cheers to that.

     

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  • Praise Be To Pret

    Praise Be To Pret

    Matthew Steeples salutes Pret for doing more than most to help homeless people get jobs and permanent accommodation; others and the government should follow suit

     

    Pret a Manger has come under a lot of flack lately – due to two customers dying having an allergic reaction to their products – but now, this in my view, wrongly maligned chain has again done something truly good.

     

    At a time when our rudderless government keep banging on about achieving the impossible – in telling a blatant lie in claiming they will end homelessness by 2027 – Pret’s charitable foundation is to invest a further £200,000 a year into a homeless hostel in Kennington, London on top of their already vast commitment to helping those living rough.

     

    Praise Be To Pret – Pret should be saluted for helping the homeless – Matthew Steeples salutes Pret for doing more than most to help homeless people get jobs and permanent accommodation; others and the government should follow suit
    The ‘Pret House’ in Kenington, London will accommodate 13 ‘Rising Stars’ working in nearby Pret stores initially. The firm plans to expand this to 26 bedrooms if the scheme proves successful.

     

    Aside from continuing to give over 3 million meals a year to homeless people across the year every year, the Pret Foundation will now also provide further jobs and training through their ever expanding ‘Rising Stars’ and ‘Shooting Stars’ programmes. Presently the firm takes on at least 40 homeless people as employees each year and over the last ten years has hired a total of 450 individuals as a result of such.

     

    Of the scheme, Clive Schlee, chief executive of Pret, a firm with 450 outlets and group sales of around £800 million per year, remarked:

     

    “Everyone in London can see that homelessness is becoming more of a problem. In an ideal world there would be no homelessness but we are doing something because others are not doing something about it.”

     

    Other businesses – most especially those in the hospitality sector – should follow suit in providing food and accommodation for the homeless. Theresa May and her uncaring government, meanwhile, should be wholly ashamed of themselves for offering nothing but platitudes. They should man up and do a hell of a lot more to end a situation which is resulting in over 600 people dying on our streets each year.

     

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  • Philly G. Fails

    Philly G. Fails

    Bully and braggart Sir Philip Green ditches his libel action against ‘The Telegraph’ and is deservedly met with a bill of £3 million in costs alone

     

    Described as “Shylock meets Al Capone” in this publication by the actor Steven Berkoff, the now increasingly potless and rudderless Sir Philip Green has well and truly hit the buffers this morning.

     

    Fat bruiser ‘Philly G’ tried to destroy The Telegraph in a bid to protect himself against their investigation into allegations of racial and sexual abuse against him. This brash, one-time “modern day monarch” – whose pig-like daughter has recently got herself pregnant by a violent felon – can now by heard in taped conversations with the paper’s Daniel Foggo. They reveal a foul-mouthed egoist with an incapability to respond rationally.

     

    A businessman described once as “having the Midas touch,” Sir Philip – whose primary aim in all of this seems to be to protect his Lady Docker-like title obsessed wife, ‘Lady Tina’ – has finally met his match. We imagine he’ll today be wishing copies of The Telegraph be yesterday’s chip papers.

     

    Some of the remarks made by Sir Philip Green in phone conversations with The Telegraph’s Daniel Foggo

     

    “Let’s be intelligent.”

     

    “If you damage the business, these people will need a new job… And your paper will end up bankrupt.”

     

    “You’re not going [to publish] tomorrow… Do you want me to go and seek an injunction? I’ve got one against the government, I’ll get one against you.”

     

    “Tell your editor to get smart… We’re not running away… So we don’t have to have a punch up… Get smart.”

     

    Pictured above: Sir Philip Green looking disheveled and sweaty and with the then wife of his friend Richard Caring in better times. What a difference a few years make.

     

     

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