SIR RICHARD BRANSON reaches for the skies - Mayfair Times

SIR RICHARD BRANSON
reaches for the skies
KARL JENKINS
hits the right note
SACHA NEWLEY
on his absent father, Anthony
£3
July 08

Contents
32
40
Mayfair Times
now in its 22nd year
www.mayfairtimes.co.uk
22
22 Family values
Father issues and celebrity
upbringing play an important
part in Sacha Newley’s art
24 High flyer
Sir Richard Branson’s dream of
putting tourists in space is
moving closer to the launchpad
6 News
Bond author follows suit,
McGregor’s design triumph,
bangle to beat hunger
13 Events
Open house at Buckingham
Palace, dancing in the park, an
evening of luxury cars and food
17 Theatre
A tri-media celebration of Brief
Encounter returns to the cinema
where the film premiered 63 years
ago
21 Art
First retrospective of artist of
‘poetic silence’, return of Master
Drawings
29 Food & drink
Designer’s thirst for new venture,
facelift for ICA café
26 Classical Karl
Britain’s best-known classical
composer refuses to be boxed in
by categories
32 Flying colours
London is the perfect place for
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac’s
wild palette of designs
Cover
Interview with Sir Richard Branson.
See page 24
34 Fashion
Best on the beach,
high-stepping footwear
37 Health & beauty
Henry Goldenberg’s web health
business is booming
40 Business
A shaky economy is not scaring off
the hedge fund managers
43 Business
St James’s Place chairman Mike
Wilson relishes the thought of a
tough year
47 Property
Super-prime holds its own as a
tangible asset
66 Meanderings
Erik Brown drops the detox for
cocktails and parties for the PAs
29
26
Editor Selma Day
T 020 7259 1052
E selma@pubbiz.com
Art Sophie Bishop
Business Erik Brown
Events Lucy Brown
Fashion, Food & drink,
Health & beauty Selma Day
Property, Theatre Nuala Calvi
Sub-editor Steve Langley
Designer Andy Lowe
Publisher & editorial director Erik Brown
T 020 7259 1053
E erik.brown@pubbiz.com
Publishing director Adrian Day
Advertisement director
Sam Bradshaw T 020 7259 1051
Advertisement manager
Katie Thomas T 020 7259 1059
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© Publishing Business Ltd 2008
Mayfair Times is produced by Publishing
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5

6
news
Debut for
designer wine
A month
in Mayfair
A wish
come true
OXFORD STREET came to a
standstill as Paris Hilton arrived
at Selfridges to launch her new
scent, Can-Can. Her parents
Rick and Kathy Hilton –
owners of the hotel chain –
were at the department store
to support their daughter’s
latest venture.
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RALPH LAUREN threw a party
to celebrate Koto Bolofo’s
book of photographs of
Wimbledon champion Venus
Williams (pictured at the
launch). The book is available
exclusively at the Bond Street
store.
Chanel
crossing
WESTMINSTER CITY Council
honoured the life of Corsican
general Pasquale Paoli – one
of the 18th century’s greatest
freedom fighters – by unveiling
a green plaque at 77 South
Audley Street where he lived
between 1778 and 1784 while
in exile in London.
Dressed for
success
MORE THAN 100,000 people
flocked to Regent Street to
watch the new Guinness
World Record attempt for the
largest Sevillanas dance,
performed by 456 dancers.
The event was part of the
annual Taste of Spain festival.
Design high
on the hog
TO MARK the 50th anniversary
of Triumph’s iconic Bonneville
bike, the company has joined
forces with Hollywood star Ewan
McGregor and Belstaff, designer
of high-end motorcycling
fashion, to launch two one-off
designs.
McGregor’s design
incorporates a copper-plated
tank, with black, waxed cotton
by Belstaff on the seat and side
panel and is inspired by one of
his own vintage bikes as well as
his love of the legendary
motorcycle enthusiast (and
Triumph rider) Steve McQueen.
The Belstaff design, which
features a black and gold colour
scheme, is on display at the
company’s Conduit Street store.
Royal at the
Institution
celebrate the arrival at Dover
SEBASTIAN FAULKS attended a
Street Market of pieces from
party at Gieves & Hawkes,
its Metiers d’Arts Paris-
where 007 creator Ian Fleming
THE QUEEN officially unveiled
Londres Collection. Fashion
had his suits made, to celebrate
the new Royal Institution of
designer Henry Holland is
the launch of the new James
Great Britain in Albemarle Street,
pictured with Amanda
Bond novel Devil May Care.
following a £22 million, two and
ROBERTO CAVALLI and his son
Harlech (centre) and model
Dressed in a Gieves &
a half-year upgrade.
Tommaso hosted a spectacular
Agyness Deyn. The Chanel
Hawkes wool/cashmere worsted
Sir David Attenborough put
dinner at 17 Berkeley Street to
boutique is the first of a
suit, Faulks gave a brief talk
his animal language knowhow
launch Cavalli Selection – the first
series of collections from
about his book before heading
to the test, while renowned chef
wine from Casa Cavalli. Guests
leading fashion houses. off to the official launch party at
THE QUEEN WITH BARONESS
Heston Blumenthal amazed
including Sarah, Duchess of York
St James’s club Fifty.
SUSAN GREENFIELD,
spectators by making ice-cream
(right, with Roberto), Bianca Jagger,
Earlier in the day, the first
DIRECTOR OF THE RI
with liquid nitrogen.
Nat Rothschild, Sophie Ellis Bextor
seven copies of the book were
and Richard James were treated to
delivered down the Thames,
an Italian feast – and, of course,
wine from the Cavalli Selection.
Graduate show
then in a cavalcade of Bentleys,
to Waterstone’s in Piccadilly, a
Partygoers then moved on to
day before its official release.
Bungalow 8, where they were joined
by John Cusack, fresh off the set of
LONDON COLLEGE of Fashion staged its annual
BA graduate catwalk show at the Royal Academy
Firsts for fashion
his latest movie.
of Arts, sponsored by Baugur.
See Food & Drink, page 29. Judges Giles Deacon and Matthew Williamson
THE GREAT and the good of the fashion industry were out in
awarded Collection of the Year to Matthew Inett.
force for the Graduate Fashion Week Gala Awards. Jessica
Prizes were also awarded to Nicola Healy for Design
Au (pictured) of Ravensbourne College scooped two awards
and Technology and Sharnita Nandwana (winning
including the night’s top prize The River Island Gold Award.
design below) for the Fashion Textiles Award.
She was presented with the title GFW Designer of the Year –
and £20,000 – by judges including model Claudia Schiffer
and designer Julien Macdonald.
RACHEL CURRAN, aged 15, enjoyed
a makeover at Selfridges, courtesy of
Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, a charity
that grants the wishes of children
fighting life-threatening illnesses.
Rachel, who recently had a liver
transplant, had a fashion-filled day with
her idols Trinny and Susannah, who
helped her choose a new wardrobe.
CHANEL HOSTED a party to
FORMER ENGLAND rugby
captain Jason Leonard and
former British Lions captain
Phil Bennett headlined
disability charity Vitalise’s
Legends of Sport Dinner at the
Café Royal. Over £40,000 was
raised to provide services for
disabled and visually impaired
people, and their carers.
7

86
8
news
Viva la divas
AN EXHIBITION revealing the onstage and
offstage lives of the first great musical
divas has opened at Handel House
Museum in Brook Street. Handel and the
Divas explores the careers, rivalries,
successes, failures and stories of
scandalous behaviour, which made the
first divas the talk of 18th century London.
The exhibition concentrates on the
female singers who brought Handel’s
operas to life including Margherita
Durastanti, Francesca Cuzzoni, Faustina
Bordoni, Susannah Cibber and Kitty Clive.
It also features the key music and
performances, which unite the characters
in the exhibition and which secured the
reputation of each featured diva.
News in brief
THE RITZ CLUB July Festival at
Newmarket, which takes place
from July 9-11, has this year
teamed up with Bond Street. On
Wednesday July 9, race-goers
will be able to enjoy designer
shopping as the street’s
luxury brands come to
Newmarket.
NOW YOU CAN mix
Mahiki’s infamous treasure
chest cocktail at home.
The celebrity haunt in
Dover Street has
launched its own
range of rum.
Distilled and
blended in
Barbados, the two
types – Mahiki
White and Gold –
are available at
Selfridges.
SOPRANOS DAME EMMA KIRKBY
(LEFT) AND CATHERINE BOLT
WITH A PAINTING OF ORIGINAL
DIVA KITTY CLIVE
FANS OF the Little Princess
pre-school show and bestselling
picture books joined
their heroine and author Tony
Ross (right) for a storytelling
session at John Lewis.
RICHARD JAMES – famous
for his bespoke suits – has
produced a bicycle (below)
along with British bicycle
manufacturer Condor.
Bangle to
beat hunger
CARTIER INVITED actress
Rosamund Pike (below) to
launch this year’s Love
Charity Bracelet in support
of Action Against Hunger.
The 2008 edition features
two intertwined white
and pink gold mini love
bracelets linked by a
red cord.
LIONEL FRETZ
(LEFT) WITH NICK
LANGFORD, OF THE
LONDON STOCK
EXCHANGE
Splash of colour
JEAN-CHARLES DE CASTELBAJAC
brought a splash of colour to Conduit
Street. His first London store opened
with a star-studded party, with guests
including Jodie Harsh and Alexa
Chung. Partygoers continued the
celebrations into the early hours at
the Cuckoo Club in Swallow Street.
Pictured with Jean Charles (left) are
Rufus Wainwright and Lisa Snowdon.
See interview with Jean-Charles on
page 32.
Available from Richard James
Bespoke at 19 Clifford Street.
LIONEL FRETZ, of Berkeley
Square-based Carbon Capital
Markets, has been named Ernst
& Young Entrepreneur of the
Year for London Region
Business Services category.
He will be one of nine London
finalists at the national awards
to be held in October.

10
news
JAMES BROWN HEADLINED THE
SUMMER BALL TWO YEARS AGO
End of season
VINCE POWER’S End of Summer Ball in
Berkeley Square will take place on Thursday
September 25. Interior designer Shaun
Clarkson will create the look and feel of the
event, which this year takes on a “vaudeville”
theme.
Marco Pierre White will be in charge of
the food, while Nobu Berkeley will be mixing
the cocktails.
For the fourth consecutive year, youth
charity The Prince’s Trust has been
nominated as the beneficiary of the ball.
Tickets cost £700 + VAT, or £6,500 for a
table of 10. For further information visit
www.bsquareb.co.uk or call 020 7644 1420.
News in brief
ITALIAN HAIRDRESSING
company Sanrizz is opening its
10th salon this month at the
Grosvenor House Hotel – a
stone’s throw from its branch in
Hay Hill. The company –
founded by Italian brothers
Tony, Ozzie and Ricci Rizzo –
opened its first salon (in Brook
Street) in 1980.
DRAWINGS BY musician Bob
Dylan are on show at Halcyon
Gallery on Bruton Street until
July 13. The exhibition includes
drawings, sketches and signed
limited-editition graphics which
were produced between 1989
and 1992 when Dylan was on
the road.
Summer gems
THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER officially
opened this year’s Mount Street summer
party, kicking off a lively and stimulating
evening. Co-hosted by Grosvenor and
the Residents’ Society of Mayfair &
St James’s, the event brought together
businesses, residents and guests.
Dazzling display
BRITISH ACTOR Rupert
Penry-Jones (above) is
the new face of Austin
Reed. Best-known for
his role in the drama
Spooks, he appears in an
espionage-themed shoot
for the brand, which will
be featured in the store.
The gardens were decked out in a
wonderful display of jewellery-inspired
decorations including a specially
designed dress by Ben de Lisi. Models
showed off pieces from Carolina Bucci,
Leo de Vroomen, Erickson Beamon and
Kim Poor.
BURLINGTON ARCADE celebrated Coutts London Jewellery
Week by showcasing the work of students from London
College of Fashion’s Cordwainers. Models were dressed in
cashmere and dazzling jewellery from retailers in the arcade.
Attending the event was British Fashion Council chairman
Harold Tillman (pictured with his wife Stephanie).
Beatrix Ong, whose boutique is in the arcade and is a
Cordwainers’ graduate, said: “It’s fantastic to see the new
generation of footwear and accessories designers emerge
with such individuality, creativity and flair.”
BOND STREET jeweller Van
Cleef & Arpels has created this
gold and diamond clip for
Maison Perrier-Jouët’s first
tailor-made champagne – the
Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs
Vintage 2000.

RUNS JULY 5-13
Big Dance 2008
Events across the capital, full
festival guide from the website.
London celebrates dance in all its
forms with this huge festival,
from workshops and photo
competitions to special
performances and world record
attempts.
Learn styles including jive and
street dance, Bollywood, salsa,
tango, flamenco, West End
RUNS JULY 5-19
London Literature Festival
Southbank Centre, SE1.
The second London Literature
Festival includes readings, talks,
music and exhibitions. Among
the highlights are the BBC Four
Samuel Johnson Prize shortlisted
authors discussing their work
and non-fiction (July 13, Purcell
Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall,
£9, concessions 50 per cent off,
limited availability); the Lavender
Library celebrating queer
literature with Julian Clary, Dave
McAlmont, Andy Bell, Stella
Duffy, Diana Souhami, Paul
Burston, Karen Mcleod and
Rupert Smith highlighting their
favourite books (July 15, Queen
Elizabeth Hall, £10, concessions
50 per cent off, limited
availability); and Fresh on the
Stage (July 5, Queen Elizabeth
Hall, free), a late-evening show of
words, music and performance
curated by emerging Southbank
artists Riz MC and Yemisi Blake.
Info: 0871 663 2501
Tickets: 0871 663 2500
www.londonlitfest.com
RUNS UNTIL JULY 26
Look Back in Anger
Jermyn Street Theatre, 16b
Jermyn Street, SW1. 7.30pm
Monday-Saturday, matinees 3pm
Saturday, tickets £18, £15
concessions.
John Osborne’s iconic play,
directed by Alexander Gilmour
and starring Jimmy Akingbola,
Laura Dos Santos, Sally Leonard,
Simon Harrison and Gary
Raymond.
Info: 020 7287 2875
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
THURSDAY 10
Blueprint Big Breakfast with
Loyd Grossman
Roast, Stoney Street, Borough
Market, SE1. 8am-10am, tickets
£25.
Part of the London Festival of
Architecture, which runs until
July 20, this is a chance to enjoy
breakfast while listening to Loyd
Grossman, one of nine guest
speakers at this series of events.
The top chef is chairman of
Culture Northwest, the president
of the British Association of
Friends of Museums and a fellow
of the Royal Society of Arts, in
addition to his broadcasting
career.
routines, hip-hop, wheelchair
dancing and ballroom. The
flagship event is the Big Dance in
Trafalgar Square, WC2, on July
12 (5pm, free), where 2,008
dancers will perform moves
choreographed by Aletta Collins
to music by Street Furniture TV –
sign up at the website below to
learn the dance online and take
part on the day.
Info: 020 7983 4100
www.visitlondon.com/bigdance
Info: 0871 376 1401, 0870 264
3333
www.lfa2008.org
SATURDAY 12
The Broadwalk Ballroom
The Broadwalk, Avenue Gardens,
Outer Circle, Regent’s Park,
NW1. Also on Sunday. 1pm
beginners’ class, 2pm-6pm
general dancing, tickets £10,
including the beginners’ class
and afternoon dancing, available
on arrival at the dance area in
Avenue Gardens, Regent’s Park.
All profits from ticket sales go to
tree planting in Regent’s Park.
A chance to dance in the open
air, organised by Kele Baker who,
with partner Ralf Schiller,
choreographed and coached the
Argentine Tango for Strictly Come
Dancing. Music by J Jacky
Appleton of Jacky’s Jukebox,
Latin American demonstration by
Carlos and Elena.
Info: 07970 599445
www.broadwalkballroom.org
SUNDAY 13
In Jimi’s Footsteps: Hendrix
Walking Tour
Meet at the reception at Handel
House Museum, 25 Brook Street,
W1. 12.30pm-2pm, 3.30pm-
5pm, tickets £10, £8
concessions. Limited places. This
tour will not include the interior
of the guitar star’s flat.
Visit seven sites in Mayfair and
around Marble Arch, starting
from Hendrix’s Brook Street flat.
Guide and historian Aly Mir will
take fans on a tour of his other
homes in the area, some of the
venues he frequented and the
place where he held his last
official interview.
Info: 0870 842 2241
www.handelhouse.org
MONDAY 14
The Fiction Lab
Royal Institution of Great Britain,
21 Albemarle Street, W1. 7pm,
free.
Jennifer Rohn of Lablit.com leads
a series of evenings looking at
novels with science at their
heart. This month’s discussion
will focus on William Boyd’s
Brazzaville Beach, which explores
the life of ecologist Hope
Clearwater at three stages of her
life.
Info: 020 7409 2992
www.rigb.org
WEDNESDAY 16
Écurie25
Benares Restaurant and Bar, 12a
Berkeley Square House, Berkeley
Square, W1. 6.30pm, £70.
Benares again teams up with
supercar club Écurie25 for an
evening of luxury cars and food.
Starting with a champagne
reception at 6.30pm, guests are
invited to see the selection of
cars outside the restaurant,
followed by a four-course dinner
created by head chef Atul
Kochhar in collaboration with
Patrick William at 7.30pm.
Info: 020 7629 8886
www.benaresrestaurant.com
The Science of Beer
Royal Institution of Great Britain,
21 Albemarle Street, W1. 7pm-
9pm, tickets £8, concessions £6,
£4 RI members.
Discover the secrets behind
brewing the perfect pint with Alex
Bell, head brewer at O’Hanlon’s
Brewing Company. With research
appetite whetted, some of
O’Hanlon’s best beers can be put
to the test. Over-18s only.
Info: 020 7409 2992
www.rigb.org
SATURDAY 19
Super Saturday Storytime!
Waterstone’s, 421 Oxford Street,
W1. 3pm-4pm.
Stories and activities about
Winnie the Pooh.
Info: 020 7495 8507
www.waterstones.com
TUESDAY 22
Portraits of Adventure
The Royal Geographical Society,
1 Kensington Gore, SW7. 10am-
8pm daily, free. Visitors will have
the opportunity to make
donations to the British Red
Cross.
Exhibition showcasing 60 photos
that capture the spirit of
adventure, curated by Stephen
Bayley. The show features 10
specially commissioned giant
portraits of people who embody
this spirit, including Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and Zara Phillips,
by Alastair Thain.
Info: 020 7591 3000
www.rgs.org
FRIDAY 25
Conservation in Context
Michael Faraday Museum, Royal
Institution of Great Britain, 21
Albemarle Street, W1. 9am-
9.30am registration, 9.30am-
5.45pm conference only, tickets
£70, £40 concessions, RI and
RSC HG members (including
lunch, coffee, tea and reception).
Reception on July 24, 6.30pm-
8.30pm. Closing date for
registration July 14.
One-day meeting on
conservation heritage projects,
held jointly with the Historical
Group of the Royal Society of
Chemistry, which follows the £22
million refurbishment of the main
RI building.
Speakers include David
Saunders, head of conservation
at the British Museum, Bronwyn
Ormsby, senior conservation
scientist at the Tate Gallery and
Dr Vincent Daniels FRSC FIIC,
research fellow at the RCA/V&A.
The reception on the previous
evening will give visitors the
opportunity to see the new
exhibition spaces and heritage
building and will be opened by
the director of the Royal
Institution, Professor Baroness
Susan Greenfield.
Info: 020 7409 2992
www.rigb.org
TUESDAY 29
Summer opening of
Buckingham Palace
The state rooms, Buckingham
Palace, Buckingham Palace
Road, SW1. 9.45am-6pm, last
admission 3.45pm, entry by
timed ticket every 15 minutes
throughout the day, tickets
£15.50 adult, £14 over 60 or
student with valid ID, £8.75
under 17, free for under-fives,
family ticket £39.75 (two adults
and three under-17s).
Latecomers not admitted. A visit
lasts 2-2 1 ⁄2 hours. Runs until
September 29.
A chance to see the state rooms,
plus for the first time, the ornate
splendour of the ballroom laid
out for a state banquet. The
horseshoe-shaped table is set
with silver-gilt from the grand
service and spectacular flower
arrangements.
Info: 020 7766 7300
www.royalcollection.org.uk
PHOTO: SIMON ROBERTON
13
what’s on events

14
what’s on film what’s on music
Live piano and jazz
Bentley’s, 11-15 Swallow Street,
W1. 7.30pm-11.30pm
Wednesdays, 8pm-midnight
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Featured artists include Oliver
Moriarty, Katerina Koutouzi,
Johnny Miller and Rod Melvin.
Info: 020 7734 4756
www.bentleys.org
SUMMER 2008
Free lunchtime concerts,
May to September.
Brown Hart Gardens, Duke Street,
W1. 12pm-2pm, every Friday.
Info: 020 7470 8736
THURSDAY JULY 10
Kitsch Lounge riot presents
Catherine Tran
The Pigalle Club, 215 Piccadilly,
W1. Doors 7pm, onstage 9pm,
tickets £15 show only, £45 show
and three-course meal.
Singer-songwriter Catherine Tran
has supported Al Stewart, Loudon
Wainwright III, and Van Morrison
on tour and was invited by Robert
Plant to support his UK tour.
Info: 020 7644 1420/0845 345
6053 (reservations)
www.thepigalleclub.com
FRIDAY 11
Ronan Maghill
St John’s Smith Square, SW1.
7.30pm, tickets £20, £15, £10.
Pianist Ronan Maghill performs
works by Beethoven, Debussy and
Liszt.
Info: 020 7222 1061
www.sjss.org.uk
SATURDAY 12
Choir of the 21st Century
St James’s Piccadilly, 197
Piccadilly, W1. 7.30pm, tickets
£12, £10 concessions.
Music includes Stravinsky,
Debussy, Gershwin and Purcell.
Info: 020 7381 0441
www.st-james-piccadilly.org
www.cc21.org.uk
MONDAY 14
Jazz Cannons
Dover Street Restaurant and Bar,
8-10 Dover Street, W1.
Approximate set times 9.45pm
and 11pm, free before 10pm, £6
after. Also performing August 5
and 19.
Rat Pack-style swing with Latin
funk influences.
Info: 020 7491 7509/020 7629
9813
www.doverst.co.uk
WEDNESDAY 16
SCPLIVE
St Christopher’s Place, W1.
Lunchtimes and evenings,
Saturdays and Wednesdays until
August 23.
Jazz musician Vashit Gleave gives
a lunchtime performance, followed
in the evening by saxophonist
John O’Flynn. Highlights
throughout the summer include
acoustic guitarists Richard
Stevenson and Judith Haustein.
Info: 020 7409 1858
www.stchristophersplace.com
FRIDAY 18
Funktonite
Dover Street Restaurant and Bar,
8-10 Dover Street, W1.
Approximate set times 10.30pm
FRIDAY JULY 25
Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, SW1. Contact
the venue for screening times, tickets £8, £7
concessions, £6 ICA members. Runs until July 31.
Iranian director Hana Makhmalbaf examines the effect
of violence on children’s minds with a tale about a girl
in Bamian, Afghanistan, where the Taliban blew up the
Buddhas in 2001, who wants to go to the school across
the river from her home.
Info: 020 7930 3647 www.ica.org.uk
and midnight, diners only before
10pm, £15 after.
Eight-piece soul and funk band.
Info: 020 7491 7509/020 7629
9813
www.doverst.co.uk
SUNDAY 20
Tessa Uys
Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street,
W1. 7.30pm, tickets £30, £25,
£20, £15. In aid of South Africa
Positive, One To One Children’s
Fund and Nelson Mandela
Children’s Fund (UK), dedicated to
fighting HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
Uys, one of South Africa’s leading
concert pianists, plays works by
Rachmaninov, Schubert, Scarlatti,
Beethoven along with the world
premiere of Rosalind Anne
Greenidge’s Rainbow Fantasy,
dedicated to Nelson Mandela.
Info: 020 7935 2141
www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
THURSDAY 24
Mark Tanner
Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street,
W1. 7.30pm, tickets £16, £14,
£12, £10.
Pianist Mark Tanner performs
some of Brahms’s most popular
works and new material by John
McLeod, Philip Martin, Graham
Lynch and Colin Decio.
Info: 020 7935 2141
www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
FRIDAY 25
Jon Cleary and the Absolute
Monster Gentlemen
The Pigalle Club, 215 Piccadilly,
W1. Doors 7pm, onstage 9pm,
£10 before 10pm, £15 after, £45
TUESDAY 8
Angus, Thongs and Perfect
Snogging plus Q&A with
Gurinder Chadha
Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon Street,
W1. 6.15pm, tickets £12, £9
Curzon and Script Factory
members.
Director Gurinder Chadha (Bend it
Like Beckham, Pride and
Prejudice) talks about her new
film after the screening.
Based on the books by Louise
Rennison, Angus, Thongs and
Perfect Snogging follows the story
of teenager Georgia Nicolson as
she struggles with parental
problems, the search for romance
and planning the greatest ever
15th birthday party.
Info: 0871 703 3989
www.curzoncinemas.com
SUNDAY 13
Opera and Ballet Summer
Season
Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon Street,
W1, and Chelsea Cinema, 206
King’s Road, SW3.
Runs Sundays until August 24.
Tickets £12.50, £11 concessions,
£10 Curzon members, £3 under
16s, £14.50/£12 members
TUESDAY 15
Suzanne Vega
The Pigalle Club, 215
Piccadilly, W1. Doors 6.30pm,
onstage 9pm, £27.30
standing, £57.50 show and
three-course meal.
Manhattan native Suzanne
Vega draws inspiration from
New York for her latest album,
Beauty & Crime.
Info: 020 7644 1420/0845
345 6053 (reservations)
www.thepigalleclub.com
show and three-course meal.
Bonnie Rait’s keyboardist
performs soul and funk with a
New Orleans influence.
Info: 020 7644 1420/0845 345
6053 (reservations)
www.thepigalleclub.com
London Youth Wind Band
St James’s Piccadilly, 197
Piccadilly, W1. 7.30pm, tickets £8
adults, £6 concessions, £3 school
children.
Performing with the CYM Dance
Band and featuring Vaughan
Williams’s Folk Song Suite, Eric
Osterling’s Thundercrest and
Chelsea Pullman seats, £100/£80
members Mayfair Royal Box (seats
four).
At both cinemas the San
Francisco Opera’s 2006-2007
season Don Giovanni plays on
July 13 at 3.30pm and The
Marriage of Figaro will be shown
on July 27 at 3.30pm. At the
Curzon Mayfair only, the Royal
Ballet’s award-winning production
of Sylvia, starring Darcey Bussell
in her final performance, runs on
July 20 at 4pm.
Info: 0871 703 3989 (Mayfair),
0871 703 3990 (Chelsea)
www.curzoncinemas.com
FRIDAY 18
Summer Hours (12A)
Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon Street,
W1, July 18-24. Contact the
venue for screening times.
Juliette Binoche stars in French
writer/director Oliver Assayas’s
film about a family in conflict over
a priceless art collection. Also
featuring Jérémie Renier, Charles
Berling and Edith Scob.
SATURDAY 19
Ping Pong
Institute of Contemporary Arts,
Danny Elfman’s Music for a
Darkened Theatre.
Info: 020 7928 3844
www.st-james-piccadilly.org
TUESDAY 29
Nanci Griffith
The Pigalle Club, 215 Piccadilly,
W1. Doors 6.30pm, onstage 9pm,
£30 show only, £65 show and
three-course meal. Also runs July
30.
Texan singer-songwriter Nanci
Griffith performs.
Info: 020 7644 1420/0845 345
6053 (reservations)
www.thepigalleclub.com
The Mall, SW1. 4pm, tickets £8,
£7 concessions, £6 ICA members.
Japanese director Fumihiko Sori’s
story of high school friends who
become ping pong champions.
Info: 020 7930 3647
www.ica.org.uk
TUESDAY 22
Cinematica Preview:
Man on Wire
Institute of Contemporary Arts,
The Mall, SW1. 6.30pm, tickets
£8, £7 concessions, £6 ICA
members.
Documentary about Philippe
Petit’s high-wire walk between the
twin towers of New York’s World
Trade Centre in 1974. Directed by
James Marsh.
Info: 020 7930 3647
www.ica.org.uk
MONDAY 28
straight 8 (advised 16)
Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon Street,
W1, 8.45pm, tickets £8. Also runs
July 29.
The best 75 films from this year’s
Rushes Soho Shorts Festival.
Info: 0871 703 3989
www.curzoncinemas.com
www.straight8.net

ALBERT (ANDY
WILLIAMS) AND
MYRTLE (TAMZIN
GRIFFIN)
PHOTO: ALISTAIR MUIR
Noel Coward’s classic love story Brief Encounter has been a play, a film and a musical. Now, in
its latest reincarnation, it’s all three.
Experimental theatre company Kneehigh has commandeered The Cinema Haymarket, where
the David Lean film starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard premiered in 1945, and returned it
– and the tale of tortured lovers – back to its theatrical origins.
Their production is an amalgamation of Coward’s original playscript (entitled Still Life), his later
film script, and numerous, rather bawdy musical ditties he penned over the years. Performed
variety-style against a crushed velvet curtain, the latter provide a nod to the cinema’s past as the
Carlton theatre, in whose ornate upper circle the cinema’s auditorium now sits.
In a brilliant blurring of stage and screen, the audience –
guided to their seats by actors dressed as 1940s-style cinema
usherettes – witnesses the show’s heroine walk into film, as she
slips behind a giant black-and-white video projection.
This piece of visual trickery sets the tone for a genre-defying
production which combines theatre, film, live music, dance and
even puppetry to tell the story of a lonely housewife tempted to
cheat on her husband with a man she meets at a railway station.
“I’m trying to bridge the gap between film and theatre,”
explains Emma Rice, the company’s artistic director.
From stage
to screen and
back again
NOEL COWARD’S CLASSIC LOVE
STORY IS GOING BACK TO ITS
ROOTS IN A PRODUCTION THAT
COMBINES FILM, THEATRE AND
MUSICAL. NUALA CALVI REPORTS
17
theatre

18
theatre
LAURA (NAOMI FREDERICK) AND
ALEC (TRISTAN STURROCK)
PHOTO: ALISTAIR MUIR
“When you go to the cinema, people feel they can relax,
have something to eat, be more informal. There’s a sense of
coming for a good night out, whereas a lot of people feel
going to the theatre has to be worthy.
“By putting a theatre show on in a cinema and having
things like a live band on stage you’re immediately telling
people: it’s OK to have fun here.”
And to join in — a singalong to Alice is at it Again, a
wickedly un-PC song about an errant daughter, takes place
in the first act, while during the interval characters from the
train station cafe, where much of the action takes place,
wander into the auditorium handing out sandwiches.
“It’s all part of breaking down the boundaries between the
actors and audience,” says Rice. “I believe you only really
move people when they feel a part of something, not just
witness it.”
In her version, the minor characters are given a more
prominent role, with cheeky love affairs and slapstick
shenanigans going on in the cafe in stark contrast to the
repressed middle class manners and clipped accents of the
main characters.
Rice believes that far from detracting from the poignancy
of the central story the comedic subplots add to the
audience’s experience of it.
“I always believe that when people are laughing, they’re
more likely to cry. You’re opening up all sorts of chambers of
the human heart. That’s why people often go to funerals and
end up laughing.
“What doing this show has shown me is the breadth of
Noel Coward’s work. To be able to write this beautiful love
story and yet also write something like Alice is at it Again —
what a man!”
The skill of the performers who make up the Kneehigh
ensemble is also impressive. Not only are they required to act, but to sing, dance, play musical
instruments and swing from chandeliers, too.
“The actors I use are storytellers and can use different forms,” says Rice. “They’re so amazing.
There aren’t that many actors around who are so multi-talented, so I tend to use a core team of
people.”
They must also be able to embrace Kneehigh’s unusual approach to theatre-making, which
involves putting the script down and devising a show largely through improvisation.
“I’ve never done a read-through at the beginning of rehearsal process,” says Rice. “That
would just be closing off your options. It’s all about saying, ‘What if?’ That’s when you get the
brilliant surprises.”
It’s a process that seems to work: Rice has won awards for her previous productions,
including The Red Shoes and The Bacchae.
Her next project is a production of Don Giovanni for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which
she is setting in Seventies Britain. Like Kneehigh’s Cymbeline in 2006 — which featured a
supporting cast of toy soldiers — it’s likely to be one that ruffles the purists’ feathers but delights
audiences.
“I feel strongly that theatre should be contemporary,” says Rice. “I want to make British
theatre for 2008. I don’t want to quote, I want to reinvent.”
Brief Encounter is at The Cinema Haymarket until October 19
“By putting a theatre
show on in a cinema
and having things like
a live band on stage
you’re immediately
telling people: it’s OK
to have fun here.”

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Publishing Business produces Mayfair Times,
Mayfair PA, Belgravia, Sloane Square and
The Portman magazine.
UNTIL JULY 12
Hometown
Paintings by contemporary Chinese
artist He Hong Wei.
Gallery 27, 27 Cork Street.
Tel: 020 7287 8408.
UNTIL JULY 19
Matthew Carr – New Works
Black and white drawings by
Matthew Carr.
Marlborough Fine Art, 6 Albemarle
Street.Tel: 020 7629 5161.
UNTIL JULY 19
Tokyo Express
Contemporary art from Japan.
Opera Gallery, 134 New Bond Street.
Tel: 020 7491 2999.
UNTIL JULY 26
Hans Josephsohn
Return of the masters
MASTER DRAWINGS in London returns for its eighth year,
running across Mayfair and St James’s from July 5-11.
Drawings date from the 15th century to the present with
19 galleries participating. Newcomers include John Martin
of London and Michael Tollemache Fine Art, who is
exhibiting jointly with Brussels-based dealer Jan de Maere
and James Mackinnon.
Highlights of the week include an ink-on-paper by
Picasso (Connaught Brown), a Freud sketch by Lucian
Freud (Stephen Ongpin), a Gainsborough chalk (Lowell
Libson) and works by Constable and Turner (W/S Fine Art.)
Figurative sculptures.
Hauser & Wirth, 196a Piccadilly.
Tel: 020 7287 2300.
UNTIL AUGUST 1
Colin Self – Works from
the 60s
Drawings and sculpture from Colin
Self’s first solo show in the 1960s.
Delaye Saltoun, 1st Floor, 11 Savile
Row.Tel: 020 7287 1546.
UNTIL AUGUST 1
Tsering Nyandak – The
Lightness of Being
Contemporary art from Tibet.
Rossi & Rossi, 16 Clifford Street.Tel:
020 7734 6487.
UNTIL AUGUST 8
Lucio Fontana
Paintings and sculptures.
Ben Brown Fine Art, 21 Cork Street.
Tel: 020 7734 8888.
UNTIL AUGUST 23
Alexis Kersey, Aditya Pande &
Maurizio Vetrugno
Contemporary art from India.
Alexia Goethe Gallery, 7 Dover Street.
Tel: 020 7629 0090.
UNTIL AUGUST 29
Scrambled & Poached
New installations by John Armleder.
Simon Lee Gallery, 12 Berkeley
Street.Tel: 020 7491 0100.
JULY 8-AUGUST 30
Inspired: Celebrating
40 years of Collecting
Scottish Art
Group exhibition with works chosen
by TV and arts personalities.
Art of silence
ALTHOUGH WIDELY celebrated during
his lifetime, Danish artist Vilhelm
Hammershøi (1864-1916) has since
fallen in to relative obscurity. This seems
about to change, however, with the first
UK retrospective of his works taking
place at the Royal Academy this summer.
Hammershøi is best known for his
distinctive and somewhat haunting
interiors. The sparsely furnished scenes
appear architectural in their rigidness
and distinct lack of human touch.
A few feature the artist’s wife, Ida –
a lone figure facing away from the
viewer, her anonymity adding to the
VILHELM HAMMERSHØI,
INTERIOR WITH WOMAN AT PIANO,
STRANDGADE 30, 1901
The Fleming Collection, 13 Berkeley
Street.Tel: 020 7409 5730.
JULY 9-13
Laura Smith – Portraits
Past commissions include the
blessing of the marriage of the Prince
of Wales to the Duchess of Cornwall,
Clive James and Paul Gladstone Reid.
54 The Gallery, Shepherd Market.Tel:
020 7569 3255.
JULY 9-AUGUST 15
Harold Cohen: Colour Rules
Recent works by Harold Cohen, which
explore the artist’s computergenerated,
autonomous “paintings”.
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, 6 Cork
Street.Tel: 020 7734 3431.
JULY 10-SEPTEMBER 13
Group exhibition
This year also sees
the introduction of
afternoon gallery tours
which focus on distinct
themes in drawings and
are led by experts in
these fields.
www.masterdrawings
inlondon.co.uk
LUCIEN FREUD,
BOY IN A RED AND BLUE
JACKET. EXHIBITED BY
STEPHEN ONGPIN
mysterious nature of the works. There is
an eerie serenity to Hammershøi’s
interiors – a “poetic silence” that is
picked up in the title of the Royal
Academy’s show. The artist’s use of a
limited, muted palate and simplification
of form have led to comparisons with
Whistler, as well as Eugene Carriere and
Fernand Khnopff.
The exhibition features more than 60
paintings by the artist and includes
portraits, landscapes and deserted
urban spaces, captured in
Hammershøi’s home town of
Copenhagen and in London.
Vilhelm Hammershøi: The Poetry of
Silence runs until September 7 at the
Royal Academy, Burlington House,
Piccadilly. Tel: 020 7300 8000.
Richard Avedon, Norman Parkinson
and Herb Ritts.
Hamiltons Gallery, 13 Carlos Place.
Tel: 020 7499 9494.
JULY 16-28
Free Words
Exploring the censored word
and use of language through the
works of Marisol Cavia, Sumer
Erek, Marko Stepanov and Katie
Sollohub.
Mayfair Library, 25 South Audley
Street.Tel: 020 7641 1300.
JULY 21-AUGUST 28
Catching the Light:
Henry Scott Tuke
Fifty oils and watercolours mark the
150th anniversary of Tuke’s birth.
The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond
Street.Tel: 020 7629 5116.
21
art events art

22
art
WHEN A SON OF FILM STARS
IS ABANDONED BY HIS FATHER,
THERE ARE BOUND TO BE
ISSUES IN HIS ART, SACHA
NEWLEY TELLS SOPHIE BISHOP
To say there is a mark of Freud in the works of Sacha Newley
would be an understatement. In style there is a debt to the
painter; in sentiment, more than a small nod to the psychologist.
Primarily a portrait artist, Sacha’s list of past commissions is
long and esteemed: Oliver Stone, Billy Wilder, Gore Vidal, Nigel
Hawthorne, Dominick Dunn, Steven Berkoff and Christopher
Reeve have all sat for him, plus, of course, the artist’s mother,
actress Joan Collins.
As is often the way, the portraits reveal as much about the
artist as the sitter. In Sacha’s case, they boil down to “a father
thing, because I’ve somewhat suffered from the absence of a
father in my life”.
Said father is Anthony Newley – the late English actor, singer
and songwriter who was married to Joan Collins from 1963 to
1970. He left when Sacha was just three.
“As wonderful as my father was,” says Sacha, “and he was a
great man and had a great impact on me, he wasn’t around
enough. I didn’t get my fill of my father’s energy. And so, in these
portraits of great men I’m seeking the father, I think. And that’s
why they’re strong and full of a kind of yearning.”
The portraits were mostly painted in the late 1990s. Since
then, Sacha, 43, has married society jeweller Angela Tassoni and
had a daughter of his own. And so the circle is complete: “I’m
through,” he says, “because I’m a father now and so, I think,
fathered myself.”
His most recent body of work, however, appears to suggest
otherwise. The exhibition at the Arts Club is Sacha’s first in the
UK since 2002 and focuses almost entirely on portraits of Newley.
These are hung alongside scenes from Sacha’s childhood as well
as works that explore the concepts of sin and celebrity,
philosophy and religion.
Most poignant, perhaps, is Farewell Prospero (pictured) – a
work painted from a series of photographs of Newley taken two
weeks before he died of cancer in April 1999. The painting shows
his father naked from the waist up, his arms held high to reveal a
large scar across his abdomen, his hand suspended as if in a
wave. It is, says Sacha, “a farewell image” and a moving tribute
to a father and “a great magician”.
Other paintings fuse the past and the present and are often
laced with more than a hint of nostalgia. Take Self Portrait With
Happy Family, which recreates a 1968 polaroid of the artist as a
child en famille with his parents and sister Tara. The family scene
appears idyllic yet six months after the photograph was taken,
Newley had packed up and left.
Family
values
LEFT: SACHA NEWLEY
PHOTO BY SKY SHARROCK
In the work, Sacha has painted his present-day self into the
background as an observer of the scene, in a bid, he says, to
forge a closeness with his father and to “find out who he was,
what he was thinking and what his feelings were”.
Somewhat naive in its blatancy, this uninhibited display of
emotion is, however, typical of the artist. For while Sacha
may be English in looks (Heathcliff meets Ralph Lauren) and
voice (soft, public school), he is certainly from the American
school of self-analysis.
As a backlash, one imagines, against the “inauthenticity” of
his showbusiness upbringing, Sacha has gone on to firmly
embrace the teachings of eastern philosophy, Buddhism and
meditation, “all of which are essentially attempts to get to the
bottom of yourself”.
His resentment of the world of celebrity is strong, going so far
as to brand it “as dangerous as Islamic fascism”, “a form of evil”
and later, “a spiritual pornography”.
Asked how his life has been affected by his parent’s fame, he
replies: “Badly, very badly.” he adds: “When I look back at my
childhood, in the way that showbusiness manipulated my parents
and changed them, made them desire certain things that were
unreal, then I can really locate the cause of my resentment.”
Discussing his father, Sacha is calm and appears
surprisingly detached. Yet it is clear there were fraught times
and the break-up of his parents’ marriage is placed firmly on
Newley’s shoulders.
“I think we would now call him a sex addict. He used sex to
LEFT: FAREWELL TO PROSPERO
COURTESY CATTO GALLERY LONDON
© SACHA NEWLEY
BELOW:THE ORIGINAL SNAPSHOT
THAT INSPIRED SELF PORTRAIT
WITH HAPPY FAMILY
medicate himself, just as people use alcohol to medicate
themselves. It was his narcotic. And it effectively took him away
from me. The Temptation of St Anthony is, I suppose, about
those temptations: the erotic temptations”.
The painting in question is a master of the grotesque. A tightly
wired circuit of naked women and “lewd bathroom humour stuff”,
the composition focuses on the figure of St. Anthony clawing
away from the viewer and the worldly temptations that surround
him. It’s a dark work and not exactly a pretty one but then that’s
what draws Sacha to the grotesque – “the disorder and
asymmetry and chaos”.
In style, Sacha’s work is passionate and dramatic with much
swirling of paint and pastels. Influence stems from Freud, Bacon
and Munch as well as the masters of portraiture: Sargent,
Velazquez and Rembrandt. And from his parents he has inherited
the acting gene, albeit a form of acting that is restricted to the
world within the canvas, “where it’s much safer and I don’t have
to deal with the audience”.
Asked how he would like his most recent works to be
seen, he describes them as part of “a long narrative.”He adds:
“I’d like my art to be a kind of visual story of one person who
hopefully came to some kind of true self-awareness and of
what life meant.”
Blessed Curse has been coordinated by the
Catto Gallery and runs from July 4-18 at The Arts Club,
40 Dover Street. T 020 7499 8581.
23

24
science
High
flyer
SPACE TOURISM IS
MOVING A STEP CLOSER
TO REALITY AS SIR
RICHARD BRANSON PUTS
THE FINISHING TOUCHES
TO THE ULTIMATE TRIP.
SELMA DAY REPORTS
When Sir Richard Branson was seeking headquarters for Virgin
Galactic – his commercial space travel company – he says it just had
to be in Mayfair. “It became very obvious that a lot of Virgin
Galactic’s future astronauts from around the world wanted to come
and visit our offices while travelling through London – and Mayfair is
the ideal central London location beyond all others,” says the
founder and chairman of the Virgin Group and probably Britain’s
best-known entrepreneur.
The company’s recent move to Half Moon Street (where else?)
coincided with the European showcase of a model of Virgin Galactic’s
latest spaceship at the Jack Barclay showrooms in Berkeley Square –
before the spaceship is officially unveiled in the Mojave Desert in
California at the end of this month.
More than 200 guests who attended the launch had the opportunity to
sign up to become one of the first non-professional astronauts to venture
into space in less than two years.
Also present alongside Sir Richard at the event were his mum Eve and
dad Ted – aged 88 and 91 respectively – who will be accompanying him
on the first flight . “I’d also like to take my children Holly and Sam – and
very much hope that Burt Rutan, who designed the system, will also fly
with me,” he says.
It’s four years since Virgin Galactic was officially launched – at the
Royal Aeronautical Society in Hamilton Place – and since then, the idea
of space tourism has become much more than the stuff of science
fiction movies.
One person who believed he would one day travel into space was Sir
Richard himself. Like millions of others, he watched the black and white
pictures of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon in 1969
and imagined that in his lifetime he would do the same.
“I have been interested in space all of my life,” says Sir Richard. “But
the real spark came when I discussed space with Buzz Aldrin. We kept
our eye on technologies being developed in the private sector and saw
Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne in 2003. It was being built to win a prize
called the X-Prize to be the first private system in space and we decided
that this was the one that had the best chance of success out of which
we could create a serious business.”
Sir Richard’s childhood dream of travelling into space is now one
small step from reality. Virgin Galactic is well on its way to becoming one
of the world’s first commercial “spacelines”, with lift-off planned as early
as 2009-10. But not before an extensive test programme to ensure the
system is as safe as it can possibly be.
Tickets for the ride of a lifetime cost $200,000 (the good news is that
you can use air miles). So far, around 250 people have signed up,
including scientist Stephen Hawking and designer Philippe Starck. They
have paid over $30 million in deposits – while another 85,000 people have
registered interest in flying with the company in future.
So, what actually happens during the two-and-a-half hour trip? Well,
SpaceShipTwo, which is twice as big as SpaceShipOne, will go up to
55,000-60,000 feet before being released from the mothership. It will
travel 0-3,500 miles in 10 seconds into space. Once passengers are in
space, they will unbuckle and float around. Amorous couples can forget
joining the “60-mile high club” as scientists have already raised doubts of
being able to enjoy an out-of-this-world experience in zero gravity. But
the enormous windows will allow them to look back at the wonders of the
Earth. They will have a clear sense of the curvature of the globe and
views of 1,000 miles in all directions.
A feathering mechanism slows down the return journey, so the system
comes back into the Earth’s atmosphere like a shuttlecock and glides
back to land.
Both privately and with the Virgin Group, Sir Richard has achieved
some amazing things over the years, but this has to be his most
adventurous business idea so far. “There is no doubt that this is the most
ambitious project the group has ever embarked on,” he says.
“And the wonderful thing about this idea is that it can be developed
into a business with the capability to enhance the technological future for
human access to space and lower the cost of science in space
significantly.”
He says that space travel itself should become much more affordable.
“We hope to get the ticket prices below $100,000 within six years of
operations,” he says.
As to its effect on the environment, the European Space Agency has
concluded that sub-orbital flights using systems such as the one Virgin
Galactic is developing are likely to have a lower carbon footprint than
ordinary airline journeys.
“One of the amazing things about this system is the very low
environmental impact it has,” says Sir Richard.
He believes that the technology used in the system will provide a
breakthrough for the environmental future of aviation. He envisages
eventually being able to carry people from A to B around the planet
without having to use the Earth’s atmosphere – and, of course, in a
fraction of the time. Passengers will be able to fly between London and
Australia, for example, in around half an hour.
“Giving thousands of people the opportunity to see the beauty of our
blue planet and its atmosphere from the dark, cold vacuum of space will
be a fantastic wake-up call for the need for a technological future that is
less reliant on those 35 miles of precious air,” he says.
“And the carbon composite material from which both the mothership
and spaceship are made is so light and strong that it has the prospect to
open up a whole new range of environmentally friendly industrial
applications with a very low carbon footprint.”
Sir Richard adds that the system itself could herald a whole new era
of space exploration including the ability to launch unmanned low earth
orbit satellites.
And, not content with providing us with some of the most exquisite
hotels and holiday resorts on Earth, Sir Richard says hotels in space are
not beyond the realms of possibility. “It is always hard to know where a
ground-breaking technology will go,” he says.
“For example, the military planners at the Pentagon in the 1970s – and
universities at the same time – never realised where the internet that was
being developed would go and how crucial it would become to our
everyday lives.
“So, yes, I think we might see hotels in space in our lifetime. To use
the cliché ‘the sky is the limit’ is particularly fitting. What everybody saw
at Jack Barclay that night is the first ambition, not the ultimate one.”
25

26
music
Classical
Karl
Room service takes on a whole new meaning when Karl Jenkins is in
town. For most people it’s usually a late-night sandwich or a cup of tea in
the morning, but in the case of Britain’s most popular classical composer,
it’s a piano — what else? Karl divides his time between his home in Wales
and a suite at Le Méridien Piccadilly, which he has used as his London base
for some time now and where he writes much of his music.
“We were going to buy a flat in the West End but never got round to it –
so this hotel has been great,” he says. “I leave the piano in the luggage
room and they bring it up to me.”
Karl was born in Penclawdd, near Swansea, in 1944. The son of an
organist and choirmaster, he was classically trained at Cardiff University
before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Music. But through his
teens, it was jazz music that became his passion. Some people will
remember him from Soft Machine, a progressive rock-jazz band that
played venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and the
Reading Festival.
He later teamed up with the band’s keyboard player Mike Ratledge and
began composing music for film and TV ads. He received commissions
from clients such as Jaguar, Pepsi and De Beers. But his real breakthrough
came when Delta Airlines asked him to come up with the music for one of
its commercials. He chose part of an ethnic-classical piece he was already
working on, which became known as Adiemus. Its global sound – and
made-up words – brought Karl worldwide attention and the ensuing album
topped classical charts everywhere.
“It was perceived in different countries as different things,” he says. “In
Germany, it was purely a pop phenomenon, in the UK it was seen as a
classical thing but in Japan it was under the banner of healing music.
“It’s an invented language, so the text doesn’t actually mean anything –
it’s just that the overall sound and the ambience the music creates is quite
spiritual and that struck a chord with Japanese people.”
Karl, who lists Bach, Mahler, Wagner, Strauss and Beethoven, along
with Miles Davis and Donald Fagen among his favourite composers,
embraces many styles. His Requiem (2005) included Japanese poetry and
instrumentation, while his latest album, Stabat Mater, encompasses
writings by the 13th century Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi and extracts
from the 2,000-year-old epic of Gilgamesh as well as Middle Eastern
instruments.
“Stabat Mater is about the crucifixion and Mary at the Cross – it’s the
story of her grief and suffering,” says Karl. “But I didn’t want to limit it to
just the Christian story – it’s a story about universal grief so I went outside
that and looked for other examples.”
Karl, who says he’s a Christian “on good days”, has been looking
outside the box most of his life. “Essentially I’m a Western classical
composer, although I’ve always been interested in different musical
cultures. I’ve been a musical tourist all my life and when I write I’m always
looking for different avenues outside the strictly European.”
A difficult composer to define, Karl tires of barriers and categorisation in
music. “People – especially in the UK – all too often want to put things in
boxes,” he says.
“But we are becoming more open-minded – it’s inevitable. The world
has changed – it is becoming smaller and the internet has made everything
more accessible.
“But you’ve still got this stuffy old brigade tucked away there who are
very one-dimensional.”
Karl, who received an OBE in 2005, was commissioned by the Prince
of Wales in 2002 to write a harp concerto Over the Stone for royal harpist
Catrin Finch, and released an album with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Kiri Sings
Karl, in 2006. “She’s an amazing singer but also a wonderful person,” he
says of the celebrated soprano.
He’s also right up there in Classic FM’s Hall of Fame at number 13 –
alongside Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Elgar and Beethoven – with The Armed
Man, A Mass for Peace. The piece, commissioned by the Royal Armouries
for the millennium, has been performed constantly around the world since
it appeared in 2001 and is one of Karl’s proudest achievements. The music
is performed against a backdrop of video footage of the horrors of war.
“It’s a very harrowing and moving film and I get very humbling letters
from people who say it has affected them.”
Karl puts his popularity down to writing “accessible music that has
integrity and appeals to people”.
“People still like to hear tunes,” he says. “And I think it’s part of the
composer’s role to move people, to stimulate them emotionally and have
some kind of rapport.”
One person who has been moved by Karl’s music is eminent Italian
artist Andrea Vizzini, who Karl discovered during a trip to Venice. He saw
one of his paintings in an art gallery one night. The gallery was closed but
the painting was lit in the window. The next day Karl went back and
bought the painting. He subsequently got to know the gallery owner who
introduced him to the artist. “I found out that he had been painting to my
music – to Adiemus. It was pure chance.”
Vizzini was looking to show in London so Karl introduced him to Anna
Hunter, managing director of the Belgravia Gallery in Albemarle Street, who
agreed to hold an exhibition of his work. “By coincidence Anna had been
to one of my concerts a couple of years ago and it turns out that one of
my pieces was her mother’s favourite.”
The Belgavia Gallery is just one of the many things Karl loves about
Mayfair. Le Méridien is another. “This is a first-class hotel,” he says “Over
time, we’ve got to know the staff really well – they are great.” The hotel
also happens to be a stone’s throw from his studio in Poland Street.
“Obviously it’s central because it’s Piccadilly – but it’s also central for
me and I can access what I need quite quickly,” he says. “And as long as
I’ve got what I need, I can write anywhere.”
PHOTO: MITCH JENKINS
KARL JENKINS MAY BE
BRITAIN’S MOST POPULAR
CLASSICAL COMPOSER
BUT HE REFUSES TO BE
BOXED IN BY LABELS,
HE TELLS SELMA DAY

26
restaurant directory
To advertise
in the
restaurant
directory
call
020 7259 1050
Appetisers
Thirst for fashion
ROBERTO CAVALLI is the latest fashion designer to put his name to
a new range of wine, following in the footsteps of Salvatore
Ferragamo and Diesel’s Renzo Rosso.
Cavalli Selection is produced on the land he acquired 30 years
ago in the Chianti region of Tuscany. Son Tommaso runs the vineyard,
with the help of agricultural agent and wine expert Carlo Ferrini.
The winery is housed within the church of San Leolino, which
dates back to the 9th century BC. The area at ground level contains
the wine vats and was restored in 2004 along with the cellar.
The wine itself is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit
Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Alicante Bouchet.
Cavalli Selection, available in single bottles or crates of six and
priced from £47, comes in a standard bottle with a label
featuring the designer’s trademark animal skin motifs. Cavalli
Collection is sold in an exclusive black leather box and
each year only around 2,000 bottles are produced.
It is packaged in a single bottle version and a
super luxury version with two black crystal
glasses and a corkscrew decorated
with a serpent (£510).
Available online from
www.deglidei.com and at restaurants
including Cipriani, Locanda Locatelli and
Zafferano.
BRASSERIE ST JACQUES at 33
St James’s Street is the latest venture
by restaurateur Claudio Pulze, in
collaboration with chef Pierre
Koffman. Brasserie-style service is
available 8am-11pm Monday to
Saturday and 9am-10pm on Sunday.
Koffman is responsible for developing
the menu, with head chef Ashley
Hancill running the kitchen.
Contemporary cuisine
HAVING TRANSFORMED dining at the National Gallery and
the Wallace Collection, Oliver Peyton has turned his
attention to the Institute of Contemporary Arts on The Mall.
His funky new Café and Bar, open seven days a week and
until 1am Tuesday to Saturday, is designed to be a hub of
creative activity and interesting events, from one-off club
nights to film screenings and live performances.
Lunch features grilled halloumi and courgettes, and
Caesar salad with fresh tuna, while dinner choices include
organic salmon and smoked haddock fishcakes. Afternoon
tea is also available and those attending gigs or late film
screenings can get stuck into platters of charcuterie,
terrines or breads and dips.
The bar sells traditional cocktails and innovative
creations, such as Forest Berry Gateau Martini, as well as
a selection of wines, spirits and beers.
THE CAVENDISH HOTEL PICCADILLY
is launching a cocktail (left) in
celebration of Nelson Mandela’s 90th
birthday. Fifty per cent of proceeds
from each cocktail sold between now
and July 18 (Mandela’s birthday) will
go to his charity 46664, which raises
money to fight Aids.
PERFECT FOR PICNICS, the new
Ruinart rose champagne hamper
(right), costs £55 and is available at
Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.
TOMMASO (LEFT) AND
ROBERTO CAVALLI
COLLECTION GIFT BOX 1
29
food & drink

30
food & drink
Urban chic
NAPKET HAS opened its third site,
at 5 Vigo Street. A reinvention of
the urban café, it offers all-day
dining in a sleek setting. All the
food can be bought to eat in or
take away, making it the ideal
place for a coffee or a quick bite. A
large salad bar runs along one side
of the café, which also serves
soups, sandwiches, cakes, coffee,
tea and soft drinks.
TANQUERAY TABLES IS a series of
cocktail and canapé evenings hosted
by Tanqueray gin, together with
toptable.co.uk. For £10 enjoy ginbased
cocktails and canapés in al
fresco venues, including No 4
Hamilton Place overlooking Hyde Park
(left). www.tanqueraytables.co.uk
THE MAYFAIR BAR in Berkeley Street
has launched a new cocktail menu of
refreshing drinks (right) for those long,
hot summer evenings. The chef will
Best of British
SINCE LEAVING Caprice Holdings, Mark Hix has been busy.
Not only has he opened Hix Oyster and Chop House in
Smithfield but he is also overseeing the menu at The
Albemarle (formerly The Grill) at Brown’s Hotel. But it is
executive chef Lee Streeton who is in charge of the day-today
running of the kitchen.
Formerly head chef at Daphne’s, Lee is offering great
British classics alongside many lighter fish and shellfish
dishes. He is passionate about supporting British suppliers
and sources some of the finest seasonal ingredients from all
over the British Isles. So you’ll find dishes such as potted
Morecambe Bay shrimps; Romney Marsh beetroot salad
with Golden Cross goat’s cheese; hay-baked leg of lamb;
and Loomswood Farm duck with blood orange sauce.
Although a few favourite classics will stay on the menu
year round, new dishes will be added weekly depending on
what’s in season or available at the time.
The restaurant’s oak-panelled walls have been jazzed up
with a collection of photographs of London by Hubertus von
Hohenlohe to give the room a more modern feel.
To book, call 020 7493 6020.
offer a range of dishes to complement
the drinks.
TAPAS BAR El Pirata in Down Street
has been listed by The Good Food
Guide as one of the capital’s best
budget restaurants serving up quality
meals for under a tenner.
BENTLEY’S in Swallow Street is
providing live piano and jazz every
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and
Saturday from 8pm to midnight.

32 33
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT MAYFAIR
COULDN’T GET ANY COOLER, FASHION
LEGEND JEAN-CHARLES DE CASTELBAJAC,
THE DESIGNER WHO HAS DRESSED
EVERYONE FROM POP STARS TO THE
POPE, HAS ROCKED UP CONDUIT STREET
WITH HIS FIRST LONDON STORE.
SELMA DAY CAUGHT UP WITH HIM
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac must be one of the few fashion
designers – if not the only one – to have dressed the Pope. In
1997, he was asked to design the ecclesiastical robes for the late
Pope John Paul II, along with 500 bishops and 5,000 priests. It
was for the historic World Youth Day and accompanying papal
mass in Paris. Jean-Charles’s rainbow-striped creations were
based on the story of Noah and the ark. When he pointed out to
the Pope that the rainbow was also the symbol of the gay
community, the Pope answered: “Young man, you have used the
colour as a cement of faith.”
Colour is one of the fundamentals of the designer’s work. “I
use colour with generosity,” he says. “And today is a good time
for me because it’s a time of creativity, pop and colour and I’ve
been doing that for many years now.”
For the past 40 years, Jean-Charles’s bright, eclectic designs
have been worn by everyone from Farah Fawcett – who he
dressed for the original Charlie’s Angels television show – and
Diana Ross to the New York Dolls and Madonna. Today, he is
reaching a whole new generation of followers. A retrospective at
the V&A in 2006 brought his designs to a younger hip-hop
audience, who now refer to him as JC/DC.
A pioneer of avant-garde and pop art fashion, Jean-Charles’s
signature pieces include Iceberg’s cartoon sweaters, blanket
coats made of – er, blankets, and a coat made of teddy bears.
It’s no surprise then that his new flagship store in Conduit
Street, showcasing fashion collections, luggage, sunglasses,
shoes, headwear and stationery, is a fusion of colour and
creativity. Designed by Jean-Charles himself and architect
Christian Ghion, the two-storey shop features a chalked
biography across the wall behind a Rubik’s cube till, while white
walls are decked with the designer’s quirky illustrations.
“Whenever I do a store, I invent a new play,” he says. “I do the
décor to suit the city and my London store has to be about pop
because my first love was the Kinks and the Yardbirds.
“I want this to be a fashion store, art gallery and performance
space – something exciting that will inspire kids and young
fashion students. It’s not just about proving the power of the
brand – it’s also about giving and sharing.”
Jean-Charles has set his sights on London for some time.
“London is an excellent place for creativity today – it is
incomparable,” he explains. “If you want your chance, you can
have it here.”
Jean-Charles – in contrast to his bright and bold designs –
dresses mostly in black, on this occasion in a black jacket with
white open-necked shirt and jeans. He says he used to wear
suits by Chittleborough & Morgan around the corner in Savile
Row before discovering “slim jeans”.
For a man of contradictions, Jean-Charles’s store couldn’t be
better placed. “On one side, you have the classicism of Savile
Row and on the other side, you have upcoming London. This
street is just starting now – it will be huge in five years.” He’s also
in the company of his good friends Vivienne Westwood, Issey
Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Sketch owner Mourad Mazouz.
Flying
colours
Born in Morocco into French nobility, Jean-Charles started
designing in Paris at the age of 17. His first job was at Kenzo. In
1975 he launched MaxMara’s Sportsmax line. Although staying
true to its traditional tailoring, he chose graffiti artist Keith Haring
to design the catwalk shows and Malcolm McClaren, manager of
the Sex Pistols, to produce the music. Then in 1978, he set up
his own label.
His designs are largely inspired by his tough upbringing. From
the age of five to 17 he was sent to a military boarding school
in France.
“I had a tremendously difficult life,” he says. “When I was a
child I had to be an adolescent – but in the end that’s what
fuelled my imagination. And throughout my career I have had the
freshness of a kid in the way I see things. I’m convinced there’s a
child in all of us and I want my customers to find that freshness.
It’s all about the fantasy inside them. I am offering a passport for
Peter Pan.”
Jean-Charles’s childhood experiences gave rise to some of
his most famous creations. A boarding school blanket inspired a
coat worn by John Lennon, while his teddy bear coat came
about from not owning a teddy bear when he was a child.
Although, he admits, there was actually a more sinister side to
that particular theme. “I’m going to be honest with you,” he says.
“It’s a very dark inspiration. My first encounter with a teddy bear
was through a priest who carried out exorcisms. Whenever he
saw children, he asked their parents to bring their teddy bears to
check there wasn’t a black spell or something hidden in there. I
remember walking into this room and it was full of teddy bears –
it was like a massive teddy bear chainsaw massacre. And I
always had it in my mind to reconstruct that – and it became the
teddy bear coat.”
Even today, Jean-Charles says there is no limit to what
inspires him. He has a passion for art, which he has been
collecting from an early age. “I was always into art because I was
into suffering,” he says. “I think to create, you need to suffer.
“I really like English art. What I like about artists such as
Tracey Emin is that there is this humour or this very dark, cynical
way of looking at life.”
Along with art, Jean-Charles collects photography, flags – and
even castles (including his own family castle). “But life is too short
to collect everything,” he says.
Outside his design work, Jean-Charles, who has already
written a book, is busy writing songs, which he hopes will be
performed by his great friend Rufus Wainwright. He is also
working on launching a new music label and is planning an
exhibition of his paintings in London next year.
But he is also now ready to develop the brand. “My brand is
a mystery,” he says. “In a sense, I’ve never wanted to be very
popular. I was always alternative and wanted to be
underground. But today, I’m ready to hit the floor. So our next
stop is New York because Paris talks, London rocks and New
York makes it happen.”
“I use colour with
generosity, and today
is a good time for me
because it’s a time of
creativity, pop and
colour and I’ve been
doing that for many
years now.”
JEAN-CHARLES DE CASTELBAJAC
IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS PRINTS
AND BOLD SPLASHES OF COLOUR
fashion

34
fashion
THE ELIZABETH HURLEY for MNG
capsule collection includes sexy
cutouts, all-in-ones, bikinis and
kaftans in coral, fuchsia, white and
mocha. A nod to the Sixties can be
seen on belted bikinis and swirly
prints. Available at 225-235 Oxford
Street and 106-112 Regent Street.
www.mango.com
RIGBY & PELLER offers modern
shapes in a variety of prints. Fun frills
and quirky appliqués give the range
a fresh and frivolous look. This onepiece
in Ink/Print is priced at £230
and can be found at the Rigby &
Peller store in Conduit Street.
www.rigbyandpeller.com
THE 2008 COLLECTION from Melissa
Odabash features the designer’s
signature stylish and flattering swimwear
and kaftans. Inspired by a trip to Africa,
the collection mixes earth tones,
metallics and animal prints.
Available from Selfridges and Fenwick or
online at www.odabash.com
THIS SEASON’S
BEACHWEAR IS ALL
ABOUT GLITZ AND
GLAMOUR. HERE’S OUR
PICK OF THE BEST
Beach
style
LA PERLA beachwear collection 2008
combines sophisticated and elegant
styles with the latest high-tech fabrics,
including iridescent Lycra. Swimsuits and
bikinis are more sculpted this season,
while colours range from yellow,
cornflower blue, ochre and violet to
emerald green, red, black and white.
www.laperla.com
SEAFOLLY’S SUMMER collection of
bold brights and sharp prints takes
inspiration from around the globe –
from the French Riviera to the
Caribbean. Mix and match separates
to create your own individual style.
From John Lewis and House of Fraser.
www.seafolly.co.uk

36
fashion
SALES OF SUPER-HIGH
HEELS HAVE SOARED
SINCE GWYNETH PALTROW
WORE KILLER HEELS FOR
THE PREMIERE OF HER
FILM IRON MAN. AND NOW
SEX AND THE CITY HAS HIT
THE BIG SCREEN THE
TREND LOOKS SET TO
CONTINUE THROUGH
SUMMER. HERE’S OUR
PICK OF THE BEST
The heel deal
THE INTRIGUING personality of
actress Charlotte Rampling in
the 1970s film Night Porter is the
inspiration behind Georgina
Goodman’s summer collection.
This season is all about strong,
sleek shapes, a soft flow and
confident colours.
Georgina Goodman is at
44 Old Bond Street.
THE JIMMY CHOO summer
collection comes from “a
cocktail by the pool of The
Raleigh in Miami”. The overall
feel is modern, bold and sexy.
The collection includes the Idol
(above).
Jimmy Choo is at 27 New Bond
Street.
RUPERT SANDERSON’S summer
shoe collection is bursting with
colour, contrast and includes a
new shape – the Rocket. With a
foreshortened pointed toe and
hourglass heel, it is clean-lined
and comes in patent leather and
geometric fabrics.
Rupert Sanderson is at 33 Bruton
Place.
SHOE DESIGNER Stuart
Weitzman is known for his
creative and playful shoe
collections and his summer
designs are no exception. The
choice of heels ranges from
chiselled and sculpted Surrealist
shapes, to natural, woven raffia
heels and candy colour brights.
You’ll find the range at Selfridges.
HENRY GOLDENBERG STARTED WORK
AS A HAIRDRESSER’S APPRENTICE AT
14 AND OPENED HIS FIRST SALON IN
HIS EARLY TWENTIES. HIS ONLINE
HAIR AND BEAUTY RETAIL STORE,
HQHAIR.COM, IS NOW THE FASTEST
GROWING BEAUTY BRAND IN THE UK.
LUCINDA VAN DER HART
TALKS TO HIM
Henry Goldenberg’s passion for his work in the hair and beauty
industry is fuelled by making people happy. “It’s fantastic the
appreciation we receive,” he says. “What people tell you about
how you have made a difference for them and how they have
enjoyed their shopping experience” makes his day, he adds.
Henry braved the waters of e-commerce when he launched
online store HQhair.com, originally selling only hair products, nine
years ago. This year HQHair.com was ranked at number 43 in the
Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track – Britain’s 100 Fastest Growing
Companies. The company was the only beauty brand listed in this
top 100, a long way from its humble beginnings.
Prior to the launch he ran a salon in W2, with a retail area for hair
care products. “We realised that something we were already selling
could really take off,” he says. “The products we were selling in the
salon would probably be as easy to sell online as books or CDs
because you don’t have to try them on.”
Without a physical shop or the need for extra stock, the
business was relatively easy to set up. “We built a website and filled
orders from our salon shelves,” Henry says. “We grew from there.”
By 2003 the business had outgrown the shelves of the W2
salon, and Henry saw a dedicated HQ Hair and Beauty store as
the logical progression. Mayfair was chosen as the location. The
Hair conditioner
TOP: HENRY GOLDENBERG
CENTRE: STORAGE NOT AN ISSUE FOR
THE ONLINE OPERATION
BOTTOM: THE STORE IS THE BEST PLACE
TO SHOWCASE THE BRANDS
xxxxx
basement became the online products warehouse — although this
soon proved too small for demand and it was turned into further
beauty rooms while warehousing was moved to Docklands.
Mayfair seemed ideal for the store, says Henry. “We were
expanding with aspirational products and we wanted to continue
to cater for young professional people, who formed the basis of
our business.”
Having a physical HQ Hair and beauty store and an online
store means that the two can “feed off one another”. “Clients
discover the salon through the website, or the website through
the salon.”
One benefit of the online store is that vast ranges of products
can be made available. “A shop is limited in the number of brands
it can carry, however large it is,” Henry says. “When it takes on new
brands it has to delete old ranges because it hasn’t got the shelf
space.” With the online store, “you have unlimited shelves”.
Henry lets on that offering detailed hair and beauty advice
to online customers is another key to success. “A lot of
women are intimidated by sitting on a high stool in a
department store in front of hundreds of people to discuss
their skin problems. They feel more comfortable talking online
to one of our beauty consultants.”
37
health & beauty

38
Instant glamour Gilt trip
39
Peak
performance
CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN MIGHT BE JUST THE
THING TO HELP YOU SUCCEED – BOTH IN LIFE
AND BUSINESS. ONE BUSINESS IS HELPING
IF YOU WANT glamorous hair with minimum
effort this summer, Fast Fusion hair
extensions from Great Lengths could be a
solution. The extensions take just one hour
THIS SEASON’S BEAUTY LOOKS HAVE BEEN
INSPIRED BY THE METALLIC SHEENS ON THE
COMPANIES IN MAYFAIR DO JUST THAT
to apply, cut and style and are made from
100 per cent human hair. They come in over
SPRING/SUMMER CATWALKS
BECAUSE IT’S THERE is a company geared rugby player) is training director/conditioning
55 colours, in small or medium width.
towards senior executives improving their
coach, while motivator Yannick Flugi guides
The process, available at the Michaeljohn
FOR THE FIRST TIME, Guerlain’s
business performance by undergoing “change clients safely in the mountains and helps them
salon in Albemarle Street, costs £300 to
Meteorites has been transformed
through challenge” programmes.
learn through the experience.
£1,200 and lasts three to six months.
into a compact. Poudre de Perles,
The brainchild of Peter Bailey, former
The programmes are designed to develop
an illuminating pressed powder,
marketing director of Crussh Juice Bars, and practices which help leaders maintain their
accentuates the light and acts
Hugh Moss, former international business
physical and emotional health and, in turn,
as a concealer.
development consultant for SP Holdings, the improve their ability to inspire, develop and involve
programmes aim to increase emotional, mental their team and organisation: in short, to enhance
and spiritual capacity through a series of physical their professional performance and whole life.
challenges.
Primarily focused on mountain-based
“The basic principle is that if you have a activities including biking, hiking, cross-country
challenge, it’s an incredible catalyst for stepping skiing, wilderness tours and summit-climbing, the
up, learning and changing things in your life,” programmes use a framework of preparation
says Peter.
supported by coaching.
As many clients are based in Mayfair, the
Bespoke preparation, built into the client’s
company has joined forces with Curzon Street- work schedule, takes place over six to 12 weeks.
based gym and personal training centre
It takes into account the executive’s primary
Personal Space.
objectives, challenge requirements, time
LAURA MERCIER’S GOLDDIGGER
“There’s a high degree of finance, hedge availability and current fitness.
Collection is all about creating a
funds, banks and lawyers who use the gym four Peter explains: “The question we ask is –
natural shimmer. Eye colours range
times a week so it makes it easier,” says Peter. what would make you a more effective
from white gold to burnished bronze,
Personal Space director Mark Roberts (a individual?”
while cheeks glow in shades of pink
former nationally ranked decathlete and county Visit www.becauseitsthere.net
and coral bronze. From Space NK,
Brook Street, and Selfridges.
health & beauty
Good health can
be child’s play
FOR THE FIRST TIME in the UK, a full private
range of paediatric services is available under
one roof. Formed by London paediatrician Dr
Jack Singer, the Harley Street Paediatric
Group brings together specialists from all of
London’s leading hospitals.
The idea – based on the US style of
healthcare – is that a consultant paediatrician
will assess each child and, if required, refer
him or her to a relevant specialist. The first
consultant will remain the central point of
contact, ensuring continuity of care is
maintained throughout treatment.
Services range from ENT and dentistry to
immunology, orthopaedics and cardiology.
The Harley Street Paediatric Group is based
at the Harley Street Clinic, 78 Harley Street.
Tel: 020 7034 8950.
Pre-holiday
pampering
THE PICCADILLY HEALTH CLUB & SPA has
the ideal pre-holiday treatment to make you
look and feel tanned, toned and relaxed.
The Decleor “Sunrise” Pre-Holiday
Treatment starts with a gentle exfoliation with
Atlantic and Dead Sea salts, essential oils and
calendula petals to leave the skin soft and silky.
Aromatherapy balms are then massaged
into the face and body to ease tension and
boost the cells’ natural defence system. They
also stimulate melanin production in readiness
for exposure to the sun.
The treatment costs £75 and lasts 90
minutes. To book, call 020 7851 3139.
THE ENRICH BODY TREATMENT at the Agua
Spa at the Sanderson uses Aromatherapy
Associates’ Enrich range of products, a
combination of coffee, shea butter, coconut
and vanilla, making it ideal for dehydrated skin.
After a full body exfoliation, the skin is
replenished with a warm frankincense serum. A
full pressure point massage is carried out using
a rich body butter combined with ylang-ylang
and patchouli essential oils. Treatment ends
with a mud wrap on the hands and feet and a
neck and scalp massage.
The treatment costs £110 and lasts 90
minutes. To book, call 020 7300 1414.
TO CELEBRATE its 25th anniversary, Amouage
has created a limited-edition fragrance called
Homage. The scent features Rose Taifi, famed
throughout the Gulf for its rich and romantic
essence and said to be the finest oil extracted
from rose petals. Priced £175 from Selfridges.
DIOR’S SUMMER LOOK is inspired by
John Galliano’s latest couture
collections. The Golden Dior range,
featuring eye shadows, lip glosses and
nail lacquers in various shades of gold,
is priced from £14 to £39. Also
available is the Dior Bronze Make-up
collection.

40 41
business
Hedging
forward
POWER BREAKFASTING AT
THE DORCHESTER
Last year was a good year for the West End’s hedge funds. Stephen
Oxley’s fund of hedge funds, Pacific Alternative Asset Management
Company (PAAMCO), was up 17 per cent and the sector indices all showed
rises of between 10 and 12 per cent.
Between them, Oxley estimates, the Mayfair and St James’s hedge
funds would have seen revenues of around £7.5 billion, “an enormous
amount of money” for what, not very long ago, was a collection of
alternative investment management boutiques.
This year, so far, is slower.
“In the year to date,” Oxley said, “you’d have been better off having
your money in cash, as hedge funds are up about half of one per cent to
the end of May. Although I say you would have been better off in cash –
you’d have had a return of one and a half per cent, instead of half a per
cent – you would have been better off in hedge funds than you would have
been if you had invested in equities, particularly European equities, which
are still negative today.”
Paradoxically, it was the sub-prime debacle – which led to the credit
crunch – that helped boost hedge fund performance last year, since many
funds saw it coming and took up short positions in the financial markets. In
simple terms, they gambled on a crisis that would see stock fall in value,
which it did.
“Last year was a surprisingly good year for hedge funds,” Oxley said.
“Hedge funds benefited from the whole sub-prime debacle because they
saw it coming and many hedge funds – particularly those in the credit
hedging group – were able quite early on, before July, to put on short
positions.”
And despite the slowdown in the first five months of this year, Oxley is
optimistic. “We see good opportunities,” he said, “but not everywhere.
Geographic diversification and managing a balanced portfolio of hedge
funds seems to us to be as important as ever.”
Hedge fund managers follow a number of investment strategies. The
first fund, set up by broker and journalist Alfred Jones in the US in the
1940s, followed a long/short equity strategy. In effect, Jones invested in
those equities he calculated would increase in value and shorted, or bet
against, those he thought would fall.
It’s a strategy still in use today.
Other strategies include:
activism – in which a fund buys equity in a business with the intention of
increasing shareholder value actively, by joining forces with other
shareholders, for example, and changing decisions or by breaking up
the company to release value.
investment in emerging markets.
credit hedging – in which funds go long/short on credit.
“Hedge funds benefited
from the whole sub–prime
debacle because they
saw it coming.”
Stephen Oxley
HEDGE FUND MANAGERS ARE BIG
SPENDERS IN MAYFAIR AND ST
JAMES’S AND WE’RE INTERESTED IN
HOW WELL THEY’RE DOING IN 2008.
SO MAYFAIR TIMES TEAMED UP WITH
THE DORCHESTER AND THE HEDGE
FUND JOURNAL TO HOST A BUSINESS
BREAKFAST AT WHICH STEPHEN
OXLEY, MD OF THE FUND OF FUNDS
PAAMCO EUROPE, GAVE US A
CRYSTAL-CLEAR VIEW OF THE SECTOR
sovereign debt or global macro-management – in which funds exploit
trends in global markets, currencies, commodities, equities, bonds or
whatever vehicle will generate a profit.
convertible arbitrage – in which funds go long/short in convertible
securities and equities to trade an arbitrage. An arbitrage is the practice
of making a profit by taking advantage of a price differential in two or
more markets.
commodity trading advisers – essentially, technically driven futures
traders.
distress, or event-driven management – in which a fund might take a
long position in a distressed company expected to recover, for instance
merger arbitrage – in which a fund would go long on the acquirer and
short the acquired company in a merger.
equity market neutral – in which a fund uses quantitative models to go
long and short in equities in equal measure. The aim is to create a
return that has no market effect.
Within these strategies, there are many sub-strategies. As Oxley said, there
is no such thing as a hedge fund – only different groups of managers
seeking to generate real, rather than relative, returns by deploying various
strategies. The fund of funds emerged to create a balanced portfolio of
strategies – in effect, hedging the hedgers.
“Across the strategies it has been an interesting year so far because
some strategies have performed better than others, as you might expect,”
Oxley said.
So, convertible arbitrage has had a difficult time. Funds with a short
bias have done well. Equity market neutral has had a very difficult year,
because the quantitative models in use struggle with the sentiment that
sometimes moves markets.
“Nonetheless,” Oxley said, “if you were an equity investor over the last
five years, 10 years, one year, six months even, having an exposure to
hedge funds would have improved the overall risk adjustment of your
portfolio because hedge funds have low correlation to traditional bonds
and equities. Look at May, for example: bonds and equities were negative,
hedge funds were positive.”
It is this lack of correlation with traditional asset classes that provides
the “hedge”. And all markets throw up opportunities.
“We see particular opportunities in the credit and distressed area,”
Oxley said.
Hedge funds are also getting into real assets – agricultural land, oil
prospecting, anything related to price inflation – and private lending.
“There are still opportunities we believe among smaller managers,”
Oxley said. “One of the things we try to do is to allocate early to managers
who are starting up in business, particularly those who are moving away
from the bigger firms. We hope that by doing that we earn the additional
fee that we charge our clients … and we’re quite optimistic about the
future.”
For subscriptions to The Hedge Fund Journal, contact Rod Sparks at
31 Davies Street, London W1K 4LP or telephone 020 7409 0888.

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LISTEN TO THIS:
MIKE WILSON BEGAN HIS
WORKING CAREER AS A TEENAGER
DELIVERING DOUGHNUTS.
NOW, AT 64, HE IS CHAIRMAN OF
THE LISTED WEALTH MANAGER
ST JAMES’S PLACE, WHICH IN
THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS
YEAR HAD £17.2 BILLION UNDER
MANAGEMENT. AS HE TELLS ERIK
BROWN, HE’S LOOKING FORWARD
TO A TOUGH YEAR
“I was born in Plymouth. My father was in the navy. I went to a school in Oxford
called St Edward’s on a naval bursary. It didn’t mean that academically I was
bright, but my father was in the navy and the fees were subsidised. The only
thing I could do well was sport. I left with no qualifications but I was a reasonably
good sportsman.
“I left school at 18 and went to see the careers master. He was a joke really. He
said, ‘perhaps you should be a sports master’. I thought to myself, that doesn’t pay
very well, and then he said there’s an old boy from St Edward’s who’s with Rank’s. I
thought Rank was the film company with the big gong, and I thought that’s for me:
management trainee in the film industry. Much to my horror, when I turned up at
the address for interview it was Rank Hovis McDougall. I accepted the job and a
week later was loading doughnuts on to a bread van and delivering them around
Salisbury.”
Okay, it’s odd to start a feature with 250 words taken directly from a transcript of
an interview, but there’s a point to be made here. Mike Wilson is one of the few
people I have ever met who speaks with such clarity that had we the space for
5,000 words we could run the entire transcript and it would read well.
Communication is clearly one of Wilson’s core skills.
But to get back to the biography. Wilson delivered doughnuts for nine months
before bumping into somebody on a squash court who suggested he would be
better off working as a clerk at Equity & Law. So he jumped ship.
The E&L house rules were that salesmen had to be 25 before they were let loose
on customers but Wilson’s manager spotted something in him and he became a
salesman at 21. By the time he was 22 he was the top salesman in the company.
He was moved to London to work in the City office, but the business paid
salaries on age rather than results and when Charles Fry (of venture capitalist
Johnson and Fry) invited Wilson to bring a girlfriend to dinner at a restaurant, Wilson
said he couldn’t afford it. Fry was horrified, and – in a bid to increase Wilson’s
income – introduced his friend to the South African entrepreneur Mark (now Sir
Mark) Weinberg.
“I’ve worked with Mark since I was 23,” Wilson says, “and he’s the best thing
that ever happened to me. We’ve worked together for 40 years.”
After three years at Abbey Life, Wilson joined Hambro Life – which became Allied
Dunbar, known colloquially, Wilson points out, as Allied Crowbar because of its
aggressive approach to sales. Mark Weinberg was MD and Wilson was made sales
director in 1976 and group chief executive in 1988.
After that, things got a little complicated. British American Tobacco (BAT) bought
the insurance company, Mark Weinberg took a seat on the BAT board and Wilson
joined him on the board two years later.
Then Jacob Rothschild launched a bid for BAT that – had it gone through –
would have been the biggest takeover the world had ever seen. Weinberg – who
Why I love a tough year
43
business

44
business
was also on the board of Lord Rothschild’s company – stepped down from the
board of BAT, and Wilson later resigned on a point of principle.
“Jacob Rothschild had always said, ‘you’ll fall out with BAT one day and if you
want backing, I’ll back you’,” Wilson recalls. “Mark came out of retirement and we
started as J Rothschild Assurance on January 1, 1992.”
Wilson was initially chief executive of J Rothschild Assurance. Five years later he
was appointed to the board of the parent company, St James’s Place Capital, as
chief executive and in 2004 he became chairman.
“People call us a virtual company,” Wilson says. “When we started I read a book
called The Age of Unreason by Charles Handy and it said that companies of the
future would focus on where management could give added value and outsource
the rest. So one Monday when we were on gardening leave, I went to Mark – we
were doing our business plan – and said I think we ought to contract out our back
office, contract our investment management and concentrate on designing products
and distribution. He looked at me as if I’d been on something over the weekend and
I said, read the book first.”
St James’s Place now has 1,200 “partners” – wealth managers with an average
experience of 15-16 years. Between them, they have 400,000-plus clients and St
James’s Place has some breathtaking financial statistics.
In the year ending December 31, 2007, the group’s operating profit was £244.7
million (up 39 per cent on the previous year), with new business profits of £150.9
million (up 31 per cent). And the group has had “four really good years on the trot”.
This year might be a little more challenging, and Wilson is unphased.
“People think I’m peculiar on this one,” he says softly, “but I might as well be
honest, I love a tough year more than an easy year. When things are just rolling
in and everyone is doing well, you never know how much is due to management
or just the market going your way. I love a tough market, it’s more stimulating
and challenging.”
When I suggest that the rich probably need the help of a wealth manager more in
a tough market than in an easy one, Wilson replies: “I believe they do, I genuinely
believe they do. The irony is that I believe people will look back on 2008 and say, I
wish I’d invested money in 2008. But we all know what happens, they wait until the
market recovers. Buy high-quality shares now, you’re not going to regret it, but
people are inclined to sit on their hands.”
That’s something Wilson will never do. His job as chairman takes one and a half
days to two days a week, he reckons, but he works five days a week, getting in at
7.30am and leaving at 7.30pm.
In particular, he says, he enjoys leading a sales team “for the reasons other
people dislike it”. The partners are self-employed. They are entrepreneurs. They’re
on commission, and they say exactly what they think.
“The variety of backgrounds is brilliant, it’s a total meritocracy. You stand or fall by
your figures. That appeals to me enormously.”
He adds: “I’m 65 in December. The cut-off point was 60, and then it was
extended to 63 and then 65 and now I’ve got another three years at three days a
week, which is what I wanted.”
And what’s he going to do with his spare time? Well, he’s planning to become a
mentor, a business coach – and any fees he picks up he’ll give to his charitable
trust. “We’ve got a financial adviser who is 77,” he says thoughtfully. “He works three
days a week, and earns over £100,000 every year.”
For some people, age just isn’t an issue.
“When things are just rolling in and everyone
is doing well, you never know how much is
due to management or just the market going
your way . . . I love a tough market, it’s more
stimulating and challenging.”

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Mayfair Times, e-mail readers@pubbiz.com
or ring Erik Brown on 020 7259 1053
THE NEW WEST
END COMPANY’S
“REDCAPS” HAVE
HELPED CUT CRIME
ON OXFORD STREET
Working to keep
crime down
LOUISE CASEY’S REPORT Engaging Communities
in Fighting Crime was published this week and has
led to a great deal of debate, in particular about
the public’s role in tackling crime.
The report contains a number of interesting
facts: 55 per cent of the public say crime is the
most important issue facing Britain today, 73 per
cent say that hearing about someone being a
victim of crime in their local area affects their
feelings of safety and 75 per cent of the public are
prepared to play a role in tacking crime. One of the
themes from the report is that the public feel
excluded from the process. Do we all believe now
that it is solely down to the police and the courts
to tackle crime or anti-social behaviour and that
we as citizens have no responsibility ourselves?
As leader of Westminster City Council, Sir
Simon Milton put safe, clean streets at the heart of
his One City campaign. And Boris Johnson has
also put tackling youth crime close to the top of
his agenda. In his recently published Have I got
Views for You he writes with his characteristic
passion about how we will only ever solve
problems of street crime and anti-social behaviour
when we see it as our responsibility to play an
active part in tackling the problem.
What does this have to do with Mayfair? You
may well ask as it is an area with one of the lowest
crime rates in London (and long may it remain so).
Well, when we asked Mori to seek views from
residents and office workers in Mayfair on what
aspects of living or working in the neighbourhood
were most important to them, “feeling safe walking
on the street” was high up the list. We are very
fortunate to live and work in an area with such low
crime but making our communities safer is always
a top priority.
Boris is right — we should not just leave it to
the police. Mayfair is a safe neighbourhood and
perhaps one of the reasons is the willingness of
many who live and work in the community to see it
as the responsibility of all of us to keep it that way.
I know Mayfair has many active citizens who really
care about the area and will go out of their way to
spot even the most minor problems and get action
taken. We recently had a problem with noise from
one of the pubs on the estate as customers spilled
out down one of the Mews. The residents raised
the problem, we got them together with the
landlord and the problem is now solved. It is our
neighbourhood, and by getting involved we can
continue to make it better.
On July 1, I will be moving on to a new role at
Grosvenor and handing over the responsibility for
the London Estate to Giles Clarke. Since joining
Grosvenor from the Crown Estate a year ago Giles
has been spending a lot of time getting to know
the estate and all involved with it. As a result, he
will be writing this column from now on. After 36
editions, I’m sure you’d welcome a change.
Peter Vernon
UK Investment Director

LONDON’S MOST INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN DESTINATION
NEW BURLINGTON PLACE MAYFAIR W1
Newly built in the 1990’s, a tucked away house between Bond
Street & Regent Street in this landscaped pedestrian thoroughfare.
■ Entrance Hall ■ Reception Room ■ Kitchen ■ Bedroom ■ Bathroom
■ Independent Gas Central Heating ■ 693 Sq Ft ■ 60 year lease
£750,000
Sole Agent Tel: 020 7529 5566
BOURDON STREET MAYFAIR W1
Between Berkeley Square and Bond Street in this quiet mews, a
second floor flat in this modern block with lift & caretaker.
■ Entrance Hall ■ Reception Room ■ Kitchen ■ Two Bedrooms
■ Two Bathrooms (One En Suite) ■ Approx. 660 Sq Ft ■ 56 year lease
£795,000
Sole Agent Tel: 020 7529 5566
BRINGING RESIDENTIAL LIFE BACK TO MAYFAIR
LONDON’S MOST INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN DESTINATION
CHARLES STREET MAYFAIR W1
Two separate flats for sale in this period building, at the quiet western end of Charles Street, where the residents own the freehold.
■ A refurbished contemporary lateral apartment ■ A first floor flat with 11’6” high ceilings
■ Entrance Hall ■ Double Reception Room ■ Kitchen/Breakfast Room ■ Family
Room ■ Three Bedroom Suites ■ Courtyard Patio ■ 2,618 Sq Ft ■ 992 yr lease
£5,500,000
Sole Agent Tel: 020 7529 5566
■ Entrance Lobby ■ Reception Room ■ Kitchen ■ Bedroom ■ Bathroom
■ Independent Central Heating & Hot Water ■ 625 Sq Ft ■ 992 year lease
£945,000
Sole Agent Tel: 020 7529 5566
NO-ONE KNOWS MAYFAIR BETTER THAN WETHERELL

Summer in Mayfair
South Audley Street, Mayfair W1
A wonderful one bedroom Mayfair Village pied-à-terre
located on the first floor of this beautiful period building.
641 Sq Ft.
■ Entrance Hall ■ Reception Room ■ Bedroom ■ Kitchen
■ Bathroom ■ Guest Cloakroom
FURNISHED £675 PER WEEK
Hertford Street, Mayfair W1
A fantastic opportunity to rent a recently refurbished
Mayfair house of over 3,250 Sq ft. Classically furnished but
incorporating all mod cons including comfort cooling and
Lutron lighting, it offers spacious family living over 5 floors
right in the heart of Mayfair.
■ Entrance Hall ■ Dining Room ■ Reception Room
■ Kitchen ■ Utility ■ Two Guest Cloakrooms
■ 5 Bedrooms ■ 5 Bathrooms ■ Terrace
FURNISHED £4,725 PER WEEK
NO-ONE KNOWS MAYFAIR BETTER THAN WETHERELL
Park Lane Place, Mayfair W1
A super penthouse located in this luxury portered block
on the edge of Hyde Park.With views over the park, airconditioning,
use of an exclusive health club, underground
parking and the option of room service, this is Mayfair
luxury that you can’t miss out on!
■ Entrance Hall ■ Double Reception Room with Wrap
Around Terrace ■ Two Double Bedrooms both with Ensuite
■ Kitchen ■ Guest WC ■ Porter ■ Health Club
Option ■ Parking
FURNISHED £3,400 PER WEEK
Tel: 020 7529 5588
rentals@wetherell.co.uk

58 59
property
TV PRESENTER ALISON CORK
KNOWS A THING OR TWO
ABOUT BARGAIN-HUNTING.
SHE REVEALS HER SECRETS
TO NUALA CALVI
Alison Cork is a woman with a mission: to find luxury for
less. That’s the strapline of the journalist and TV presenter’s
website www.homesandbargains.co.uk, which has turned her
obsession with bargain-hunting into a business. And her view
is that, with the cost of living soaring and gloomy economic
forecasts, we need our bargains more than ever.
“People don’t want to forgo that designer leather sofa
when they’re feeling a bit more strapped for cash – they just
don’t want to pay as much for it,” she says confidently, from
her Mayfair HQ.
“We’re all sitting on our properties at the moment rather
than selling them, so we want to be jazzing up our homes to
add value.”
And Alison’s is an opinion worth listening to. From
educating the nation’s homemakers with programmes such
as The Christmas Show, Domestic Magic, Countdown to
Christmas and Home In The Country (the latter captivated 32
per cent of the daytime TV audience with its idyllic visions of
Alison baking at her house in Wales) to her weekly property
columns in the Daily Telegraph and Evening Standard, she
has dedicated her life to making our homes that little bit more
sparkly.
“Where I come in is as a nosy journalist. I believe that for
years we’ve been paying too much in the UK for things like
kitchens and bathrooms, and if you know where to go, you
can find them for 70 per cent less than on the high street.”
So what’s the secret? “It’s about finding people who
know about sourcing from lower-cost places like
China, who know about buying in volume and who
don’t have crippling high street overheads,” she
explains. “They might be out-of-town outlets, online suppliers
– or even outlets in central London in what people think of as
‘bad’ areas so they don’t go to them. People simply don’t
know about these places and they need to be educated.”
A quick look at Alison’s website reveals, for example, a
warehouse in Wimbledon where furniture from major brands
such as House of Fraser and Next is on offer for at least 50
per cent less than its catalogue price.
Another section of the site is dedicated to tracking where
sales are happening, fuelled by a team of researchers whose
job it is to keep on the look-out for hot new offers.
“It’s about keeping one’s ear to the ground and being first
to know when a closing-down sale or big promotion is about
to start,” says Alison. “We’ve got a database of thousands of
contacts, so we know what’s going on before it happens,
and we like it that way.”
Getting
the best
for less
American Fan
Company
“Rumour has it that this summer could turn out to be
a scorcher – and to keep you cool at night, why not
invest in a stylish ceiling fan from the American Fan
Company? They’re environmentally friendly, use the
same amount of electricity as a 100-watt light bulb,
and are a cost-effective alternative to installing air
conditioning. Prices begin at a very reasonable £119.”
www.americanfan.co.uk
Fantastic Furniture
“If you’re looking to while away those
long summer evenings in the garden, the
rattan patio set from Fantastic Furniture
could be your perfect companion. The
set comprises two chairs with cushions,
and a tempered glass-topped table.
Made from a weatherproof replica
material called ‘pe’, it has all the looks of
original wooden weave. Usually costing
£295, the set is currently available online
at the discounted price of £145.”
www.fantasticfurniture.co.uk
Trade Secrets
Alison’s tips for
bargain-hunters
“Trade Secret’s ‘secret’ is to sell furniture from
high street stores such as M&S, Laura Ashley and
House of Fraser for half the catalogue price. A
new store has recently opened in south-east
London offering all of these fantastic savings.
This place won’t remain a secret for long.”
www.trade-secret.co.uk
Grays Antique Market
“With more than 200 dealers, this indoor antiques market offers
plenty for connoisseurs and bargain-hunters alike – if you know
where to look. Dealer Gordon Grahame sells antique wall art as
cheap as you’d find anywhere. The front cover of a collectible
music sheet for The Gaby Glide dance featuring Gaby Deslys is
only £8. For small trinkets and display items, head over to Ethel
and Kathleen’s stall to pick up a ruby red vase for just £20.”
Grays Antique Market, 38 Davies Street, W1K 5AB
West One Bathrooms
“In a market where the word ‘luxury’ is
bandied around all too often, it’s
surprising how many bathroom retailers
fall short of the mark. West One
Bathrooms offers genuinely jaw-dropping
luxury, as anyone who has pressed their
noses up against the windows of its
South Audley Street showroom would
testify. However, the flagship store
doesn’t give away the fact that a range of
clearance items is available in its
Battersea branch (41 Queenstown Road)
at up to 50 per cent off the normal price.
At the time of writing, this Huppe Magna
5000 luxury corner shower enclosure had
been reduced from £5,882 to £3,529.”
www.westonebathrooms.co.uk

60
property
IN A GLOOMY
HOUSING MARKET,
ONE SECTOR IS
MORE THAN
HOLDING ITS OWN.
NUALA CALVI
REPORTS
UK house prices in April and May may have experienced their
biggest monthly fall since records began but at the top end of
the market – the super-prime sector – it’s a different story.
Research by estate agency Savills shows that, while prime
central London property values fell by -1.5 per cent in the first
quarter of 2008, there was a 1.7 per cent increase in average
values among properties over £5 million.
And, while in the first four months of 2007, 32 per cent of £5
million-plus properties were going for more than £2,000 per
square foot, this had increased to 50 per cent at the start of 2008.
That’s good news for Mayfair – one of the areas with the
highest proportion of super-prime properties in London. And,
according to local estate agents, it’s international demand that
is fuelling the market.
“The super rich end of the market is bucking the trend,”
says Alastair Mercer, director of Mercer Pasqua. “You’re dealing
with the Russians and the rich Indians here, and if they see the
right property they’ll pay the money for it. We’ve seen some
really good activity for houses at £15 million-plus.”
Liam Bailey, head of research at Knight Frank, agrees. “The
top of the market is slightly immune. We’ve done at least
double the number of sales of £10 million-plus properties in the
last three months compared to the same time last year.
“Buyers are down 40 per cent generally compared to a year
ago in central London but at the top end the reverse is true –
there are twice as many people looking.”
However, while super-prime prices may still be rising, growth
is slowing. Annual growth stands at 15 per cent, down from 50
per cent at the same time last year, according to Savills.
“If you compare the rate of growth in the super-prime sector
to this time last year it has slowed down,” says Savills’ Brian
D’Arcy Clark. “We delude ourselves if we think any section of
the market is unaffected by what’s happening elsewhere.
Foreign money won’t hold the top end of the market forever. It
is inevitable that the upper end of the market will at some stage
lose momentum and prices could start to drop there as well.”
Nevertheless, for now estate agent Wetherell is reporting a
“surge” of business for super-prime. In the first four months of
2008, there were five sales of Mayfair mansions at record prices
with total sales of nearly £120 million. Many of these were former
offices that had been reverted to residential buildings.
They include a period house on Park Street, by the
Grosvenor House Hotel, which has been turned back to
View from the top
residential from offices, going for £11.5 million (nearly £1,500
per square foot).
On South Street, a house sold in 1993 for £5.4 million or
£238 per square foot has just sold, unmodernised, for nearly
£2,000 per square foot. On Mount Row, a tear-down property
with planning permission for a new 10,500ft house sold for £15
million – nearly £1,500 per square foot.
Part of the uplift, according to Savills, is due to the
emergence of certain very high-specification developments such
as One Hyde Park, which have raised the bar on luxury living.
The complex, next to the Mandarin Oriental, contains 86 flats,
said to be going for an average £20 million each.
And the divergence in prices looks set to continue and
widen: while a -10 per cent fall in prime central London
property values is predicted during 2008, the super-prime
market is forecast to grow by 3 per cent.
“The economic uncertainties have increased the demand for
prime property,” says Peter Wetherell, director of Wetherell. “It
might be expensive but it is a tangible asset.”
TOP OF PAGE:
HIGH-SPEC
DEVELOPMENT AT
ONE HYDE PARK
ABOVE:
TURNING OFFICES
BACK TO RESIDENTIAL
IN PARK STREET

66
meanderings erik brown
Shaken, but not stirred
I’VE ALWAYS TAKEN BAR STAFF SERIOUSLY. They’re friends
to the forlorn, counsellors to the conflicted and – as a rule –
pretty good eggs. So, when Fred Sirieix – general manager of
Galvin at Windows – asked me to be a judge in the annual
Galvin Cup cocktail contest, I was delighted. Cocktails and me, I
thought . . . old friends.
What I didn’t realise is that, as part of a team of three, I’d
have to taste quite so many – something like 30 – and me only
two days into an annual detox. Worse still, I didn’t realise that
the other two members of the team were going to be Silvano
Giraldin, revered general manager of Le Gavroche, and Daniel
Crebesse, who is not only head barman of the Milestone Hotel
and Apartments in west London, but also national vice-president
of the UK Bartenders Guild. Next to them, I knew nothing.
Still, they were both jolly nice chaps who managed to give
Power breakfast
MEANWHILE, we held quite a different event at The Dorchester
– a business breakfast in the sumptuous Grill Room on the
subject of hedge funds. The full story appears in our business
section on page 40, but I couldn’t resist showing you this
picture of three of our 26 guests: Brian Clivaz, chief executive of
The Arts Club in Dover Street; Matt Hobbs, director of
operations at The Birley Group; and Mark Anderson, secretary of
the Lansdowne Club just off Berkeley Square. If you run into any
of them, you have my permission to ask them about hedge fund
performance in the first five months of the year. Meanwhile, a
huge thanks to The Dorchester for hosting the event.
me an inkling of what I should be looking for, without making me
feel like a spotty youth squirming over his first half of bitter. And
the event, in the Red Bar at Grosvenor House Hotel, was great
fun – attracting bar staff from as far away as Mexico. It was
good too to see chef Chris Galvin again: both Galvins – on
Baker Street and Park Lane – are favourites of mine.
Anyway, the winner for the student’s competition was Lucy
Child from Westminster College. The professional contest was
won by Marco Ercolano of the aforementioned Milestone Hotel.
And then there was a series of special prizes: the Graeme Le
Saux prize went to Emily Williamson from Light Bar; the Robbie
Bargh prize was won by Aaron Marshall from City College,
Plymouth; and the Silvano Giraldin prize went to Simon Wagner
from Gleneagles.
Here’s to next year. Hic.
Parties for PAs
OUR LITTLE MAGAZINE FOR PAS – called, er, Mayfair PA – seems to
have gone down rather well. And the post-launch party in the Brian
Turner Room at what I’m told I must call the Millennium Hotel London
Mayfair was hilarious. Origins provided hand and head massages for
the gathered PAs, EAs, secretaries and office managers, Wild Things
provided goodie bags with beautiful little roses in glass jars, there
were money-off vouchers for Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Salon, and
a prize draw, quite apart from the free champagne and the canapés
provided by the hotel. TV chef Brian Turner – or Mr T, as we like to
call him – turned up long enough to flirt with our own PA Michelle
(who’d met him before). And close-up, magician Mark Parker startled
everybody with tricks that were, it goes without saying, impossible.
PAs are clearly in demand. Without
giving too much away, we’ve been
offered parties at some very wellknown
department stores before
the year is out. If you’re a PA and
you want to party, email
michelle@pubbiz.com. Do the
same if you want to be put on the
free mailing list for the magazine.
The next issue is due out in
October.