Person of the Week

David Ridgway, La Tour d'Argent

David is the head wine waiter at this Paris restaurant which overlooks the Seine. It appears that he has caused something of a stir this week by revealing that he is not a Frenchman but a man of Kent. "It is not something the restaurant likes to advertise, especially when we thrash France at rugby", he said. One customer has since complained "Your British sommelier may know about wine, but he should learn how to serve it".

Quote of the Week

"I wonder who will take over T5 once BA have gone?"

A reader comment in The Times responding to proposed strike action this week

Facts of the week

Massive mixed use development opens in Las Vegas this week

...and it's 23 floors up to get the to the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental

• The largest privately funded project in the history of the United States, CityCenter is a 50-50 joint venture between Managing Partner MGM Mirage and Dubai World.
• The ratio of people coming to Vegas to gamble versus those who came for the food, shopping and entertainment has flipped in the last 20 years, with about 75% of 35 million tourists here for the 'other'.
• This article contains some of the staggering facts about the development such as:
  • including the Mandarin Oriental there are four hotels totalling 6,291 rooms
  • just under 1,000 bottles of wine are encased in the glass walls of the Jean-Gorges restaurant
  • US$40 million has been spent on artwork

Source: fastcompany.com

Financial firm's threat to help staff relocate highlights confusion on supertax

As government sources say they do not fall under the remit of tax on bonuses

• Tullett Prebon, a financial firm run by Terry Smith, pledged that it would help its 700 London-based employees leave the UK this week to escape the 50% supertax on bonuses.
• Questions have been raised as to whether they actually fall within the scope of the regulation, prompting other companies to raise concerns that they had received conflicting advice.
• Regardless, criticism of the 50% tax on bonuses from city firms has led many to voice concerns over an exodus of individuals from the UK and whilst higher taxes remain an inevitable consequence of this recession, the fallout from this new tax remains a key topic of debate.

Source: guardian.co.uk

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 of a the 2009 feature list of EP magazine. It is a business feature entitled "We want to be unique." EP met with Gary Davis, Chief Executive of Village Hotels and Resorts. Having spent the majority of his career with Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Café, what are his plans for this mid-market hotel brand??