Quote of the Week

"I always said bird flu didn't scare me because I'm a bloke. But as a male chauvinist pig, I must admit the latest outbreak has got me worried. I think the government is taking things too far by introducing these disease-equality measures."

Metro Mail letter from Bob Harris this week

Person of the Week

Sir Stuart Rose
Executive Chairman
Marks & Spencer

This week Sir Stuart said businesses were "fed up with being fed up".

"We have just got to think it's been nasty but we must move on," he told the audience of 2,500 at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Source: ft.com

Facts of the week

£135 million funding secured for Corinthia's flagship London luxury hotel

• Corinthia Hotels have had a long-held desire to enter UK market.
• The business acquired the Metropole building on Northumberland Avenue and the adjoining 10 Whitehall Place last year.
• Funding has been secured from a syndication of banks led by Barclays; the bank loan matches the £135 million invested as equity by the developers.
• Corinthia are planning to open a 300 bedroom hotel plus private residences, targeted for completion by 2010.

Source: ehotelier.com

The Rich List…

• The publication of this year's Sunday Times Rich List has been well documented, mainly given the total wealth of the top 1,000 is down by a third.
• Whilst this may not make everyone groan in sympathy, we liked this article's perspective, pointing out that the fortunes made were at both the luxury and budget ends of the market.
• From a hospitality perspective, it points out that, for the forthcoming long weekend, you could hire a caravan in Cornwall for £104. Or, if you are feeling more flush, you could stay for £1,600-a-night in the cottage at Cliveden, Buckinghamshire.
• Either way, your host is in the money. Peter Harris, 75, who has a big stake in Bourne Leisure which owns Haven, the firm offering the caravan deal, Butlins and the more upmarket Warner Leisure Hotels, has seen his fortune rise by almost £1m a week in the past year to £245m.
• Andrew Davis, owner of the Von Essen Group who owns Cliveden, saw his fortune increase by £80 million.
• "We are not recession proof, we are recession resilient," said John Dunford, the director of Bourne Leisure.

Source: business.timesonline.co.uk

Article of the week

Did you know that En Passant produces a bi-monthly magazine? Each week we will publish an online article from a previous issue. Check out this week's article by Ian Hall on the subject of blue sky thinking. It's entitled "Blue sky with lateral black swans."

If you would like to find out more, or are interested in subscribing click here