Person of the Week

Alain de Botton

The philosopher is the writer-in-residence at Heathrow Terminal 5 for one week, after which he will write a book about his experience. With full access throughout the airport, this may be a topical exercise, high-lighting the modern travel experience from a multitude of perspectives. De Botton said, "They're full of all the things that we're told the modern world's about - interconnection, fast travel, the destruction of nature, destruction of the environment, the dreams of consumerism and travel. It's... just a chance to see in action all these things that we normally just hear about as abstractions."

Quote of the Week

"I have reluctantly become convinced, over the last few weeks that the most effective way of restoring public confidence in Parliament is for there to be a significant increase in Members' salaries and an abolition of all allowances, save the allowance to pay for staff and a constituency office.

"In order to ensure that Members could perform their parliamentary and constituency duties effectively, and have, where necessary, a second home, the salary of Members would have to be doubled at least..."

Sir Patrick Cormack, Conservative politician who wants MP salaries doubled to £130,000 pa.

Facts of the week

Top visitor attraction rebranded: The Merlin Entertainments London Eye

Merlin to invest £17.5 million over 3 years leading up to 2012 Olympics

The rebranding of the London Eye coincided with the announcement of an additional £5 million investment in creating a 4D cinema

• Having already announced major upgrade plans for the attractions visitor pods earlier this year, Merlin will be launching the cinematic experience for visitors before they take their flight on the wheel.
• Nick Varney, Merlin's CEO said: "This very significant investment programme not only reflects our confidence in the London leisure market, but also marks a new phase in the development of The Merlin Entertainments London Eye, underlining its position as one of the primary attractions in the Merlin Group."

http://www.londoneye.com/NewsAndEvents/News/New_Eye_London/default.aspx

The UK economy will grow by 2.2% next year according to Bank of England

Forecasts show economic expansion since the first three months of last year

An upbeat report from the Bank this week suggested that the UK has emerged from the worst recession since World War II

• Whilst debate remains between analysts and public officials on the rate of economic recovery, this report high-lighted figures which provided an argument for progressive, sustained recovery.
• Reporting that GDP would rise by 0.2% between July and September, it suggests that the economy will continue to expand by 0.4% in the fourth quarter.
• The level of quantitative easing, and the strategy to unwind these efforts, remains a key issue, with Governor Mervyn King arguing for a higher level of stimulus that the £50 million provided.
• Vicky Redwood, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "If, as we expect, [the inflataion data] turns out to have been a blip and the economic recovery is weaker than the MPC expects, there is a good chance that the MPC will extend the QE programme again in November."

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article6802722.ece

In Passing...

If you have not already seen this youtube clip it is well worth a visit - we found it extremely striking. Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

Article of the week

EP Condense is EP's weekly e-newsletter. But did you know that EP is also a bimonthly magazine available via subscription? Our Article of the Week provides a sample of what we have featured in past issue.

This week we feature a story from the EP archive. It is a business article entitled "What does it take to be an entrepreneur?"

In December 2005 EP held a discussion group amongst industry leaders including William Baxter, BaxterStorey and Robert Cook, Malmaison & Hotel du Vin, to get their perspectives on questions including: What is an entrepreneur? What does it take to be an entrepreneur?