5 d. ago Highland heart, city strength: Scotland’s women in business shine at National awards

From the crofts of Sutherland to the boardrooms of Glasgow, Scotland’s female founders are proving that purpose-led business is booming north of the border. Three exceptional women have made it to the finals of the prestigious Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAS) - the UK’s largest celebration of women in business - and they’re putting Scottish enterprise firmly on the national map.

Events

1 week ago California avocado growers feared Mexican imports would harm their trade. Instead business is booming

On a hillside northwest of Los Angeles, Andreas Tompros is replanting hundreds of avocado trees

Politics

1 week ago California avocado growers say Mexican imports have helped their sales

On a hillside northwest of Los Angeles, Andreas Tompros is replanting hundreds of avocado trees

Politics

2 w. ago ‘People are buying crossbows faster than I’d like’ – how prepping went mainstream in Britain

Once, getting ready for the apocalypse was for the paranoid. Now, in the face of cyber-attacks, climate breakdown and nuclear threats, the UK government recommends it. Should everyone have a survival kit?This is a great time to be a shopkeeper, if that shop is for those worried about the breakdown of civilisation. “It started with Covid, and people weren’t looking for toilet rolls, put it that way,” says Justin Jones, who runs the online UK Prepping Shop, whose stock ranges from emergency food and wind-up radios to crossbows and body armour.Business is booming, as is the British prepping scene – 22,700 members of the UK Preppers and Survivalists Facebook group, 6,000 in the UK Preppers Club Facebook group. The scene is not as well-known as its US and Canadian equivalents, but that’s partly by choice. “Preppers are by nature a little bit secretive,” says Bushra Shehzad, who is researching prepping for a PhD in marketing and consumer behaviour at Newcastle University. “They are scepti...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘People were buying crossbows faster than I’d like’ – how prepping went mainstream in Britain

Once, getting ready for the apocalypse was for the paranoid. Now, in the face of cyber-attacks, climate breakdown and nuclear threats, the UK government recommends it. Should everyone have a survival kit?This is a great time to be a shopkeeper, if that shop is for those worried about the breakdown of civilisation. “It started with Covid, and people weren’t looking for toilet rolls, put it that way,” says Justin Jones, who runs the online UK Prepping Shop, whose stock ranges from emergency food and wind-up radios to crossbows and body armour.Business is booming, as is the British prepping scene – 22,700 members of the UK Preppers and Survivalists Facebook group, 6,000 in the UK Preppers Club Facebook group. The scene is not as well-known as its US and Canadian equivalents, but that’s partly by choice. “Preppers are by nature a little bit secretive,” says Bushra Shehzad, who is researching prepping for a PhD in marketing and consumer behaviour at Newcastle University. “They are scepti...

Politics

3 w. ago Woman who was bullied out of school and told she'd never succeed reveals how she became millionaire by 18

Liv Conlon, 26, originally from Scotland,  was picked on 'relentlessly' over her aspirations. She eventually left school and launched two booming businesses that turned her into a millionaire.

Politics

4 w. ago 1,000 jobs in wind power, Heathrow enjoys busiest April and tributes to Kwik Fit founder

From Burberry’s profit hopes and Trump’s revived drug price pledge to a £10.9bn wind power project, a cooling UK jobs market, and tributes to Sir Tom Farmer - here are today’s top stories in UK business.

Society

4 w. ago A Liam from Liège? A North American Noel? Inside the booming world of Oasis tribute acts

Missed out on tickets to this summer’s reunion gigs? From Italy to Indonesia, there’s a covers band ready to fill the void. They’ve got the parkas, the swagger and the tambourines, but can they bring the sunshiiiine?Last August, 14 million people applied for 1.4 million tickets for Oasis’s first gigs in 15 years. In spite of Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing (which pushed some tickets from £150 to £350), the whole lot sold out in minutes. Those lucky enough to get them are counting down the days until July. But in the meantime, business for Oasis tribute bands is booming. Why go all the way to Wembley when you can belt along to an Oasis tribute band in your local pub, metres and not miles away from “Liam” and “Noel”?There is certainly no shortage of them. Our (rough) count shows at least 40 Oasis cover bands in the UK alone. But Oasis tribute bands are just as popular in Europe, the US, Canada and Japan, where the band have long had a huge following. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘It’s like sex ... and we’re the foreplay’: the Oasis tribute bands gearing up for the big reunion

Missed out on tickets to the biggest gigs of the summer? From Italy to Indonesia, there’s a covers band ready to fill the void. They’ve got the parkas, the swagger and the tambourines, but can they bring the sunshiiiine?Last August, 14 million people applied for 1.4 million tickets for Oasis’s first gigs in 15 years. In spite of Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing (which pushed some tickets from £150 to £350), the whole lot sold out in minutes. Those lucky enough to get them are counting down the days until July. But in the meantime, business for Oasis tribute bands is booming. Why go all the way to Wembley when you can belt along to an Oasis tribute band in your local pub, metres and not miles away from “Liam” and “Noel”?There is certainly no shortage of them. Our (rough) count shows at least 40 Oasis cover bands in the UK alone. But Oasis tribute bands are just as popular in Europe, the US, Canada and Japan, where the band have long had a huge following. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Song He Lou, London W1: no neon, no bunting and not much jostling for tourist dollars – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

With three floors to fill, this 270-year-old restaurant chain’s understated approach feels rather boldThe demise of London’s Chinatown has long been predicted, what with recent rent and rate rises, and diners’ changing tastes. Yet on a spring lunchtime last week, business on Wardour Street was booming, with alfresco noodle-slurping, long queues and endless selfie sessions all in full swing.Song He Lou, a historic restaurant brand that champions Suzhou cuisine, clearly believes there are big profits to be made in this postcode, and it has put its money where its mouth is by opening a whopping 144-seater right here in the centre of Chinatown. I’m not chucking in that “historic” willy-nilly, either: Song He Lou was founded in Suzhou near Shanghai almost 270 years ago, during the reign of Emperor Qianglong, and makes Rules in nearby Covent Garden, which is a piffling 227, look like a fly-by-night pop-up. Continue reading...

Society