Lifestyle

At this point in the year girls, it’s the perfect time to make the house festive, dress up and add a bit of sparkle and glitz to our lives. Queen of how to achieve this comes from none other than Lauren Conrad, star of hit tv series The Hills (remember Spedi?). Lauren Conrad’s new website thebeautydepartment.com is to die for and her other site laurenconrad.com not only features her own fashion range but also offers stylish tips on decorating, dining and etiquette.

Following her time on The Hills, LC founded the lifestyle company, Lauren Conrad Inc., and while doing so kept a column of her entrepreneurial experiences for Forbes.com. Openly admitting that she’s made mistakes along the way by having “taken chances, broken rules and cut corners” she has also learnt from these slipups. Her key advice is to “do something you love, surround yourself with people you trust, learn from your mistakes, work hard and don’t let other people’s opinions of you become your limitations’ .

A beautydepartment.com style tip: Bejewel yourself

1. Create an off-centre part and braid one side back… loose waves with hoop earrings create a modern boho vibe
2. Braid your hair back off your face and add a pair of small studs or stone earrings (they can become overwhelmed by too much hair, so best keep it simple). Wear a lipstick that will make the colour of the stone pop.

Our fav LC recipe: Pilgrim Punch

1. Combine 250 ml apple juice with 250ml of sugar-free cranberry juice
2. Pour in 65 ml of your favourite vodka with 185ml of ginger ale and stir
3. Serve chilled and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
4. Enjoy! x

http://www.thebeautydepartment.com/

http://www.laurenconrad.com/

Ebay Pop-up

Ebay has announced that it plans to create a physical pop up store in London's west end. Experimental in nature, there wil be no tills. Shoppers will use their Smartphone’s to scan a code which directs the phone to the online ebay payment section, driving traffic to the website. The store is set to open for five days from the 1st of December stocking the website's 200 best shops. According to the guardian Ebay are taking advantage of the growing popularity of smartphones. They estimate that around 25% of adults and 47% of teenagers use their smartphones to sense test prices and stockists while shopping.

Breakfast skippers wear bigger knickers

We think nothing can beat a good warm healthy breakfast with a steamy cup of coffee on a dark winters morning! That’s why we HAD to introduce Moma!

If you’re like us, mornings are a hazy uncomfortable blur. Up-showered-dressed and out in fifteen minutes, maybe grabbing a Pret croissant on the way in. But the crew at MOMA is on “a mission to revolutionise breakfast on the go”. The team of 30 offer oat based breakfasts for city workers on the run (neat!). Jumbo Oats are at the core of their products as they’re rich in fibre, low in GI and release energy slowly, plus, turned into a yoghurt, porridge or smoothie they taste great! They’re served up by the Moma girls; “sparky young fireworks” who understand that getting from “bed-head to business-brain can be a challenge” at that hour. With big smiles, they can be found at stalls around the centre of London selling breakfast to busy commuters.

Moma was started by Tom Mercer, a young management consultant at Bain & Co. Seeing that management consultancy wasn’t going to be a lifelong career choice and knowing he always wanted to run his own business Tom pounced on the idea to create a city-workers go-to breakfast stall. He tested his idea at Waterloo station using 200 emptied Tesco water bottles having (devotedly) stuck on new labels. With market research in motion Tom left Bain and spent months developing the idea. In their first year they turned over £250,000. By summer 2008 he had 9 stalls, a “beefed” up management team and by 2009 Tom secured contracts with Waitrose, Ocado and Virgin Atlantic flights. At the end of the year he re-branded to help his products better stand out and communicate his mission. Since launching the funky new Moma brand in 2010, the company have seen sales increase by over 100%!

So, fear not, next time you find yourself cold, miserable and half asleep at the station wanting someone to hold you and tell you everything is going to be alright, Moma stalls are at hand to help you get up and go. http://www.momafoods.co.uk/about/video

Britain's favorite nosh

As the days get shorter, the autumn leaves fall, the Xmas party hangovers kick in and snuggling under the sofa with a bottle of wine + epic film becomes more appealing, we thought we’d share Britain’s favourite foods. After all its winter and there is nothing better than some hearty comfort food to keep those winter chills at bay.

Here’s what the Britt’s favorite homely brands were in 2010 (according to nielson)

10. Robinson Fruit Shoot, 2010 revenues £314.8m

9. Andrex, 2010 revenues £353.7m

8 Lucozade, 2010 revenues £370.1m

7. Nescafe gold, 2010 revenues £384.9m

6. Kingsmill, 2010 revenues £389.9m

5 Cadbury Dairy Milk, 2010 revenues £418.3m

4 Hovis, 2010 revenues £426.1m

3 Walkers, 2010 revenues £590.9m

2 Warburtons, 2010 revenues £752.4m

1. Coca cola, 2010 revenues £1.09bn

Holidays are coming.

Have you seen the Coca Cola advert yet? We have! So, technically can we say Xmas has started, even if it is still November?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX7YJ56K-NI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Coca Cola’s Christmas adverts are legendry and their impact has actually shaped much of our perception of what Christmas should ‘look like’. Father Christmas we know traditionally as being big fat and with a red suit, but it was Coca Cola who spread that image of him. Coca Cola started their Christmas advertising in the 1920s and before the red Santa, who was produced in 1931, Santa ranged from big, small, skinny fat – even elf like at times!

Coca Cola sales rose to almost £1.1bn in the UK last year, and is not only the Brits’ most loved brand (according to Nielson), it is the number one brand worldwide (according to Interbrand). It was first produced by a Mr John Pemberton in Jacob’s Pharmacy, Atlanta in 1886. It sold for a mere 5 cents a glass! In 1988 John Pemberton died never realising the full potential of his drink. It was an Atlanta businessman, Asa Griggs Candler, who bought the rights to the business for $2300 and by 1895 was distributing it nationwide with syrup plants in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. Coca Cola could only be served from soda fountains and despite the fountains’ success, two lawyers, Benjamin F Thomas and Joseph B Whitehead, secured exclusive rights off Candler to bottle the beverage. In 1912 Coca Cola opened its first bottling plant in Asia, in 1919 it expanded to Europe. The contour bottle was created in 1916 as a way to authenticate and distinguish itself from competitors, and it remains its signature bottle today. The six pack arrived in 1923 and over the next 70 years the company expanded its portfolio (Fanta in the 50’s, Sprite in 1961 and more recently Minute Maid) to 500 brands and 3,000 beverages!

This one's for the boys...

Thinking about plans for the weekend? What better a way to see London town's christmas lights than on the back of a bright red Vespa. We're thinking pair of aviators, leather jacket and chunky wall knit scarf plus a hot totty to go. Zip around London’s coolest sites, stop for a spot of shopping at Selfridges, grab some brunch in Exmouth market or take a ride out to a country pub for a hearty Sunday roast. We love the Vespa!

In 1943 Enrico Piaggio had the phenomenal idea of building a product which could provide a mass low cost transport solution to Rome’s busy streets. After two years of building, testing and branding the Vespa was born. Unlike motorbikes the Vespa was unique in design and style with an engine placed on the rear wheel, a totally original concept. The first 50 were built in a small factory in Pontedera, April 1946 and shortly afterwards, Enrico presented the iconic scooter for the first time to the general public in a Roman Golf Club. The Vespa was an immediate success, gaining intense media interest and sparking public curiosity.

As a timeless and iconic classic the Vespa denotes the image of young couples zipping through cosmopolitan streets, but things haven’t always been so picture pefect for the company. During the 1990s the company went through several management changes, had pushed through more cash than they could afford on different plans and products, and still retained its original outdated factory in Pontedera. Faced with mounting costs, disgruntled staff, burdened with debt and a string of failed joint ventures, the firm, by 2003, was close to bankruptcy.

But then came along Roberto Colannino. “Roberto who?” we hear you ask. Roberto Coliannino, an Italian business man, saw that the strength of the Vespa brand was still strong and could be played upon. He consequently invested 100 million Euros for a controlling stake of the company. Under his direction tthe factory was quickly updated and modelled on the slick Japanese assembly lines. All bonuses for blue collar workers and management were based upon the same criteria. Air conditioning was installed throughout the firm. Not a single worker was or would be fired and he gave the company’s de-motivated engineers (they’d been sitting twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do due to bad the balance sheet in recent years) sharp deadlines. Roberto breathed life back into the fading Italian company.

The company having returned to growth have now strategically entered Asia in the hope of offsetting sluggish growth in the European markets. Despite high barriers to entry (China’s motorcycle industry for example is heavily dominated by global incumbents and accounts for more than 40% of motorcycles and scooters sold worldwide [WSJ]), Vespa has seen sales rise in the region. In order to appeal to the different regions in Asia Vespa has been adapting its model. In 2010 the scooter was redesigned in India for Indian women who typically ride side saddle to accommodate their floor length saries. We think that’s Neat!

The very first Vespa... 1946

- Engine: single cylinder two stroke. Horizontal cylinder head with cast iron bearing alloy

- Bore: 50mm

- Stroke: 50m

- Capacity: 98cc

- Maximum speed: 60 km / h

- Suspension: spring, spring steel spiral for the front wheel with rubber pads for the rear wheel and Engine

- Brakes: Drum

- Tyres: 3.50-8''

Chocolate

Who doesn't love good chocolate?...

Rocco Chocolates: Founded in 1983 by Chantal Coady, a graduate in textile design with an MSc in Small Business. Driven by a passion for chocolate she opened a small shop on Chelsea's Kings Road crafting handmade chocolates beautifully packaged. 26 years on from opening her doors Chantal has embarked on a joint venture with the Grenada Chocolate Co. (purchasing a small cocoa farm in 2007), set up the Chocolate Soicety, campaigned for change among Britain's big industrial manufacturers, has three stores, written 3 books and distributes her chocolate in John Lewis and Waitrose. Rocco and the Grenada Chocolate Co. have been breaking the mould on Fairtrade chocolate; the GCC is a small co-operative with over 150 acres of land and perform every aspect of the chocolate making process. According to Coady, Fairtrade companies still process the product "in the first world with raw material that they import from the equatorial belt where Cocoa grows. In that way even the fairtrade system perpetuates a cycle" that the Grenada Chocolate Co. try to avoid by making sure everyone on the Cocoa farm and in GCC is involved in the whole process. Cocoa is grown totally organically and processed on machines from the 1990's which, believe it or not, are solar powered (!).

Our favourite chocolates? It has to be the Rocco Drinking Chocolate, to die for.

A strategic re-think; Mydeco.com

Mydeco has announced a strategic re-think so that it will now be possible to buy products directly from the site. Until now Mydeco has acted more like a search engine for interiors, helping customers search for products from more than 1,500 furniture retailers. Because the business model ensures that the final transaction is completed on another site, Mydeco only receive a small fee in return and, “unable to exploit this marketing potential”, need to pay for its own advertising and search engine optimisation according to The Times. It’s essentially a search engine in a search engine and profit margins have been slim. With a £2million investment from eVenture Capital Partners, the firm will feature more than 7,000 products to buy from around 40 retailers and 50 designers in a similar vein to notonthehighstreet.com. However partners include fashionable interior firms such as Sleep Room, Bodie& Fou, and India Jane.

Founder: Brent Hoberman (founder of lastminute.com)
Founded: 2007
Investor backing: £10 million since 2007
Based: Notting Hill, London
Cool thing about mydeco: They have a 3D ‘build you own room’ app on their site, so you can see what a product looks like in your ‘virtual’ room

Rear of the Year

OK girls, we’re really excited and we know that a lot of you will be too…. Sarah Burton (yes THE Sarah Burton) has designed a replica of the knock out dress that turned Pippa Middleton into a celebrity icon. And (wait for it)… The dress is available to buy on Netaporter today. The garment is almost identical with a few minor changes such as a hidden zip running down the back and a sleeker finish to the neck line and sleeves. However the price tag, although a little less than the original price (rumoured to be around £20,000 according to the Telegraph) is a mere £1,995. So if you’ve got the cash and the dash, hurry – the smallest size has already sold out.

http://www.net-a-porter.com/Shop/Designers/Alexander_McQueen/Clothing

Just an extra fact on Pip’s rear of the year: since Pippa graced the world with her good looks, retailers in the UK have been seeing sales increase for supportive underwear according to the Daily Mail and the Huffington Post. Debenham’s Invisible Shaping Bum Boosters, retailing at £18.50 a pair, outsold their non-padded pants by 148 per cent earlier this month! Although there is no clear proof this is stemming totally from the power of Pip, retailers are suggesting that this is most likely the case.

Tory Burch

With a retail experience to die for and an array of clothing and accessories that you can mix and match to create millions of ultimate stylish combo's, Tory Burch is a hot sensation in the world of fashion! She's just opened her first UK store and it’s going down a treat... Tory's style is unique, yet it’s still bang on trend and every young working lady in London town covets those TB shoes. Dress her outfits up, dress them down, wear them to work or snazz them up for the evening... Tory has it sussed.

The brand represents attainable, luxury lifestyle for women of all ages with “an eclectic sensibility embodying the personal style of its CEO, Tory Burch”. It was founded by Tory with her former husband in downtown NY during 2004. In 2008, she beat Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors for the Council of Fashion Designers of America, as accessories designer of the year. By 2009 the Tory Burch Foundation had launched and in 2010 TB entered Europe opening boutiques in Rome and London. Now with 61 boutiques (44 in the U.S), Burch employs around 1000 employees, 14 designers, two of which have been with her since the beginning and a solid website editorial team. Revenues are expected to top $500 million this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. In June Tory Burch won a lawsuit against 232 websites selling counterfeit Tory Burch accessories - the company was awarded $164 million in damages, the largest sum thought to have ever been issued to a fashion company, according to Women's Wear Daily.

Tory graduated with a degree in art history before working in public relations and advertising. She's not a designer, "she's a brander, stylist and clotheshorse" - which is perhaps what makes the TB brand so engaging... it's not just about the clothes.

The Ultimate Tory Burch Must Haves:

The Reeva shoe (named after her mother)

A TB Tunic (Tory is known for her tunic’s. Whether it’s spring, summer, autumn or winter there’ll be a tunic somewhere in the collection – A/W 2012 see’s the embellished tunic, a warm knit perfect for the day and the evening)

http://www.toryburch.com/

Cocktail hour

It’s Friday! And what better way to celebrate the arrival of the weekend than with a cocktail!

The Singapore Sling is undoubtedly one of the world’s most popular and famous cocktails! And who would think that such a small (but delicious) glass of liquid could be one of Singapore Raffle’s key products? The drink was made sometime before 1915 by Ngiam Tang Boon, a bartender at The Long Bar in Raffle’s hotel. The recipe has evolved significantly since then; we know it now as a bright vibrant red tropical drink, which arguably it wouldn’t have been. It was, as the name suggests, a sling. Aside from some gin, lemon, lime juice and soda, the only additional ingredient would have been some cherry brandy or even some cointreau according to Imbibe magazine.

The Ultimate Singapore Sling Recipe (as done in Raffles!)

50ml gin

15ml cherry brandy

120ml pineapple juice

15ml lime juice

7.5ml cointreau

7.5ml Dom Benedictine

10ml grenadine

Dash of Augustura Bitters

Eww, ooo, or... what?

Eww, ooo, or... what? Ah, we know. We'll go buy a monochrome jumper from Bennetton. Casual.

Bennetton claim that "the kiss" is "the universal symbol of love" and that their latest campaign, featuring political and religous leaders kissing will publicise "the notion of tolerance", improve their brand status and translate into better sales. However, within 24 hours of unveiling their new mantra, they have roused controversy across the globe and are being sued by the catholic church for showing "a grave lack of respect".

The "Unhate" campaign is part of a three step plan to relaunch Bennetton's brand, product and stores. The company is focussing on its core collection of knitwear and staple colors, while also tightening its relationship with franchises to better control brand image. As part of the re-launch they've created a kiss wall, so all of you out there can share pictures of you pashing - excited?

Founded: 1965

Revenues: Euros 2.5 billion

Known for: Riding its multiracial "United Colours of Benetton" ad campaign to fame 25 years ago. Controversial topics such as AIDS and Gulf War Casualties... ...Oh, and clothes - lots of jumpers

Previous Campaigns: A nun kissing a priest, parents grieving over a man dying of Aids

Where the campaign will feature: It’s their new GLOBAL communication campaign

How much they're blowing on it: Less than 10 million Euros

What they hope to achieve? Improve brand image and generate lots of PR in order to win back ground lost to competitors such as Zara and H&M (who've been successful... take a leaf out their books Bennetton, otherwise, please, do us a favour, go re-strucutre and focus on what you really want to do... be another GreenPeace)

Mom and Pop to pick up the pieces?

The THIRD largest economy in the Euro zone is crumbling around us... we think that’s nuts! It's the home to some of the world's biggest brands! Prada, Gucci, Versace, Valentino... It's also responsible for some of the worlds most impressive buildings (e.v.e.r). The Collisium, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Rialto Bridge... The Italians even coined the concept of money (like our pun?).

But in the past decade Italy’s economy has grown only 3%. Lots of factors play a part in this... the“rickety education system” and “low unemployment amongst women, youths and older workers” for instance, but central to it is that the private sector is made up of small mom and pop stores whose policies have been to self sustain and not to grow.

Mario and Luigi characteristically run self-sustaining businesses, they’ve tended to work late into life within small networks of trusted customers and suppliers rather than expand outside these areas. The WSL suggests that this is because Italy is plagued with red tape leaving little room to innovate, research and develop. So, when the financial system goes belly up there’s nothing to fall back.

According to the WSJ firms with less than 20 workers make up roughly the following of the national workforce....

60% Italy
60% Greece

50% Spain

50% Portugal

20% US

20% Germany

WSJ...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203611404577041843336351290.html?mod=WSJ_MarketingAndStrategy_leftHeadlines

Shade Parade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BteXbY44a7U

It's getting towards that time of year...Xmas party time, and for those of you girls out there, nothing can add that extra touch to an outfit than a set of well painted nails!
Chanel have bought the west end to their fashion house with their uber classy Shade Parade. Launched in September, Shade Parade displays the company's new nail varnish shades in a West End spirit. It's the first nail polish video ad campaign for Chanel and has proved an effective way to tap into the online sphere having huge popularity on the internet. It's stacked up over 90 thousand views on YouTube alone.
According to beauty blogger and journalist Kate Sharpland, the nail varnish industry truly kicked off with channel's innovative Rouge Noir, "a polish the colour of dried blood". It went on sale in 1994 and the "press went wild", especially when Uma Therman sported it in Pulp Fiction. Rouge Noir apparently also invented the concept of limited edition, a marketers golden tool that provokes a sense of desire through exlcusivity

Winter's moving in...

Winter’s moving in and us girls will pledge not to let our faces get dry or our lips chapped, but before any of us know it life has got in the way, the central heating is up full crank (and with good reason... it’s cold outside), and our lips are cracked with our skin grey and dried out. Thankfully there are some fantastic remedies out there to help us keep on track this year.... Two of our favs are...

Liz Earle was founded in 1995 by Liz and her close friend Kim Buckland. They’d met in the 80’s while working at Molton Brown. The ladies’ company has risen to success on the back of its natural philosophy that good skincare in about the ingredients in the jar. Originally launched on QVC the firm now has three stores and outlets in John Lewis employing more than 400 people. Their most successful product by far is the cleanse and polish hot cloth which sells every 30 seconds worldwide. Liz has recently launched a sheer skin tint, a barely there tinted moisturiser with SPF 15, shifting from skincare towards the unchartered waters of cosmetics – we hope it’s the first of many new products to come!
Interesting fact: Liz lives in the UK countryside and since founding Liz Earle has become an organic farmer as well!

No.7 Protect and Perfect Serum has been one the decades beauty success stories and a must have for a winter skin routine! Protect and Perfect has helped drive Boots' success in recent years and was accountable for pushing them through the recession according the Telegraph. The product showed beneficial results following the first reliable clinical trial on a cream available on the highstreet. It is found to encourage the production of Fibrillin-1 which makes skin more elastic (and therefore helps reduce winkles!). Following a BBC horizon documentary on the range, sales rockets 2,000%. An indpendent study by the University of Manchester found the No.7 cream was just as effective at reducing sun damage as creams available by prescription.

Kitchen cupboard remedies...

Facial Mask
1 tbsp of honey
1 tsp of olive oil or coconut oil
Apply over your face and leave for 10 mins

Lip Scrub
1 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of coconut oil (it tastes yum)
Mix this up and scrub it over your lips to exfoliate dry skin, keep on going with this routine daily until your lips are restored

Body Scrub
5 tbsp of salt
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp of olive oil
Lauren Conrad’s kitchen cupboard scrub, and we think it works wonders! (http://www.thebeautydepartment.com/)

Groupon – is the hype worth it?

According to Forrester Research, a full 51% of deal buyers surveyed in a new report would have bought at those merchants without the deal. So daily deal sites, like Groupon and Living social, aren’t necessarily driving incremental revenue. It’s most apparent for restaurants and clothing stores.

Groupon’s IPO last week stood at $28.0 per share, putting it at a capitalization of around $17 billion. Groupon has been possibly one of the most talked companies of the year and not without reason – it’s been one of the fastest growing companies. But on the back of Forrester’s research is it worth it?

Frapuccino, Skinny Latte and a smoothie to go - ooo we're excited... Starbucks heads healthy

Starbucks plans to open a new chain of shops that will sell smoothies! We're pretty excited if this means we can pick up coffee AND a healthy smoothie for breakfast first thing!

The coffee super firm has bought Evolution Fresh, an upmarket American fruit juice brand, for $30 million (in cash). Evolution Fresh is available in supermarkets on the West Coast of the US. Starbucks however hope to use Evolution to create another retail chain that "will define the super-premium juice category and experience" in the same way it did to coffee houses. Planning to "draft off the success of the Starbucks brand" CEO Howard Schultz said that the store will be a "mirror image" of Starbucks Cafes. Starbuck's shares have risen 35% this year and stood at $43.52 during close of play in NY on Thursday.

A little bit about Starbucks...

Name: Starbucks, after the first mate in Moby Dick. Their logo, a twin tailed siren

Founded: 1971

Chairman: Howard Schultz (who first walked into the shop into the shop in 1981)

Revenues: $11.9 billion in 2011

Shares: Went public 1992 at $17 per share. Close play in NY Thursday $43 per share

Number of Stores: 17,009 (Jan 2011) of which 8,870 company owned and 8,139 licensed

Number of Countries invaded: 50+

Tough Times: 2008-2009 Starbucks faced difficult times shutting hundred of its cafes as sales and profits declined due to overbuilding and a consumer led recession. Howard Schultz has written a book all about it....

On the Menu: 7 Starbucks branded bottled drinks, 10 types of tea, 4 types of hot chocolate, 25 types of coffee, 12 Frappucinos, food and merchandize (lots of it!)

Most unhealthy product: A venti Eggnog Latte at 579 calories!

Healthiest product: A short filter coffee at 2.6 calories!

Superdry

Edgy, urban and cool Superdry is soon to launch a flagship store on Regents Street which they hope will lend their brand a fresh lease of life. They aim to use Regent Street to showcase its upmarket products and act as a game changer for the brand allowing it to move into new exciting product areas.

Health Kick

LBD season is about to kick off! So what better an opportunity to pick some of the UKs coolest, healthiest and fun food businesses to get that show stopping svelt figure.

Innocent Smoothies
Everyone knows the story and everyone loves the drinks! Innocent not only revolutionised the soft drinks market, they also revolutionised office culture with their HQ Fruit Towers. Natural ingredients, fun branding and a pledge printed on all of its bottles to donate 10% of profits to charity.

Rude Health
A small company with big dreams to change the nation’s eating habits and revolutionise farming while sustaining the planet with eco friendly packaging and GM free food. Rude Health make a range of muesli, porridge, granola, cereals and healthy snacks packed with soft sultana, apricots, dates and raisins. With all these flavours in the mix they’re lucky enough to be able to add ‘no added sugar or salt’ to their packaging. Therefore, with no additives or flavourings, they source the very best ingredients; Rice puffs for instance are sourced from a small scale producer in Italy’s Pro Valley. The small company has grown fast and products are already sold in Waitrose, Tesco, Co-operative, Sainsburys, local delis and farm shops. They’re expanding internationally so look out for them!

Yeo Valley
A family run business led by Tim Mead, said to be entrepreneurial, passionate and value driven. The first company to start producing organic yoghurt on a large scale. Based around a co-operative of farmers and focussed on sustainable development. In 2009 turnover was £190m taking up 60% of the organic diary market, staff stood at 1,125 and the organic/non organic split was 40/60.

Able & Cole
Deliver ultimate seasonal vegetable boxes based on a network of organic farmers and strong principles advocating organic sustainable farming. Founded in 1988 by Keith Able who started flogging potatoes to Londoner’s doors. In 1989, Bernaud Gavier, an organic farmer, approached him with produce and the idea of organic was born into Able and Cole. With an expected turnover of £36 million in 2011 Able and Cole are in robust health but its history is one of grit and willpower. In 1999 the company was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2007 it was sold to private equity firm Phoenix for £40m. An aggressive growth expansion plan by Phoenix struck difficult times during the credit crunch facing furgal customers, swollen staff numbers and high fixed costs. Phoenix had used borrowed money to buy the firm, by 2009 it was debt ridden. In 2010 Able, who'd retired in 2007, was asked back as CEO and under his direction returned the firm to health. Taking the business back to basics, concentrating on core products, and getting rid of layers of administration, Able& Cole is now forecasting a £3.6 million profit for 2011.

Gu Pudding
Never mind the fat content, the mental benefits far out weight the negatives on a cold winters evening. James Averdick came up with the idea in the early 2000s. Gu innovated the concept of a posh pudding that is just as much of a brand as a product. Waitrose and Sainsbury’s were quickly convinced by Averdick’s idea to sell branded chocolate patisserie products through the supermarket and their cash rich time short customers were too. With a rare trio of quality, strong product development skills and distinctive packaging Gu saw stratospheric growth, going from a start-up to a £50m international business in just seven years.

Able & Cole’s Bramley Apples

Bramley Apples (also known as cooking apples) are delicious with dried fruit, nuts and a bit of chocolate and spice. Here’s their favourite stuffing mix, but they say experiment with what you have…

4 Bramley apples
6 dates stoned and chopped
20g of dark chocolate finely chopped
4-6 tsp almonds, toasted and finely chopped
Pinch of ground cinnamon
2 tbsp of brandy or orange juice
Cream or vanilla (or butterscotch!) yogurt, to serve

Preheat oven to 200 degrees
Core the apple. Make a shallow cut (no deeper than 1cm) around the middle of the apple – this lets it expand without exploding.
Mix the remaining ingredients.. In a roasting dish, pack the mix into the cores of the apples – be generous!
Bake for about 40 mins, till the apples are tender and plump. Check halfway through cooking as smaller apples will cook faster. Serve with yogurt or cream.

Italy - Too big to fail and too big to save?

"Here’s how it was supposed to go: Greece first. Then, perhaps, Portugal and Ireland. If things got really bad, Spain. If the world -- or, more precisely, the euro -- was coming to an end, Italy... No one was prepared for that..."

Ezra Klein's article in the Washington Post is hardly inspiring sunny stuff, but it does get you thinking....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein

House Trip

This very cool website is perfect for those travelling from city to city and bored of the same old hotel room!

House Trip is Europe's largest booking website for holiday apartments in the coolest cities around the globe. The concept is to allow you to book your own apartment for a few nights - at rates competitive to hotel rooms. It's growing like crazy.

House trip was founded by Arnaud Bertrand and Junjun Chen while at University. The business idea came when trying to book a rental for a weekend in Scotland, the pair found the process too complicated and as a result of a shared mutual passion for staying in unique short-term apartments while travelling, the founders decided to dedicate themselves to making staying in urban pads easier, simpler and cooler.

The website was launched in 2010 with CV funding which provided many upsides. It allowed for large investment with the possibility for further rounds if things went well. Arnaud also found that having VCs around also brought credibility which made hiring the right team easier.


House Trip is simple to use. A guest can choose from a variety of city slick apartments and pay by the night. There is even the option to rent a 'private room' - like a spin on a B&B. The price per night is set by the owner, with 14%-20% on top which goes directly to Housetrip.Their culture can be summarised in a few values; A FEAST - Ambitious, Focussed, Experimental, Authentic, Simple, Team Spirit. House Trip is a typical start-up, so working there isn't for everyone; you need to expect lots of empowerment, responsibility and be happy to work in an uncertain, short notice environment. There are 3 London offices, and like that of the cities that they're in, the culture is unique. As an entrepreneur though Arnaud has found London to be the most sympathetic to a young start-up and therefore getting a company up and off the ground in the city has been easier than elsewhere.

So, if you fancy a long weekend in trendy, cosmopolitan New York, picking up some clogs in Amsterdam, seeing the bright lights of Barcelona, or a romantic trip to chic, stylish Paris but want to avoid the deadpan hotel room... then check out HouseTrip.com



http://www.housetrip.com/?locale=en