EDITION www.heditionmagazine.com
G L O B A L
M A G A Z I N E
Dame Kelly Holmes:
Life In The Fast Lane
life after DeatH:
Who Do Your Social Media Sites Belong To When You Die?
Exclusive
Celebrating Pierre Koffmann: One Of The World’s Greatest Chefs
JO MaLOne mbe
The Sweet Smell Of Success B U S I N E S S | N E W S | C U LT U R E | L U X U R Y | L I F E S T Y L E
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From the EDITOR ‘He is the richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.’ Socrates I can’t believe that we’re already producing our November/December issue! 2015 has flown by. As we look back on the last year, we are counting our blessings and planning our seasonal festivities with family and friends, we’re also looking forward to what 2016 may bring. This issue is packed with stories and feature to inspire you for the year ahead and to encourage those New Year’s resolutions. Our cover star, Jo Malone MBE, talks to us about her phenomenal business on page 38 and the reality of starting her new business venture Jo Loves. On page 8 we speak to Dame Kelly Holmes who tells us about her incredible career and the work she now does with her charity The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust. Our trio of inspirational woman is rounded off with our interview with Stephanie Phair, the President of the leading luxury fashion site THE.OUTNET.com about how she built her business and about working with people like Victoria Beckham. From business and sports inspiration, to achievements of a very different kind – on page 18 we look at the incredible story of Henri Bura Ladyi, the man known as ‘Africa’s Schindler.’ We talk to Levison Wood the British explorer, writer and photographer about his amazing expeditions and his plans for the future on page 44. We also feature an interview with the self-professed ‘dream creator’ Ronnie Kessel about his company, The Kessel Group, and the vision that inspires it. We’re not the only ones looking forward – we take a look at how London is planning for a possible population explosion and look at how you should be planning for the future of your ‘digital assets’ on page 17. So until next year! Happy reading and Seasons Greetings. Dina Aletras Editor In Chief AUSTRIA • CYPRUS • TICINO • LONDON • LUXEMBOURG • MALTA • MIAMI • MONACO • NORTH ITALY • NEW YORK• SINGAPORE • SWITZERLAND H Edition Magazine is published monthly and offers advertisers an exclusive audience of affluent readers. Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure that content in the magazine is accurate we cannot accept and hereby disclaim any liability to loss or damage caused by errors resulting from negligence, accident or any other cause. All rights are reserved no duplication of this magazine can be used without prior permission from H Edition Magazine. All information is correct at time of press. Views expressed are not necessarily those of H Edition Magazine.
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Editor in Chief: Contributing Editor: Publishing Assistant: Editorial Assistant: Cosmetic Specialist: Luxury Travel:
Dina Aletras Romy Gai Rebecca Cowing Alice Mondia Dr Ohan Ohanes Florian Schaible
Design: Contributors:
Kevin Dodd Michael Cushing Philip Whiteley Joanne Walker Franco Fregni Milan Brlik Samuele Vorpe Manish Kumar Arora Neil Thompson
For editorial and advertising enquiries please email info@hamblecomms.com Front cover credit: Liz McAulay. Cover image: Jo Malone MBE Designed by Typetechnique, London Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company www.magprint.co.uk
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Fancy spending
UN the LUOGO night with a di NOSTALGIA? legend? La località esclusiva, l‘estetica e il design
DasPosthotel can now touch the sky, opening dei nostri chalet tirolesi di Zillertal rendono up a magical view over the Zillertal. ogni esperienza bella e to incantevole Its SkyLoft s have beenpiù extended include possibile. E abbiamo già menzionato quanto a brand new storey and eight historical sono affascinanti? personalities. Marie-Antoinette, Copernicus or Mariza are just waiting to carry you Un senso del luogo. off to another time period. Pure pleasure.
ZillerSeasons | Rohrerstraße 4 | 6280 Zell im Zillertal | AUSTRIA
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Contents ISSUE 16
EXCLUSIVE COver StOry Jo Malone MBE
8 GLObAL review The Latest From Around The World
15 LiFe AFter DeAtH Who Owns Your Online Profile When You Die?
18 StePHANie PHAir Interview with THE.OUTNET.COM President
34 LeviSON wOOD British Explorer, Writer And Photographer Talks About His Record Breaking Work
48 CHeF Pierre KOFFMANN Shares His Passion For Cooking In An Exclusive Interview
www.heditionmagazine.com
38 DAMe KeLLy HOLMeS Life In The Fast Lane
12 twitter GUiDe tO bUSiNeSS Business Accounts To Follow
17 A New DireCtiON Henri Bura Ladyi ‘Africa’s Schindler’
28 GOOD FOOD tALKS Opening Menus For Everybody
44 rONNie KeSSeL Welcome To The New Generation Of Swiss Businessmen
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| EXCLUSIVE
A Golden
leGAcy Former Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes uses her drive, compassion and humility to help transform society. She talks to Philip Whiteley, exclusively for H Edition
D
ame Kelly Holmes profile was transformed, for all British sports fans and many more, in her annus mirabilis in 2004. She won two gold medals on the track at the Athens Olympics: in the 800m and 1500m events. The talented but injuryprone middle distance runner became, in her final major event, a sporting superstar. In the December of that year, she was awarded the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Award, the single most prestigious honour for a sportsperson in the UK, decided upon by popular vote. In an interview for H Edition magazine the retired sports star, now a successful social entrepreneur, claims modestly that the Sports Personality award came as a surprise. It may have been to her, but not to the millions of British sports fans who voted, and for whom there was only one clear favourite for 2004: ‘I was so nervous,’ she says of awards night, but adds that the accolade was particularly gratifying as it is the popular choice. She was similarly surprised at lifting gold in the 800m, the first of her brace in 2004. Like many sports champions, she focuses more on the performance than the outcome, a slightly counter-intuitive attitude that helps avoid distractions and get the best out of yourself: ‘I needed to focus. I didn’t think about winning; I wanted to get a medal … the 800m came first [and] that helped me win the 1500m – otherwise there might have been too much pressure.’ The 1500m was her specialist event, and she was nearing the end of her career. So did she have an inkling, before the Games, that she was on the brink of something special, or was it a complete surprise? The answer lay somewhere in between. She entered the competition in a good place, but without over-confidence. ‘Athens 2004 was the first year in seven that I hadn’t got injured,’ she points out. ‘It kind of was always
8
there [the championship-winning performance] before, but not quite because I was always trying to fight back from injury or illness. It was the first year in seven that I didn’t have an injury – so I was able to feel more confident in myself. I had a great team behind me; great physio; I was training well. I had still been winning medals even in the years when I had an injury so I knew it was there.’ She had always been notably gifted at athletics, but she only turned full-time when she was in her 20s, having begun her career in the British Army, first as a driver and later as a Physical Training instructor, rising to the rank of Sergeant. It was when she watched the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, when in her early 20s, and saw an athlete compete whom she had beaten as a junior, that she decided to begin training for competition on the biggest stages. Through the 1990s and the early 2000s, she was hampered by injuries; yet the record was still impressive: a sprinkling of silver, bronze and golds at World, European and Commonwealth levels. Only in her final major championships, did she hit the headlines. So what was it like, to become a major celebrity in Britain, so suddenly? ‘It was strange – because I was just the same person,’ she recalls. ‘I had been training towards those goals for 20-odd years. I’m quite a feet-on-the-ground type of person – I went with the flow.’ If she was invited to be on a TV show or open an event, she made her mind up to enjoy it. ‘I was old enough [to handle it] – being older helped,’ she says. It is probably more difficult for young sportspeople now, she says: ‘They are so exposed on social media; always getting interviews about anything. Social media wasn’t anywhere when I won.’
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books By Matthew SMith Urbane Publications
As summer ends and you leave your beach reads behind, it’s time to fill your bookshelves for autumn nights in! Here are some fantastic new titles for you in this month’s book club – fiction to entertain and fire the imagination and non-fiction to stimulate the mind and soul. Something for every type of reader… Barrister Charles Holborne spends his life dealing with the worst examples of violent criminality. After successfully winning a number of high profile cases, he is building a reputation among Soho’s criminal classes as a man who gets the job done, a reputation that doesn’t endear him to his establishment colleagues. Yet Charles is not all he seems, and is battling both personal demons from his own past. When his philandering wife Henrietta is found with her throat slashed, Charles finds himself on the wrong side of the law and in serious trouble of the murderous kind. Arrested for her murder, can Charles discover the truth of her brutal slaying and escape the hangman’s noose? Based upon a real case and genuine court documents, The Brief is a compelling criminal drama, and an evocative slice of sleazy glamour from the Swinging Sixties. Simon Michael delivers an addictive read for any crime fan.
From the creators of the hugely popular tumblr site, ‘Cabin Porn’, comes this collection of breath-taking photography of rural escapes and inspiring stories of people who’ve created their dream home. A simple shelter, somewhere peaceful, surrounded by nature . . . wherever you dream of having your quiet place, these rural escapes are for anyone yearning for a different kind of existence. Cabin Porn began as an online project created by a group of friends to inspire their own homebuilding. As they collected more photos, their site attracted thousands of submissions from other cabin builders and a passionate audience of more than ten million people. This book is an invitation to slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy the beauty and serenity that happens when nature meets simple craft.
Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation’s heart and became the bestselling travel book ever. Now, to mark the twentieth anniversary of that modern classic, Bryson makes a brandnew journey round Britain to see what has changed. Once again, with his matchless homing instinct for the funniest and quirkiest, his unerring eye for the idiotic, the endearing, the ridiculous and the scandalous, Bryson gives us an acute and perceptive insight into all that is best and worst about Britain today.
Five years after the death of his wife, MacAoidh Armstrong moves into a smallholding in southern Scotland with the intention of living a self-sufficient existence. In the nearby town solicitor Libby Butler is trying to find peace after her recent deadly brush with the unknown. On a hill by the steading stands The Ghost Tree: all that remains of the former Ringcroft of Stocking. Local legend says that when the last Ghost Tree dies, the Rerrick Parish Poltergeist will return. Just days after MacAoidh moves in, he is forced to contend with a number of strange events that apparently defy explanation, and distance him from the local community. Turning to Libby for help, they find themselves challenged by a series of bizarre and terrifying occurrences which defy all logical and scientific explanation. As the phenomena become increasingly violent and lives are threatened, Libby must delve into closely guarded secrets to discover the reason for the present terror...and come to terms with her growing feelings for MacAoidh. Can she save the pragmatic Highlander from an ancient evil, and in doing so will she lose her heart?
www.urbanepublications.com 10
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Yet in many other respects, retirement from competitive sport was difficult. ‘I found it quite hard. I didn’t find it hard not running, as I had been injured so much, but I found the transition hard. There is a loss of identity. When you’re an international athlete, then suddenly having to say “I open events; I’m a motivational speaker”. And you haven’t got the same network of people behind you – the physio, training partner, the focus on what you’re trying to achieve. Suddenly, you don’t have that. They keep you focused. So I found that hard. There can be a loss of identity when you retire from international sport. You have a network of people that you rely on to keep you focused and motivated and then that goes. It’s hard to deal with the changes.’ She has created a new career as a social entrepreneur, running an astonishingly successful enterprise that pairs recently retired sportspeople as mentors to young people who are in need. The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust has helped some 200,000 young people. In the UK in recent decades, there has been a persistent problem of younger people not in employment, education or training, even spawning an acronym: ‘NEET’. Dame Kelly’s charity hinges on the fact that such youngsters are often more likely to be inspired by a sportsperson than an authority figure. At the same time, the initiative gives a focus and sense of purpose to sportspeople who are retiring from competition – a transition that many find difficult. There are individual stories to be found at the link: www.damekellyholmestrust.org/stories/ The needs of newly retired sports people may not seem an obvious social need, but they are still relatively young, and often in need of support and retraining. Dame Kelly has a natural empathy, she explains: ‘I initially felt very frightened coming back from the Olympics – I felt so
many sports people really had almost lost a sense of direction; didn’t have the same opportunities, yet had dedicated themselves as much as I did.’ She wanted to help them in the transition to new careers, but acknowledges that this would not be seen universally as charitable – hence the decision to deploy people as mentors to some of the most seriously disadvantaged young people. ‘We realised they could have the power to create change in others.’ How does the Trust identify the people in need? ‘Through local authorities and Job Centre Plus,’ says Dame Kelly. ‘Our outcome is getting people into employment, education or training. So we go into that area – our partners work in that space. Most are known by those departments. They go to a Job Centre Plus; many have been through so many programmes, but once we get them in that door, we have a 99% retention rate, and 82% get into employment. A lot of that is because of the athletes; the different backgrounds. They are inspirational – they’re not someone in authority; not someone who will judge them, but bring the best out in them.’ The term ‘role model’ is probably over-used in our celebrity-obsessed age. It can be used to refer to the popularity of a new hairstyle, or fashion option, or a trendy restaurant. In the case of Dame Kelly Holmes as an individual, and in the case of the Trust she has founded, it conveys a more substantial reality: she and the other recently retired sportspeople who help socially disadvantaged people, do not only offer a positive example, but infuse people with confidence, self-worth and a sense of purpose. The drive that led Dame Kelly to the top of the Olympics podium is now helping to create hope for the next generation. That is a golden legacy.
www.damekellyholmestrust.org www.heditionmagazine.com
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| NEWS
GLOBAL REVIEW 1
China
The Communist Party in the world’s largest one-party state has managed to maintain a grip on political power as the nation transforms itself into a major economic power. A clampdown on civil rights lawyers beginning 9 July has prompted protests, but the authorities claim that the individuals detained were fomenting trouble or were part of ‘a criminal gang’. More positively, the Party has also sought prosecutions for corruption in recent years. There have been high-profile arrests, but the country still ranks low on the Transparency Index, at 100th place. Arguably the biggest news from China this year has been the economy: major stock market falls in August have been blamed in part by policy errors. The government sought a devaluation of the yuan. The economy is so large nowadays that its fluctuations affect global trade. The prices of oil and copper have fallen as a consequence of China’s slowdown. Over-priced shares were the primary cause of this year’s troubles, but there are fears of other asset bubbles in China and elsewhere. Adjustments are inevitable as the country moves from a manufacturing, exportbased to a consumer-based economy. According to the latest index, it is the 28th most competitive economy, scoring well for macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, and market size. The biggest barriers to business include access to finance and corruption. 2
Tanzania
Problems with corruption have been cited as a factor in elephant poaching in the east African nation of Tanzania. Elephant numbers have plummeted in recent years, according to Government figures, from nearly 110,000 to just 43,000 since 2009. The decline is more severe in some regions than others. Carlos Drews, the global species programme director for the World Wildlife Fund, said in June: ‘The slaughter of thousands of elephants in Ruaha–Rungwa clearly points to the involvement of international organised crime, which is compounded by corruption and weak enforcement capacity.’ The fear is that demand for ivory products, especially in China, is the main reason for the decline. In July 2015, however, the minister of natural resources and tourism, Lazaro Nyalandu, told the media that the worst was over, and that the country was getting on top of the poaching problem. The most recent international corruption indicator confirms that there is a systemic problem, with Tanzania ranked at 119th on the Transparency Index, out of 175 countries. Corruption topped the list of concerns by business leaders in the most recent report on competitiveness, just ahead of ‘access to finance’. The country is 121st on the international Competitiveness Index, also scoring low for infrastructure and technological readiness. 12
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France
The French President François Hollande played a key role in the latest instalment of the euro saga, and was instrumental in keeping Greece within the European single currency. He worked closely with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was under pressure from many politicians in her own party to prepare for ‘Grexit’, a departure for Greece and return to its own currency. Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU President, admitted that there had been a Grexit scenario, prepared in detail, for the EU summit in July which resulted in a renewed bailout on demanding terms. Political divisions have arguably widened within the currency bloc, with France more sympathetic than other northern European countries to softening the terms of bailouts to the periphery. The refugee crisis that has engulfed Europe since summer 2015 puts further strain on the public purse. France is an advanced economy with high productivity and some highperforming export sectors, though some business leaders complain of restricted labour mobility and regulation. Unemployment is relatively high, at just over 10%. It comes 23rd on the international competitiveness rankings, scoring particularly well for infrastructure, health, education and technological readiness. Labour laws and high taxes are the most significant barriers for firms, cited by business leaders. It scores well on counter-corruption, being placed at 26th in the rankings. 4
Honduras
Tens of thousands of Hondurans have protested against corruption in the streets of the capital Tegucigalpa in summer 2015. Many have called for the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez, elected in 2013. An embezzlement scandal has erupted concerning the country’s social security system. In June 2015 President Hernandez admitted receiving campaign money from companies later found to be involved, but denied any knowledge of the origin of the funds. The country comes a lowly 126th on the Transparency Index, indicating weak control of corruption. The Central American country has a violent past, featuring military dictatorships, armed revolutionary groups, and civil war in the 1980s. There is widespread organised crime. The formal economy is heavily agricultural, with bananas and coffee significant export earners, but there has been diversification into textiles, and the country has a trade deal with the USA. Emigration to the States is still significant. Economic inequality remains a serious problem. It is 100th on the Competitiveness Index, with very low scores for quality of institutions and infrastructure. The biggest challenges cited by business leaders in the most recent Index were corruption and crime and theft. The country scores better on health and education. The literacy level is 84% and life expectancy is 73. www.heditionmagazine.com
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Azerbaijan
The oil-rich Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan, which became independent from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, has been scarred by internal conflict. The majority Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh region fought to secede from Azerbaijan. A ceasefire was agreed in 1994, but violence recurred in 2014, indicating the matter is far from settled. The dictatorial leader Ilham Aliyev, who forced through a constitutional change to permit unlimited Presidential terms, has attracted condemnation for bombing Nagorno-Karabakh, a semi-autonomous region that some regard as being effectively part of Greater Armenia. Corruption appears to be a significant problem. The country is 126th on the Transparency Index. The economy is oligarchical in nature, with significant economic inequalities, and politically well connected families enriching themselves. In common with many former-Soviet states, however, education is good, and the literacy rate is 99%. Health indicators are respectable; life expectancy is 70. Oil dominates the economy. There is a pipeline that runs from the Azeri capital Baku through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. On the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, Azerbaijan is placed 38th. It scores very well for macroeconomic environment, and moderately well for health, education and technological readiness. 6
Cambodia
For a country ravaged by genocide and conflict within living memory, Cambodia has recovered moderately well in the past couple of decades. In the Global Competitiveness Index, It scores well on health and primary education, and moderately well on macroeconomic conditions and labour market efficiency. The overall ranking is 95th. The textile sector is a significant industry, and the country has begun to benefit from Chinese investment. Much of the population still survives on subsistence farming, however, and poverty is a continuing problem. There is economic development, but it has often involved land clearances for mining projects and larger scale agricultural development, so has proved controversial. Many years of illegal logging has reduced forest cover in this tropical country. In 2012 the government approved the Se San 2 hydroelectric dam project on the Se San River in the north east of the country. Health and indicators are low, though not very low, with a literacy rate of 77% and life expectancy of 62. Corruption is a major problem, with the country placed at a very low 156th on the Transparency Index. The country has featured multi-party democratic politics since 1993. It is a monarchy and King Norodom Sihamoni plays an important symbolic role. www.heditionmagazine.com
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Peru
Probably the South American country most badly affected by civil war in recent decades is Peru. At the height of the conflict in the 1980s and early 1990s between the Maoist Sendero Luminoso grouping and the military, vast swathes of the country were unsafe. Even Colombia, embroiled in guerrilla warfare, permitted more freedom of movement. Peru has impressive natural and archaeological attractions for tourists, but the conflict badly hit the hospitality sector. In October 2015, the capital Lima was able to host a meeting of financiers from the IMF and World Bank. An economic boom followed the end of the war, and there has been considerable investment since 2000. The country is 65th in the Global Competitiveness Index, scoring well for macroeconomic environment. Government bureaucracy and corruption are the two biggest problems for the commercial sector, according to business leaders. It scores quite low on counter-corruption measures, being placed at 85th on the Transparency Index. Drug trafficking is also a persistent problem. Spanish is the principal official language, but is the second language for much of the population, which is native American. Health and education indicators are good, with life expectancy of 74, and a literacy rate of 90%, indicating a promising platform for broader economic development, encouraging sectors other than mining and tourism. 8
Angola
This south-west African country suffers from serious poverty. Life expectancy is very low at 50, while the literacy rate is 70%, low but above the lowest levels for the continent. Economic and social development were held back by the devastating civil war that raged for 27 years between 1975 and 2002, between right-wing and Marxist forces, forming part of the Cold War. The right-wing Unita forces were eventually defeated, and the country has had the MPLA (Marxist) leader JosĂŠ Eduardo dos Santos as President for over 30 years. Oil wealth and foreign aid have bolstered investment since the end of the war, however, and refugees from the conflict have been able to return. Corruption remains a problem, and Angola is near the very bottom of the Transparency Index, in 161st place. The country is 140th on the global Competitiveness Index, scoring very low on most indicators, but registering a moderate score on both market size and macroeconomic environment. The latest Economic Outlook from the African Development Bank indicates that growth was 5.1% in 2013, due to rise in the following years, as the effects of infrastructure investment begin to be felt. Hearteningly, growth is not confined to oil, and also includes agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing and construction. 13
| HOROSCOPES
Aries
LibrA
(21 March-19 April)
(23 September-22 October)
The period promises potential success if you are willing to make changes in your life, adapt, and let fate lend a helping hand in your new life cycle. It can also be a time when new possibilities and solutions emerge. This can be a time of big decisions as you start applying what you’ve learned, making changes and incorporating your new set of values into your life Favourable Dates: Nov 2, 3, 11, 12, 20, 21, 28 & 29. Favourable Colours: Red & Blue.
This period can hint towards the starting of a journey or an adventure, living for the moment, and maybe taking that spontaneous leap and accepting the consequences in a joyful manner. You would have the opportunity to explore new horizons, or to have faith in your own actions and accept the results. You will have good fortune later on in life due to your actions done now. Favourable Dates: Nov 1, 7, 9, 16, 25. Favourable Colours: Red & Yellow.
TAurus
sCorpio
(20 April-20 May)
(23 October-21 November)
You need to have self control in life and live within the means. You are planning on working on something that could make your world a better place. This period requires quiet composure, calm in chaos, and balance in all things. Use your creative imagination to get what you want or negotiate with someone to get what you have earned. Favourable Dates: Nov 4, 7, 13, 16, 22 & 25. Favourable Colours: Brown & White
Your energy is so ungrounded it may be virtually impossible to make practical progress as you are swept off your feet by new ideas, events and opportunities. If you have an idea which you haven’t quite got round to developing, you need to put your foot on the ground and drive forward pronto. Romantically, the world looks rosy – especially if a big decision is being made. Favourable Dates: Nov 4, 7, 13, 16, 22 & 25. Favourable Colours: Yellow & Blue
Gemini
sAGiTTArius
(21 May-20 June)
(22 November-21 December)
Your thought processes are likely to be intuitive, flash in the pan affairs, which are ill suited to the concrete results you crave. You need to take time out, slow down, and decide what it is you really want. You may be bombarded with so many offers and ideas, that you feel overwhelmed. Analyse these for any nuggets of information that may help you make a choice. Favourable Dates: Nov 3, 8, 12, 17, 21 & 26. Favourable Colours: Blue & Yellow.
You will show strength of nerve, competition in business, fortitude, triumph over opponents and courage. If you have achieved success and acclaim recently, there will always be opponents seeking to achieve the same status,. If in job your boss or a coworker can be trying at times; but ignore it and go about your own business and don’t get caught up with office politics and gossip. Favourable Dates: Nov 3, 4, 12, 13 21 & 22.Favourable Colours: Brown & Black.
CApriCorn
CAnCer
(22 December-19 January)
(21 June-22 July)
There will be a fair return. on new projects and investments. The arrival of money is indicated which will be sufficient to cover all needs. You will be lucky in gambling and speculation. Apparently there will be harmony and balance, and well- being will be present in the family. No deep feelings exist, but enough to fill the social expectations. Favourable Dates: Nov 2, 4, 11, 13, 20 & 22. Favourable Colours: Red & Purple.
This period can show the beginning of an exciting adventure with you acting upon new ideas or you will take part in the new plans laid by others. This action will also be bringing these events to a positive and fulfilling conclusion.. You may also be actively seeking to rekindle a relationship that has gone flat by making a gift or peace offering. Favourable Dates: Nov 2, 11, 12, 12 & 24. Favourable Colours: Blue & Yellow.
AquArius
Leo
(20 January-18 February)
(23 July-22 August) You were in a certain relationship and that your affection was overflowing and gave too much of yourself to your partner who didn’t reciprocate in the same way.. Stop for a minute, look deep down in your soul and find out what you really think about someone, before you make your move. It is important that you know how you feel, before you rush into something. Favourable Dates: Nov 4, 5, 13, 14, 22 & 23. Favourable Colours: Brown & Blue.
You will exhibit passion and the potential of great creativity, enthusiasm and ambition. If you are working, a promotion or pay rise is round the corner. You will receive recognition and acclaim in profession. You will enjoy your day in the sun and bask in the glory of success. You will find a new spark of energy to enable you to budget wisely and have your money work for you. Favourable Dates: Nov 1, 5, 10, 14, 19 & 23. Favourable Colours: White & Blue.
pisCes
VirGo
(19 February-20 March)
(23 August-22 September) You are going into a restless period, which could prove to be difficult for you. There’s finally closure to an outstanding issue that has been difficult to deal with in the past. As with all endings there is heralded a new beginning, rebirth and a rejuvenation of the spirit. You may get help from someone who is wealthy and caring in getting you back to the order. Favourable Dates: Nov 1, 7, 9, 16, 25. Favourable Colours: Red & Violet.
If you want to move forward in any area of your life, use this time to examine what you may need to attain as well as sacrifice in order to go ahead. It is a time to shake up your beliefs, abandon your conventions and throw caution to the wind. It is time to prepare, reflect and try to understand what happens, by activating the inner strength. Favourable Dates: Nov 1, 5, 10, 14, 19 & 23. Favourable Colours: White & Yellow http://on.fb.me/1RC33rE
MANISH KUMAR ARORA 14
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| SOCIAL MEDIA
The Twitter guide to
#BUSINESS Twitter can help businesses grow – whether it’s reaching out to new customers or engaging in conversation with existing ones, Twitter has become a proven business channel for reaching key audiences and is critical to the success of a large number of companies. Offering far more than a one-way conversation, Twitter gives people the ability to communicate directly with a wide range of companies and services, particularly small businesses who might not have the digital infrastructure of larger companies.
busIness news
Twitter has a dedicated team helping small and medium business in UK and Ireland grow with Twitter – follow @TwitterUKI_SME and check out https://business. twitter.com/en-gb for the latest news, product updates, tips and success stories to help your business succeed on the platform.
• Financial Times – @FT (1.94M followers)
Here are some other accounts worth following to get you started:
• The Economist – @TheEconomist (9.36M followers)
InspIratIonal busIness leaders
HasHtags to monItor for busIness news
There are many powerful business leaders and experts who are active on Twitter, delivering a steady flow of inspiration, advice and updates:
Discover and join in with conversations about business by searching for the following hashtags: • #BusinessGrowth
• Chris Sacca – @sacca (126K followers)
• #BusinessIntelligence
• Deborah Meaden – @DeborahMeaden (213K followers)
• #BusinessTips
• Emma Jones – @emmaljones (26.2K followers )
• #Entrepreneurs
• Jack Dorsey – @jack (3.06M followers)
• #FemaleEntrepreneurs
• Jacqueline Novogratz – @jnovogratz (536K followers)
• #Startups
• Lady Karren Brady – @karren_brady (168K followers)
• #TwitterAcademy
• Lucy Marcus – @lucymarcus (27.2K followers)
• #TweetSmarter
• Michelle Mone OBE – @MichelleMone (1.01M followers)
• #TweetTip
• Oli Barret – @OliBarrett (16.8K followers)
• #Womeninbiz
• Richard Branson – @richardbranson (6.06M followers)
• #Womeninbusiness
www.heditionmagazine.com
Twitter can keep you one step ahead of your competitors, with the following outlets providing the latest financial and business news: • BBC Business – @BBCBusiness (1.51M followers) • Bloomberg Business – @business (2.53M followers) • Business Insider – @businessinsider (1.16M followers) • Entrepreneur – @Entrepreneur (1.37M followers) • Forbes – @Forbes (5.88M followers) • Reuters Business – @ReutersBiz (1.4M followers) • Sky News Business – @SkyNewsBiz (84.9K followers) • TED Talks – @TEDTalks (6.52M followers)
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www.heditionmagazine.com
| DIGITAL
Life after Death Whilst most of us prefer not to think about our death, we all know that we should make a will to ensure that our loved ones know what we would like done with our assets – and that includes our social media sites.
W
ith the dawn of the digital age, our assets are becoming increasingly intangible; our music is more likely to be downloaded and stored on an iPod than bought in the physical form of a cd, our bookshelves are looking sparser as we buy more and more books for our e-readers, and even treasured family photographs are more likely to be stored digitally via services like Facebook or Instagram, than kept in an old fashioned photograph album. As well as the things we lease or store online, most people also have several other online accounts, for things like email and personal blogs, as well as subscriptions, access to banking, gaming and even accounts that contain financial assets, such as PayPal. A recent survey of 2,000 people, by computer cloud firm Rackspace, showed that 53% of those questioned held treasured possessions in these services. The same survey estimates that by 2020 a third of people are expected to download all of their music and that 66% of people rely on cloud computing services every day without realising it. Rackspace estimate that Britons currently have some £2.3billion in digital possessions and this is set to increase. All of this means that passing our assets on to our loved ones has become more complex. Whilst expressing your wishes in a will remains relatively simple, the www.heditionmagazine.com
terms and conditions which apply online accounts can vary and getting what you wish for your online assets may not be straightforward. An important issue has arisen with cloud services – applications such as email and social media that allow you to store large amounts of data and communication material with them, as opposed to in the memory of your laptop, tablet or phone. Whilst it might seem simple matter to bequeath your Facebook, Twitter or iTunes accounts to someone – your ability to do so is governed by the End User Licence Agreement (EULA) – the terms and conditions governing use of the site – which you clicked and agreed to when you opened your account. Most EULAs, including those for Facebook and Twitter, have a clause which stipulates that you can’t pass passwords or access to your account (and the data contained within it) onto a third party and which can mean that when you die they can refuse a third party – even a named executor – access to your accounts. The case of Ben Stassen, who committed suicide in 2010 without leaving a note, highlights this problem. As his personal representatives, and to try to discover why he committed suicide, his parents sought access to his online accounts. They contacted Google and Facebook to
request his passwords. Both companies refused, on grounds of privacy. After Mr Stassen’s parents obtained a court order, which released Google and Facebook from their duty of client confidentiality, Google complied, however, Facebook stood by its privacy policy. Whilst the parent’s position is heart-breaking, it is understandable why Facebook stood by its policy - in theory not only would allowing access to Ben’s account breach his privacy, it could also potentially breach the privacy of any people with whom he had been in contact via Facebook who were still alive. Passing on your music or books is equally complex. Whilst data stored to a hard drive can be passed on relatively simply, the fact that you are unlikely to actually own any of the music or books you have downloaded, means that your beneficiaries may not be able to use this content on other devices or using other accounts. Most download companies – such as Apple, and Amazon, issue you with a licence to download and play the music or read the book which means your digital music and literature content is effectively leased not owned. Whilst it remains unclear how providers will treat downloaded content after a death, they currently have every right to revoke your licence on your death. It’s clear that there are many legal considerations regarding your online property and what you are entitled to pass on is changing as rapidly as the technology that hosts it. However, whilst the law may be struggling to catch up with the rate at which what we own and how we own it is changing, the technology industry itself is already miles ahead of the game. Online services, such as Cirrus Legacy and Legacy Locker, enable you to store all your passwords, and allows your nominated ‘digital executor’ to access the accounts you wish him or her to access when you die. Other online services, such as the ominous sounding Death Switch, can in be set up to ‘check in’ with you on a regular basis and if, after an agreed period of time, you don’t reply, it will assume you have died and, on your behalf, send the emails and messages you have left with them to loved ones. It seems that even death can’t escape the march of digital technology and that we all need to take steps now to protect our future digital inheritance. 17
| WORLD NEWS
A New DirectioN Henri’s story In 2003 Henri Bura Ladyi turned his back on the endless fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo when he started working at a small peace group called Centre Résolution Conflits, founded 10 years earlier in 1993 by Ben Mussanzi wa Mussangu, its President. Twelve years later Henri has been called “Africa’s Schindler” for his efforts towards peacebuilding in the eastern DRC.
T
he vast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has seen many decades of suffering before and after independence from Belgium in 1960. The colony was originally a private fiefdom of Belgium’s King Leopold II. But Belgium had to take it over in 1908 from the king’s International Association of the Congo (IAC) after a public outcry. This private company had, not unlike the militias that plague the east of Congo today, achieved Leopold’s quotas on exports like rubber through a regime of forced labour, mass executions, torture and mutilation. Belgium administered the region as a colony, but did little to develop it or create a type of civic national identity of the sort which has kept the peace in multi-ethnic countries like the United States or Great Britain. When independence came the Congo’s new politicians unsurprisingly failed to build a functional central government or control the new ‘Armée Nationale Congolaise’ (ANC). General Joseph Mobutu, who had risen through the ranks of the ANC, eventually seized power. His regime became a Western-backed kleptocracy for the duration of the Cold War. Its three decade rule, and the manner of the Mobutu’s final fall in 1997, were almost as ruinous for the DRC as Leopold II. When conflict reached his area in 1997, Henri Bura Ladyi was a young man in the Ituri area of the DRC’s north-eastern Orientale province. The invasion had started the year before, as Mobutu’s meddling in neighbouring Rwanda finally caught up with him. A fullscale rebellion against his dictatorship had begun during 1996 in the eastern border provinces of North and South Kivu. In concert with the armies of neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, rebel units swept westwards as Mobutu’s renamed Forces Armées Zairoises (FAZ) and his regime more or less dissolved. For years the DRC’s state apparatus had been gradually ceasing to function in more and more parts of the country as the
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regime’s mixture of waste, incompetence and corruption undermined the formal economy. But the fall of the central government completed the country’s ruin. It set off a scramble by neighbouring governments and their local allies to seize control of the DRC’s vast mineral wealth in an orgy of looting. In the first 1996-1997 war Ituri was on the invasion path of the Ugandan army and its allies. But it also suffered from the same type of ethnic hatreds that had caused so much inter-Congolese violence, and left the fractured country prey to its neighbours. Under Mobutu, the north-eastern region had seen major outbreaks of violence between Ituri’s Lendu and Hema ethnic groups in 1966, 1972, 1982, 1992 and 1996. These earlier struggles revolved around the historically unequal land distribution between the two communities dating back to pre-Belgian times and favouring the Hema. A politicised Mobutu-era land law passed in 1973 was also a recurring source of conflict. Under its provisions, people could purchase already-inhabited property, and then present title to the land in court two years later, by which time it became incontestable. The Lendu alleged the Hema elite used it to drive Lendus off valuable land, with the help of complicit Hema officials and forged documents. Certainly many Hema leaders thrived economically in the DRC’s chaotic conditions, and in the late 1990s some used their greater wealth and clout to further marginalise and exploit the Lendu. Thus in 1998, when a second regional war began on the heels of the first, the Ituri area was still occupied by the Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF). The UPDF wished to exploit Ituri’s resources of gold, diamonds, coltan, timber, and coffee. Human Rights Watch has chronicled how it used its control of the region to illegally export resources, especially gold, to international buyers. The money gained was then used to support local Hema warlords who helped in the Ugandan www.heditionmagazine.com
operation. Elite Hema landowners, in their efforts to drive the Lendu off land they considered theirs, also called upon members of the Ugandan army to help them. Those Lendu not run off were often forced to work in the majority Ugandan-controlled mines under threat of violence. This state of affairs inevitably produced a negative reaction in response to the actions of Hema and Ugandan forces. The Lendu quickly formed their own militant groups to fight back and violence rose sharply again in 1999. Henri described the pressure put on him at the time to choose sides in vivid terms. When the Ugandans arrived in Ituri he was running a telecoms bureau in the provincial capital of Bunia, telling the BBC and other international media (including other foreign radio stations, television channels and newspapers) in Kinshasa what was happening in this eastern part of the Congo. Members of the local community would often come and use his satellite phone or other office equipment and he had a talent for making useful connections. But the bureau itself also made him a target for Hema militants, who suspected him of passing on information about their operations to his Lendu compatriots. Henri was tortured several times by the militiamen, once having metal batons interwoven between his fingers and having his hands crushed. Even when he managed to talk his way out, his own people treated him as a potential traitor, shooting up his office and ransacking his home as warnings. As events deteriorated his Lendu community demanded protection from its young men. Henri remembers members of his family joined Lendu militia groups and several of his relatives were killed in the violence. Political shifts meant Bunia changed hands several times, and at one point during the struggle Henri found himself press ganged into joining the ranks of the temporarily victorious Lendu militants in order to prove his loyalties. www.heditionmagazine.com
He talked his way into job as a technician which kept him away from the frontlines, but by the spring of 2003 the tides of war had changed again. This time it was Hema fighters who were advancing on the city and they were looking for revenge. Even Henri could not talk his way out of this kind of trouble. Instead when Hema soldiers came searching to kill him he had to flee into the bush with his young family. Henri fled with 5,000 other refugees through the jungle towards the safety of Beni in neighbouring North Kivu province. It was a week-long two hundred kilometre trek on foot and he was in an angry mood, with plans to buy weapons in the city and run them back to his brothers in Ituri to continue the struggle. But along the way an incident happened which was to change the course of Henri’s life. At a village called Gety, militiamen held up the refugees, paranoid about traitors hidden inside their ranks. A massacre loomed over the mass of displaced people trapped there as the militants debated their fate amongst themselves. A natural leader, Henri asked to speak to their leader, despite being threatened with a machete to keep quiet. He knew already he was persuasive; unasked he took a dangerous gamble and negotiated with the militia commander for the refugees’ lives and freedom. “As the eldest child there is no one do things for you.” Henri says with a laugh. “You learn to be the responsible one when you are very young.” After a night of bargaining Henri got his way; the commander agreed to let the displaced civilians go. It was the start of a new direction in his life. When he arrived in Beni, instead of continuing with his plans to become a gun-runner, Henri got to hear of a church based peace group that was working with displaced people. The Centre Résolution Conflits (CRC) organisation had also had to relocate twice because of 19
this is not disposable
this is your art
@BBS_spa
L O N D O N - S W I T Z E R L A N D - I T A LY
Not Ordinary Disposable
the war, but was continuing to hold peace rallies and invite its congregations out to learn how they could promote peace in the region. Henri joined it, and by 2004 he had risen to become the CRC’s director with a three year mandate. He has served there ever since, in a variety of other roles including co-ordinator and program manager. Eleven years later and he has never looked back. Henri is currently serving as the CRC’s co-ordinator until 2017. CRC’s work has lead Henri into all sorts of situations as it has developed down the years. The group retain a reputation as effective mediators, a mixed blessing in a dangerous part of a country filled with guns. In one case they were asked to negotiate between the UN and a rebel militant group holding a village hostage. The UN was threatening to storm the settlement, while the militants believed themselves possessed by spirits that made them immune to physical harm. Eventually the CRC were able to resolve the situation by negotiating safe passage for the fighters out of the village. In another instance Henri was contacted by militia commanders with too many mouths to feed. Wishing to barter for supplies they offered to demobilise some of the child soldiers in their ranks in return for goats. A bizarre exchange rate of goats for children had to be worked out; undeterred Henri went into the bush to negotiate and a ratio of ten animals for 40 children was agreed. With the help of UK charity Peace Direct, one of CRC’s international partners, enough goats to free 100 child soldiers were sent. As the CRC has persuaded fighters to demobilise, or let children and teenagers leave the bush to return home, its operations have had to change to cope. The CRC has faced the task of reintegrating these fighters into communities filled with their former victims and often it is no longer a just a case of overcoming interethnic
hatreds. Over time many militia groups degenerated into fronts for banditry or just formed to terrorise their own areas into handing over food and other supplies. Many ex-fighters, adults, children and youths, are psychologically scarred by the terrible things they have seen and done, and afraid of communal rejection as well as revenge attacks. Faced by a lack of support and economic alternatives in one of the world’s poorest countries, they can easily be seduced back into armed groups. Still based in North Kivu, Henri and the CRC have piloted a number of projects designed to mitigate these problems as much as they can. As well as disarming ex-combatants and returning them home, they try to give each a skill that can make them employable. Special efforts are made to prepare communities for the return of ex-fighters, so they are not rejected out of hand. Child soldiers are returned to their families or placed with special trained foster parents and then returned to school or given a livelihood. Similarly for women who have suffered rape or sexual assault at the hands of the various combatants, they provide trauma counselling and micro-finance to set up small businesses. The organisation also run community radio stations in more than 360 places, supporting interactive clubs which broadcast discussions by the community members about local issues, including the dangers of joining militia groups. The group continues to use its conflicts resolutions skills and to support local development initiatives. It has been twelve years since the end of the formal end of the war that set Henri on this path and he recently celebrated another anniversary with CRC. Although his work may never quite end, the legacy as a peace-builder he leaves behind him will be a proud one. Words by Neil Thompson
makeyourpeace.theenglishgroup.co.uk www.heditionmagazine.com
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| ENVIRONMENT
Population
EXPLOSION How will London cope with a massive population increase?
L
ondon’s population is bigger than ever, and still growing. There are 8.6 million of us, up from less than 7 million thirty years ago. There could be 11 million or more in another thirty years. All these people will need a place to live, work and play, plus water, energy and all the necessities of life. So how will London cope with this rising population demand? The Mayor of London is beginning to plan for the infrastructure needed to support this in the long term, but it will have a big environmental impact and we, the London Assembly Environment Committee, are investigating what these impacts will be and how to grow London in the most sustainable way. Any city would be hard-pressed to cut its carbon footprint by four-fifths between 1990 and 2050. For London to do it while growing by a half will be harder still. Energy efficiency is an obvious requirement, but there will also have to be big shifts in the way we get and use our energy. Will electricity replace gas for cooking and heating, and petrol and diesel for transport? What low-carbon sources will provide the electricity? How will the power grid need to transform to cope? Three main environmental issues will present a serious challenge to the city’s sustainability: water supply and demand, green infrastructure and energy. London’s per capita water demand is higher than most other regions in the UK. This is partly because of higher rates
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of leakage from the ageing distribution system. London’s growing population will keep up water demand, even if efficiencies are made. There is a projected 10 per cent shortfall of supply against demand in London as soon as 2025, growing to 21 per cent by 2040. The groundwater and rivers of the south-east are already drawn on heavily – to take any more would damage those environments further. Heavy rainfall is a problem in a city – we build our streets and drains to get rid of it as quickly as possible to avoid flooding. Can we capture and use more rainwater, turning two problems into one working system? Will we need to recycle our waste water and even sewage in future? The more the city gets built up and crowded, the more we need and value our green spaces. They provide cool shade and clean air. They are places to relax, play and exercise and they protect against flooding, give habitat to wildlife, and increase our wellbeing in many ways. The premium property values in green and waterside areas demonstrate this as clearly as you like. However these spaces will come under pressure as London’s population grows. Under some estimates, London will need at least another 10,000 hectares of land for homes (equivalent to 650 Barbican Estates), and another 9,000 hectares of green space (over 60 Hyde Parks) to meet the needs of its growing population.
Current policy is to build on brownfield sites, but there are only so many of these, and many derelict plots are important habitats for small wildlife. Can we find ways to get more uses out of each site, using leisure areas for flood protection or buildings for biodiversity for instance? The London Infrastructure Plan states that there will be up to a 20 per cent increase in energy demand by 2050. However, we all know that carbon emissions must be reduced to help limit global climate change. The London and UK target for 2050 is to get down to only 20 per cent of 1990 emissions. With London’s growth in population over that period, emissions per person will need to be substantially less again. We therefore need a long-term shift in how we get our energy. Fossil fuels such as gas, petrol and diesel will need to be replaced by renewable electricity for domestic heating and transport. Demand and supply patterns will also shift in space and in time. New homes will cluster in certain areas, electric vehicle charging and decentralised energy generation will become widespread, and smart appliances may shift demand away from peak hours. London’s energy infrastructure will need significant work and updating. The London Assembly Environment Committee will look into all these issues and more in our investigation of the pressures of London’s growth, starting with a public meeting on 1 October and another on 5 November. With a report to be published in the New Year, we hope to set an agenda for the next Mayor, who is to be elected in May 2016. A new Mayor really can’t afford to not look into these issues. London’s population is booming and we need to prepare. Darren Johnson AM is Chair of the London Assembly Environment Committee.
But London’s land area isn’t getting any bigger – how will this tension be resolved?
www.heditionmagazine.com
London’s population is expected to exceed 10 million in the 2030s 12,000,000
Higher net migration, based on recent trends 10,000,000
Lower net migration, based on longer-term trends 8,000,000
6,000,000
4,000,000
2,000,000
0 2001
2011
2021
2031
2041
Source: GLA 2014 round of trend-based population projections
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the third industrial
reVOlutiOn
F
rom printed prosthetics, to cars, planes and houses, to 3D printed food, there doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by without some mention of the incredible ways 3D printing technology has been applied to the ordinary for extraordinary effect. But whereas previously only the wealthiest companies could take advantage of the versatility of the technology, the dawn of affordable 3D printing, along with the rapid introduction of new printable materials beyond plastics and metals is set to completely transform the way we do business, bringing it well within the reach of a number of smaller industries, and perhaps more importantly, the direct consumer. For example, dentists have become surprise early adopters of the technology, using 3D printing to create highly accurate dental components such as metal substructures for crowns, wax casting moulds and dental models for their individual patients. Meanwhile, jewellers are taking advantage of the technology to personalise trinkets on a singular basis, removing the need to meet minimum orders from manufacturers and significantly reducing the costs of creating bespoke items, as well as test new designs quickly and efficiently, meaning no more to-ing and froing on designs involving valuable metals and expensive stones. In fact, prototyping is one of the most common uses for the technology, enabling would-be entrepreneurs to cheaply and swiftly bring their inventions to life in a matter of hours and cut down the time it takes to work up a viable product. However, as children become more versed in 3D design and the world of 3D printing, we’re not too far from a future where, just like the ‘traditional’ paper printer, there will be a 3D printer in every home – and that is when, I believe, the technology will really come into its own. Think, for example, of how we have seen an astronomical rise in on-demand TV and online shopping. They succeed because the offer instant gratification for time-poor customers. 3D printing has the potential to offer the same level of immediacy, removing the need for a supply chain – people can simply print the items they want, ensuring it always arrives on time and in the right size and colour. 24
It may sound futuristic, but tests have already begun with fabric printers and ceramic printers, while a number of plastics, metals and flexible materials in a variety of colours are already available for general purchase. We’re only five to ten years away from a printer that could print multiple materials, as opposed to being limited to one, meaning we could print items as complicated as electronics in one go, and engineers are working hard on designs that are able to print multiple colours at the same time at an affordable price. So really, we’re not that far away from such a reality. There are already a number of retailers who have recognised this and are looking to capitalise on the growing trend – Amazon, for example, has already patented plans for delivery trucks containing 3D printers to allow purchases to be created en route to a customer. However, the real opportunity surely lies in brands offering their products as downloadable 3D designs, as many savvy entrepreneurial designers have already discovered. Indeed, as the technology does become more readily available, it will be the retailers who offer such services that will see fewer consumers go through the time and trouble to create a DIY counterfeit versions. Of course, the rise of branded 3D design shops could easily lead to a complete overhaul of current systems. If you didn’t need to keep stock, you wouldn’t need a warehouse or have as many delivery capabilities, and there would be a dramatic increase in demand for design skills. There’s a reason why Obama called 3D printing the ‘next industrial revolution’, and creating a balance to ensure its introduction into manufacturing and consumer fulfilment is seen as mutually beneficial for all will take time. What’s clear though is that 3D printing is no longer the reserve of sci-fi fantasies – the seeds for a new future have already been sown and are sprouting, so I for one am intrigued to see who’ll be next to get on the front foot and shape their business around the technology, instead of add it on as a gimmick. Ultimately, it’s the businesses that join the stream before it becomes a tide that will be best positioned to cater to the upcoming maker generation. By Simon Shen, CEO of XYZprinting www.heditionmagazine.com
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| LUXURY
5 meetings. 5 Cities. One Day! How do CEOs do it?
Julian Telling is an investor, non-executive director and a professional pilot. His time, and that of his clients is of the essence, thus he extols the virtues of Business Aviation in a recent interview for H Edition with Rani Singh.
C
aptain Julian Telling established the Bristol, UK-based Falcon Group (Sumus Plc.) in the early 1980s. The business was predominantly involved in the retail financial services market, focussing on personal investment management. Telling is the head of training at Bristol Flying Centre and its charter company Centreline Air Charter, where he is an instructor on Citation Jets and King Air aircraft. Having flown airplanes since he was 16, Telling’s passion is for corporate aviation. “I sent myself back to college in 1989 and obtained a professional license in 1990. I then worked as a flying instructor at weekends.”
Practicalities of Business Aviation The whole area of Business Aviation will always be contentious as there are always some people who see it as an extravagance, Telling observes. “The reality is, of course, something quite different. There are so many unlauded advantages – some of them not only critically important but potentially lifesaving.” He highlights 26
that every night there is a whole world of medical flights carrying transplant organs to hospitals for patients. In addition – and drawing from the array of case studies he has observed in his work with Centreline Air Charter – he outlines the tight schedules of those who find Business Aviation beneficial, from engineers flying spare parts aboard business jets to business people and even entertainers. “Business Aviation is often a necessity for picking up or delivering supplies required to prevent a production line from being disrupted,” he notes. Not everything can wait to fit around the schedule of an Airline. “And just have a look at some of the punishing schedules of those who use Business Aviation; they work in one European City one evening, and they need to be in another by the following day. These people could not manage their pressing schedules without private aviation. “Last month I flew one well-known businessman who squeezed in five meetings in five European cities within one day,” Telling elaborates. “He could not have achieved this if he had used the scheduled airlines. www.heditionmagazine.com
“So why wouldn’t you use Business Aviation? Your jet operates to your schedule, travelling to the airport of your choice; often to places not served by the airlines.” One of the many advantages of private jets is that you can, within reason, choose your airport – perhaps ones that only private jets can get into.” Captain Telling talks of CEOs like the one he mentioned above, visiting a minimum of five different stores in five different locations a day, at least two days a week. “This is not untypical,” he notes. “If, for example, a company is looking to open new outlets in a country, they may spend months researching locations and suitable properties. Once the list has been reduced to a few possibilities they will visit and can get a lot done in a day if everything is properly organized. “The recent announcement of the closure of under-fire UK retailer Tesco’s busy flight department following the corporations overstated profits seems to have been a knee-jerk reaction to placate shareholders rather than a reasoned business decision.”
Flying in America Captain Telling has completed a number of transatlantic crossings to and from the United States, delivering airplanes via the northern routes – Iceland, Greenland and Canada. Having flown around the US, he notes some marked differences between the US and Europe. “Fuel is a great deal cheaper in the US,” he elaborates. “Many private jets are also made in the US, so issues with spares and delivery prove to be more economical. “Overall,” he adds, “the US seems a lot more aviation-friendly with many airports which have very small or no landing fees. In the UK, landing fees at airports such as Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, etc. are over £120 [$190]. Then you usually have mandatory handling fees, so on average, the fees can range between £300 and £1,200 ($470-$1,900]. In the US there is much more competition for the business, and far more choice.”
Selling but Chartering The bottom line is that the corporate or private jet is an essential part of 21st century business infrastructure, Telling concludes. “Whilst many corporations may have offloaded their flight departments all that happens is that, quite rightly, they just charter.” By Rani Singh Find more case studies like this, and jets for sale on AvBuyer.com www.avbuyer.com www.heditionmagazine.com
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| ENTREPRENEURS
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www.heditionmagazine.com
STEPHANIE
PHAIR Why The Luxury Industry Needed A Discount Fashion Site
S
tephanie Phair, President of the leading luxury discounted fashion site THE OUTNET.COM talks to H Edition and explains why she believes the company has become so successful, transforming from an ‘outlet’ to a destination e-store with its own private label.
Less than a decade after graduating from Oxford, you transformed THE OUTNET.COM from an ‘outlet’ to a destination e-store complete with its own private label. How has the experience been? When I started at THE OUTNET.COM I was employee number 2. Since its launch in 2009, THE OUTNET.COM has grown, evolving continuously with the expectations and demands of our customer so the journey has been incredibly exciting. We now have two offices in London and New York with approximately 183 employees. We ship to 170 countries so we really have grown into a global business. There have been so many highlights – from last year’s charity sale with Victoria Beckham, where we sold over 600 pieces of her wardrobe for charity mothers2mothers, to our 5th birthday celebrations where we celebrated by partnering with 17 designers on an exclusive limited edition collection. An awful lot has taken place – I sometimes can’t believe how much we have achieved in such a short space of time. It really is incredible!
What was the hardest part of this process? Changing the perception of discount shopping among both consumers and brands. In the beginning a lot of time was spent going direct to designers to explain the vision of THE OUTNET.COM and our unique business proposition. At the time discount luxury fashion was hidden away in out-of-town outlets and no one was
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| INTERVIEW
presenting discount fashion in a luxury way so brands were understandably a little apprehensive when first coming on board. 6 years on we now stock over 250 designer labels – as a result, I feel we have changed how discount shopping is perceived.
As a sister to Net-a-Porter the biggest and most successful luxury fashion online retailer, did you feel the pressure of standards that had already been set from the group? This was to our benefit! Being part of The NET-APORTER Group means that naturally the quality of work and standards are quite high, but this actually worked as a great template for what we knew we wanted THE OUTNET.COM to be. THE OUTNET.COM shares a lot of the DNA of NET-APORTER. We treat discount product exactly the same way as full-price merchandise when it comes to the customer experience – in fact our customers would often compare the experience to other full-price retailers. Being part of such a well-established business meant that we were able to benefit from a wealth of experience and expertise from the offset. To this day we still share much of the infrastructure and centralised systems of The NET-A-PORTER Group.
For an off season, discount focused site you still deliver the perfect shopping experience with clothes styled to perfection and all the relevant information available. Do you believe this is one of the reasons the site’s growth is strong? Yes I do. We provide our customers with the same level of luxury service that they would expect when shopping full-price products. We edit, we merchandise and we create editorial content which focuses on providing customers with inspirational outfit solutions. It is the edit of product, content and luxury experience that our customers come back for.
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You carry brands such as Alexander McQueen, Balmain, Lanvin and Yves Saint Laurent. How do you secure a partnership with these premier labels, is it due to NETAPORTER?
The internet provides amazing access to a global audience. Women living in some of the remotest parts of the world can now get access to great fashion just like those living in big cities.
We partner with our designers and treat them in a way we know they want to be seen online. In the beginning, the majority of our stock came from our sister site, but today THE OUTNET.COM has its own dedicated buying teams in London and New York who source the best previousseason fashion. We now acquire 90% of our stock directly from the designers. The brands choose to partner with THE OUTNET.COM – many of them exclusively – because they know that we will safeguard their brand in the online space and introduce their product to a new audience by merchandising them beautifully.
This is also reflected in our offering – we have a luxury delivery service that’s available in 170 countries with same-day delivery in both London and Manhattan and our customer care advisors are available via our live chat function, speaking 10 different languages.
As a little girl was fashion always a dream of yours? After university all I wanted to do was to move to New York as I thought it would be such a great place to start a career – and so much fun. I lived in Washington DC and New York when I was younger, so it felt as much like home to me as London did. Luckily, someone from a start-up PR agency took a chance on me and sponsored my visa. This was the start of my fashion career but I grew up wanting to be a foreign correspondent. I was always interviewing people!
What lead to the business launching a private label and how is this brand performing? Our in-house fashion team noticed there were certain items that they kept going back to time and time again as styling tools when they were putting looks together for the site. We recognized that if we were looking for these pieces our customers would be too. Iris & Ink was born as a collection of luxury basics to answer all of those styling dilemmas. As our core customer is a busy, professional woman I think the ethos and sheer convenience of being able to shop exceptional designer pieces and trend-led wardrobe essentials in one destination was something that they were looking for. It’s been exciting to have seen the collection evolve. Iris & Ink has been successful – not just in terms of sales, but also in terms of the reason for launching our own collection. The collection ranks as one of our top five bestselling brands so our customers really get it.
THE OUTNET.COM has a global consumer base, what do you believe drives this? THE OUTNET.COM customer really is a global woman. She is well-traveled (travelling approximately nine times a year) for work and leisure so she is time poor and always on the move.
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We also offer geo-targeted promotions and special offers to customers in different territories to reward them for their loyalty.
Your main customer is a HNW individual successful in her own right, what do you believe leads to these women returning to the website? We have incredible insight into our global customer, we know she’s an affluent, working family woman who is always on the move so we need to constantly react to her needs. She’s very discerning, and fashion conscious, so it’s important for us to be able to help and influence her, without dictating. This leads the approach in everything that we do from our same-day delivery service through to the editorial content. Combining this with our edit of unique designer product and luxury service seems to be what keeps our customers returning.
Are there any plans to open a store or will the group be staying online exclusively? At present there are no plans to open a bricks and mortar store. THE OUTNET.COM customer is a busy woman who chooses to shop online as it suits her lifestyle so it makes sense for us to be online, but we will always consider pop-up stores as part of a larger marketing initiative.
You partnered with Victoria Beckham for a charity sale of her personal items to raise funds for Mothers2Mothers, what lead to this idea? Victoria actually approached us to partner with her on the initiative. From the start, THE OUTNET.COM has defined itself by its strong relationships and collaborations with designers in luxury fashion. She was looking for a business with a global reputation to help build as much awareness and raise as much money as possible for mothers2mothers and found that in THE OUTNET.COM. We were thrilled to be working with Victoria Beckham and the team on such a unique opportunity – and all in aid of a good cause. www.outnet.com
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LUXURY LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE COATS FOR WOMEN & MEN www.graceandoliverlondon
Fancy Coloured
DiaMonDs Coloured diamonds are not always the first choice but the market is stronger than ever with many investors seeking the popular commodity. The trading of the stones has increased as markets have slowly recovered, says Ilias Kapsalis, Head Designer of Bentley & Skinner.
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ost people think diamonds as colourless but in reality most of them have a small amount of yellow or brown colour. The diamonds of the normal colour scale D-Z ranging from colourless to light yellow or brown. Diamonds with colour beyond the normal grade Z can be yellow, pink, orange, brown, blue and green, in all the colours of the rainbow and are called fancy coloured diamonds. Coloured diamonds have become a popular commodity among investors for many reasons, including their impressive price appreciation, compact size, and irresistible beauty. During the last two decades, the appetite of HNWI for coloured diamonds has significantly increased the prices of these stones. Every year new records are set for pink, yellow and blue diamonds, according to the Coloured Diamond Index, the last decade, their prices have increased 167%. Fancy colour diamond performance was strong even when the market turned sharply lower during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. Important pink and blue diamonds outperformed practically all investment classes as consumers and investors continued to view them as a long-term safe investment. Trading in fancy colour diamonds has increased as markets have slowly recovered, driven largely by growing demand in the emerging economies of the Far East. www.heditionmagazine.com
The rise of emerging markets has been a key defining feature of the industry, as a result of the growing wealth and the booming middle classes. The Chinese are the single biggest consumers of luxury goods around the world, accounting the one third of the global luxury spend, with India is in fifth place. Jewellery has historically been a way to store and transfer wealth in many cultures and diamonds are perhaps one of the most versatile assets. Bentley & Skinner helps HNWI to create jewellery collections or buy the rarest of the stones and make their dreams into reality! After all Diamonds are everyone’s best friends. Ilias Kapsalis Head Designer, Bentley & Skinner
The rise of emerging ‘‘ markets has been a key
defining feature of the industry, as a result of the growing wealth and the booming middle classes
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Good Food Talks M
att Wadsworth was never one to shy away from a challenge. Matt was born blind and was one of the first blind children to attend a mainstream secondary school. He was the very first blind student to attend the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he developed his own form of Braille tablature for the lute to allow him to consign three-hour long scores to memory. Matt has released six classical albums, one of which was recorded live at the Wigmore Hall, and played in operas and orchestras all over the world. He has also played with the Paraorchestra, a group of talented disabled musicians who sometimes struggle to find professional orchestras to play with, and set up a successful online business. Good Food Talks was founded in March 2013 and is the brainchild of Matt Wadsworth and Kate Bennett Wadsworth. Visually impaired people are sociable creatures. They love food, wine and beer, and above all else, they value their independence. Basically, they just want to be treated like anybody else. There’s something about the restaurant experience, though, that can often make you feel like some kind of special needs case. You’ve either got a dining companion reading the menu, or you’ve got a hurried waiter, who, with the best will in the world, just doesn’t have time to read everything out loud. Then there are Braille menus – a nice gesture on the restaurant’s part, but if you try grappling your way through a Braille menu, everybody else has ordered and you’re still reading through the starters. With our shared passion for creative problem solving, we put our heads together to invent a universally accessible restaurant menu 34
– the kind of thing someone could read as casually and effortlessly as an ordinary menu. After 4 months of research and testing, we figured out that the ideal medium for this was the device everyone already had in their pockets. We live in an incredible age of technology. Matt remembers a time when deciding to read a book meant ordering the special Braille version – if it even existed – and then hoping it arrived (in multiple volumes) before you decided you’d rather read a different book. Now, he just orders ordinary e-books for his Kindle app and reads them on his phone. Most smartphones, tablets and computers now come with a host of customizable accessibility features, including a built in screen reader that will speak everything out loud. For people who have limited vision, you can also enlarge the print, highlight buttons, and even invert all the colours. Every time you upgrade your phone or your operating system, you’ll notice more of these choices. Optimising a menu for all of these features at once has proved to be a huge challenge and great commitment – as has making sure that the menus on our system are always up to date. It’s definitely a challenge, but Matt has been known to get a bit of a kick out of challenges. We never rest, and are always developing, learning, innovating and improving. Right now, it just feels like a great honour to be able to use technology and accessibility to bring value to the restaurant industry. www.heditionmagazine.com
H Edition spoke exclusively to Matt on his growth and plans into the future.
When and how did the app launch? The iPhone app version launched on 8 September 2015 at the Babylon restaurant at the Roof Gardens in Kensington London. Our service has been up and running for 2 years via a web app. This still works very well, but many of our users prefer a native app experience. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point, but the joy of putting something into the hands of our users, is that we can really respond to what people want.
Have you had many previous bad experiences when dining out? I’d say I’ve generally had good experiences to be honest. The main problem for a visually impaired person dining out is that you can’t read the menu, or to put it another way, you are reliant on somebody to read it for you. This often leads to people making early choices, so as not to be a Burdon, or just taking a guess at what they think might be available.
How did the process of starting with this idea to launching the app and managing it develop? At the end of 2012, I was eating in a restaurant with my wife and business partner Kate. As usual, she was reading the menu to me at break-neck speed and I think I chose a burger, just to get the process over with. I’ve always been a problem solver – you have to be if you have any kind of disability, and it’s what makes life interesting. I said to Kate that for years, I’d wanted to solve the problem of restaurant menus not being accessible for blind and visually impaired people. Some restaurants do offer Braille menus, but they are often out of date, and Braille is a really cumbersome system. By the time you’ve read a Braille menu, everybody else has finished their meal… and you know what, out of the 2 million visually impaired people in the UK, less than 1% actually read Braille. www.heditionmagazine.com
So, we started a 6 month research project to test and validate our ideas. It was a fascinating journey and we used the Lean Start-up approach, whereby you test your assumptions very quickly in real life, on real people. We wanted to see if other visually impaired people shared my frustration, and we also wanted to test the business model, I.E. would restaurants be willing to pay for such a service.
How did you manage to get your starting capital? Once the research phase was over, we had a very strong case for building a minimum viable product (MVP). We actually invested our own money, in the knowledge that if things didn’t work out, we’d be able to apply what we learned to other projects.
Tell us about the restaurants that have embraced the app? What I love about the restaurants who have embraced GFT is that they very clearly care about customer experience. They are a collection of forward-thinking action takers who want to be inclusive, and can see the value GFt brings to the market, both from a business point of view, and also that making menus accessible to people with print reading difficulties is just the right thing to do. The problem they have is that it’s actually very difficult to do and requires some very specialist expertise. With the best will in the world, people who run restaurants haven’t got the time or the budget to make the necessary adjustments, and I think this is why GFT is turning out to be such a success.
What feedback have you had from users of the app? People are loving the solution we have brought to the market. In our research survey, 87% of people said that they currently relied on a dining companion or waiter to read the menu to them. 91% said that being able to make their own menu choices would greatly improve their dining experience. Visually impaired people are sociable creatures, and more than anything, they value 35
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their autonomy and independence. I think GFt really fills a very important social need.
Express, Wagamama and Wetherspoons. They all have Braille menus, but as I mentioned, less than 1% of visually impaired people read Braille.
Who were your first large clients? The first restaurant group to sign up to GFT was Carluccio’s. I was introduced to the then CEO Simon Kossoff, who being the forward-thinking and savvy business man he is, very quickly came on board. This was followed by Pret A Manger, Ed’s Easy Diner, Nando’s and Cote Brasserie. A fairly major pizza chain has just signed up, but they are not live yet, so I’ll keep it a surprise. We do have a number of independent restaurants and small pub chains like Babylon and Oakman Inns. To begin with, we have concentrated on the chains because it gives us much quicker and wider coverage across the country. They also don’t tend to change their menus too often.
What does the future hold for Good Food Talks? Now that the iPhone app version is out, we are investing in a completely new platform. The main goal behind the upgrade (apart from being much more professional) is so that we can give independent restaurants the ability to manage their own accounts. It’s not cost effective for us to actively maintain menus which change on a daily or weekly basis, so we haven’t really been able to work with independent restaurants nearly as much as we would have liked. This is about to change though, and we’re seriously excited about it.
Are there any restaurants you would like to have on board within the next few months? Of the chains, I think we could bring a lot of value to Pizza
What’s the plan for 2016? Our new platform will be launching at the beginning of 2016. We will continue to bring chains on board, but 2016 will be the year where we really start reaching out to independent restaurants. It’s been a long time coming, so we’re looking forward to working with that particular part of the hospitality industry.
How do you feel the need of visually impaired individuals is progressing? I think we live in a very good age to be blind or visually impaired. Accessible technology just keeps getting better and better, and things like the iPhone are quite honestly life-changing technologies in terms of what they allow a visually impaired person to do without sighted assistance.
Have you considered expanding this application to other areas of life? Absolutely. Firstly, I think there is a great deal of value we can bring to the hotel industry. Not just menus and room service, but things like hotel information and where things are in the building itself. We’re keeping an eye on beacon technology, which would allow us to help somebody navigate for instance from their room to the elevator, and then to the restaurant, gym or swimming pool. I’m also looking forward to the day when we can accept payments via GFt. It’s hard enough flagging down a waiter when you want the bill, but if you can’t make eye contact or see the waiter across the room, it’s even harder.
www.goodfoodtalks.com www.heditionmagazine.com
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| COVER STORY
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THE SCENT OF A BUSINESSWOMAN Jo Malone is a brand, and a person, who is still young and full of life and ideas. Philip Whiteley met her at her Jo Loves ‘brasserie for the nose’ in London’s Belgravia to discuss the magic of fragrance and the challenge of building a business.
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ntrepreneurs are known for displaying drive, but their craft can be closer to artistry than commercial impulse. Pablo Picasso was an entrepreneur, so is Sir Paul McCartney. Where once there was nothing, someone created something – something no one had thought of before; had not seen, experienced, heard – or smelt. With Jo Malone MBE, creator of the eponymous global brand of fragrances, and now her most recent venture Jo Loves, the similarity to the creative artist is so close that the distinctions disappear. If a songwriter walks down the street imagining a chord progression and a rhyming couplet to accompany, Jo Malone imagines scents; creates different combinations in her head; can imagine how they would combine. ‘I have just walked up Sloane Street, past the Dolce & Gabbana window, and I saw a lovely dress,’ she says. ‘I could smell the fragrance. If I hear a piece of music, I can correlate it to a fragrance. The dress had red roses; I smelt redcurrant and garden roses; it was set against a black pattern, so I could smell liquorice. The background was beige, and I smelt cinnamon. I can smell a fragrance in my head; I create it in my mind. ‘The minute I concentrate, it disappears – it’s very instinctive. The more you try to control it, you lose the instinct. I straddle the two; allowing creativity, but at the same time able to harness it. If not, then it’s just a hobby.’ We are meeting in her new Jo Loves shop – to call it just a ‘shop’ is an understatement, but we’ll come on to that which is all pristine white, elegant and minimalist in design, located on Elizabeth Street near Sloane Square in London’s exclusive Chelsea.
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The concept is closer to a ‘brasserie for the nose’ than a regular perfume store. You can sit at a bar stool at the counter, while the lovely assistants offer scents to sample: not only the conventional spray on a testing strip; she may soak a white cloth in a bowl, infuse with hot water, cover and then release, to give that sensation of a bathroom or a spa. Or mix a paste into a cocktail glass, or apply skin lotion to the back of your hand, with a brush like a painter. Then there are the candles; a new venture for the queen of the olfactory sense. The Jo Loves Shot Candle allows the customer to choose a preferred cocktail of scents: one in the base, the second in the ‘shot’, which is a core of the candle’s centre and wick, plugged into the base, after it has been lightly softened with a tiny blowtorch, as one might use on a crème brulée. For someone whose very name is a global brand, Jo Malone is extraordinarily lacking in self-importance. Yet you quickly realize that she is exceptional. She radiates energy – in an uplifting, engaging manner. She talks quite quickly, with warmth and friendliness, and penetrating sharpness on her product, how to do business and what it is to be human. She founded Jo Malone over 20 years ago ‘with four plastic jugs and a kitchen sink’. Her genius for fragrance was quickly appreciated, word spread and the business thrived. Within just five years she had created a global brand that she sold to Estée Lauder. She then stayed as creative director before parting with the multinational firm in 2006. In the five-year period covered by the non-compete clause after leaving, she diversified her interests, to cover broadcasting, where she presented the BBC High Street Dreams series, working with entrepreneurs to take them ‘from market stall to the deal of a lifetime’. Some of the firms are still flourishing, for example Muddy Boots upmarket meat products, and Den Kit, the children’s toy. Part of the reason for stepping down from Estée Lauder was a battle against cancer, ultimately successful. But though she enjoyed the BBC presenting, beauty and fragrance is her real love, and for which she has a unique genius. Returning with the Jo Loves brand in 2011 ought to have been straightforward, yet she found it unexpectedly difficult. ‘I started around the kitchen table again, and created fragrances. I remember thinking: “I can’t do it.” I created some, but they were just like everyone else’s.’
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She made a huge decision to pull a major product shortly before launch, the fragrance Pomelo. ‘I was still thinking: What does this need? What will I add, that will give depth and harmony? I was walking down the beach on holiday and I was thinking: “I can’t launch this. It’s not right”. ‘I have no marketing board; I don’t look at trends, or benchmarks. I create what I’m seeing. With that comes authenticity, integrity; not just “This is the next fragrance”. I said: “This isn’t good enough.” We pulled the launch. It cost me around £200,000.’ She adds: ‘I had to ask serious questions about the last few notes, that I couldn’t get right. On the same beach a year later, [I was] trying to get it right. A stingray was swimming by the side of me. It followed me down the beach and back again. I went back to the sun-bed, to the white towels rolled up. And I knew exactly what it needed … I knew which note. Three years on, it is the Number 1 fragrance.’ This decision reflects her approach as being close to that of the creative artist. A complex, intoxicating perfume is a crafted work of art, not just a mix of ingredients. Her gift is innate. It can be described as ‘synaesthesia’, a neurological condition that enhances her sensory perception. For her, it is all she has known: ‘As a child, when you can or can’t do something, it’s normal. Since I became comfortable with it, saw it as a gift not a disability, it has grown into other areas.’ She is dyslexic, in common with many gifted, creative people. The combination of dyslexia and synaesthesia enables her to perceive things differently. She acknowledges the importance of complementary skills in her team. At Jo Loves, her husband and business partner Gary organises the finances, her colleague Naomi handles operations, and Charlotte the marketing and PR. ‘When I build a team, I want people who are better than me: there are things I can’t do.’
The most successful business-builders care about their staff. ‘When people feel fulfilled, loved, cared-for, you get the best from people: doing what they’re best at,’ she says. But being motivational does not mean being soft: ‘They have to be happy – but I am a task-master; I can be tough. I trust my team, but for some decisions I step in and say: “I’m going to be the founder here.” Sometimes, my decision is popular, sometimes not. If it goes wrong, it’s my responsibility. If it goes right, everyone celebrates.’ She refers frequently to obstacles as one grows a business. Overcoming them helps you build ‘business muscle’, she says. Start-up firms often neglect the importance of packaging, the full customer experience; and computing the landed cost – the full cost of bringing the product to the consumer. Without a sustainable margin, you are sunk. With her team around her, Jo can be liberated to do what she does best; thinking of new fragrances, new consumer experiences. She is ambitious. Jo Loves is undergoing a rebrand, and there are plans for global expansion. She mentions Dublin, Shanghai, Dubai, Istanbul, New York. There will be the daring use of truffle in a perfume – which is a powerful, but difficult-to-handle ingredient, she says. The business is just a few years old, and the brasserie opened only in late 2013, but it is clear that the public already loves Jo Loves. Even on a Monday morning in the summer holiday season, trade is brisk at the Elizabeth Street outlet. It’s easy to underestimate the power of fragrance. A scent may lie at the heart of some powerful experiences. It may evoke memory, potential, romance, friendship, love. It is more than just a pleasant waft or a distraction. It can get into you, like a piece of music. Just like music, it requires composition. That takes an artist.
‘Being entrepreneurial is not just ideas; it’s about following those through – learning how to physically build a business; how to build a financial model’ www.joloves.com www.heditionmagazine.com
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| INTERVIEW
LEVISON WOOD The British Explorer, Writer and Photographer, recently returned from walking the length of the river Nile. His record breaking work has taken him around the world leading expeditions on five continents. He is widely published and is an elected Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club and the co-founder of the exploration organisation Secret Compass. His documentary ‘Walking the Nile’ launched on Channel 4 in January 2015, to great critical acclaim. After giving the Audley Travel Lecture for the Tusk Trust, and talking about your nine month ‘walking the Nile’ challenge, you said you’d ‘never do it again’. But we hear you’ve already signed up for your next challenge? What and where is this? I suppose deep down there was always the question of ‘where next?’; in fact, this is probably always somewhere in the back of my mind, once the blisters have healed that is. In the upcoming adventure I will start in the far west of the Himalayas, in Afghanistan and work my way – on foot of course – all the way to the far east of the mountain range. The region has always held an appeal to me, and I’ve spent a considerable amount of time there in the past, and I simply couldn’t pass up the chance to explore this barren, remote and unique place some more. I’ll be going to some of the highest and most challenging terrain on earth and meeting the resilient and hardy tribes who actually live here and face the challenges of the environment, year in year out.
You are a fundraiser for and great supporter of Tusk Trust. What is it about this particular charity that appeals to you? Tusk has always struck me as a charity that is passionate about wildlife – a fundamental issue in today’s world – initiating and developing innovative conservation programmes across Africa. 44
For years they’ve not just been preserving the endangered species of Africa, but also educating local villagers about why conservation is so crucial to their future. They have a really effective grass roots approach and empower local communities to get involved, educating villagers about sustainable development and the importance of the land on which they live.
On your walking the Nile expedition you travelled through several areas suffering from great political unrest – which area was the riskiest and presented the most problems for you? The recent history of South Sudan has been riddled with unrest and danger. The day I arrived in Bor, there was a riotous street battle, and my hotel was under fire, which was pretty unnerving.
You also encountered a great deal of wildlife, some of whom may not have been too pleased to see you walking through their territory? Which wildlife presented the greatest challenge? The Crocodiles that flank the banks of the Nile are alarmingly well camouflaged and lurk on the banks, disguised in the grasses. They aren’t discerning about their prey, and will devour fish, birds, reptiles or mammals. When were in Uganda, we had to leg it across the banks in order to escape becoming crocodile lunch.
When you were walking the Nile you aimed to walk 100 miles per week, fo nine months. How do you physically prepare for this sort of challenge? I avoid the tube and take the stairs! No, but seriously, I suppose I keep in shape with long walks in London’s parks. Before an expedition I actually do very little physical training; I am usually so busy mapping out routes, dealing with organisation and planning the journey that time flies, and suddenly I have to get on the plane and go.
The Daily Mail recently said you make Bear Gryllis ‘look like a wimp’ – what do you make of your celebrity, and ‘sex symbol’ status? I think we can agree that Bear Grylls is certainly not a wimp. The man rightly inspires heaps and heaps of people to get out and about in the outdoors and test their limits. In fact, I’d say we do very different things; he is focussed on extreme survival and enduring the challenges of the wild and www.heditionmagazine.com
my trips are more orientated towards adventure journalism, and getting to know the people who inhabit these destinations. As for alleged ‘sex symbol’ status, I guess it’s all very flattering and it makes me chuckle.
Talking of Bear Gryllis, like him, you’ve also had to eat some strange things on your expeditions. What are the best and worst things you’ve eaten on your adventures? Some of the best food I’ve eaten whilst travelling has to be on my recent trip to the Himalayas. I had some phenomenal homemade curries, some of which take hours to prepare and seem to have the perfect combination of spices. Each village seems to have a unique cuisine in that part of the world. The worst meal that I’ve had to endure has to be a bush rat in Uganda – it was tough and bland. Locals swear it tastes like chicken; it really doesn’t!
How important your Army training been to your preparation for your expeditions and to your ability to survive during them? During training, you are up early every morning with a pretty punishing schedule, so it means that even the earliest sunrise starts and the longest days on an expedition are cast into pretty light relief. I guess it’s more about a state of mind; learning to keep calm and act quickly can be invaluable if something goes wrong when you’re far from civilisation.
You trained at Sandhurst at the same time as Prince Harry. who famously was part of an expedition to the Antarctic. Does this area interest you too? It seems like an incredible place to explore, and a real test of survival and endurance, but the main interest and appeal for travel, to me, is the people. And there aren’t an awful lot of those in the Antarctic! Having said that, maybe after a busy afternoon in London it might be nice to go and have some peace and quiet with the penguins!
You’re a partner in the firm Secret Compass an organisation which leads expeditions to some of the most remote destinations on the planet. How do you assess the risks and plan for these expeditions? I co-founded, but am no longer involved with Secret Compass. On our expeditions, the first priority is always safety, and we do everything in our power to minimise the risks, whatever they may be. Some of these destinations are pretty unpredictable, be it geographically or politically, but we have contingency plans and measures in place to look after people. We also have a fantastic network of porters, guides and locals on whose expertise we rely, and they are able to help make everything plain sailing.
We understand you’ve visited over 80 countries? After this experience, where in the world do you think you would prefer to live? I’ve grown to love London over the years and really like the fact that it attracts people from all walks of life and from all over the world. I’ve discovered my own secret pockets of the city and these little known parks and hideouts help to keep me sane.
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In another life though, perhaps, I would have settled in Cape Town. They have a dreamy climate, long sandy beaches, great wildlife nearby and a very laid back attitude towards life. 45
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Beauty in Bregenzerwald Nestled in a small quaint village called Bezau in Austria`s Bregenzerwald region you will find a stunning boutique hotel.
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he Spa Hotel Post Bezau in Vorarlberg can look back on a long, dynamic history and is now run by the fifth generation of Kaufmanns, Susanne Kaufmann. In 1850 Susanne Kaufmann’s great-great-grandfather, Postmaster Johann Kaspar Natter, opened the first K.u.K Post Office in Bezau. Mail coaches were the most important means of overland transport covering up to 100 kilometres a day. Soon a small inn was added to the Bezau Post Office where passengers could refresh and rest from the strenuous coach rides. Johann Kaspar Natter’s son Franz Josef took over the tavern and extended it so that in 1920 the inn had 28 beds. From 1926 the Post Inn was run by Oskar and Irma Natter. They passed on the reigns in 1968 to their daughter Rosemarie and her husband, the architect Leopold Kaufmann. Under their management the house underwent large changes making it the hotel we see today. In 1994 Susanne Kaufmann, the next generation, took over the management of Hotel Post in Bezau which by now had been awarded with four stars. Inspired by the visionary thinking that was typical of the Kaufmann Family, soon new changes were on the horizon: the hotel became a modern spa and gourmet hotel. With her brother, the architect Oskar Leo Kaufmann, Susanne refurbished and renovated the entire house. A spectacular new addition was introduced, many rooms were redesigned and a clear, modern, elegant design was established throughout the house. The beauty department was extended and the hotel restaurant received its first Gault Millau chef’s hat. In 2003 Susanne Kaufmann launched her very own Susanne Kaufmann cosmetic range, which relies on the natural ingredients of the Bregenzerwald Forest. Relaxation, wellness and wellbeing became more and more the focus of the hotel. Therefore a new extensive wellness area with saunas, salt-water pools and whirlpool was connected to the indoor pool and the Susanne Kaufmann Spa opened its doors. In 2006, for the first time, the Hotel Post received two lilies (rating: extraordinary) from Relax Guide for the wellness and spa areas. In 2013 the Hotel Post celebrates the 10th birthday of Susanne Kaufmann Spa Bezau and its own cosmetic range Susanne Kaufmann organic treats.
Florian Schaible H Edition’s Luxury Hotel Director visited Susanne to ask her about the amazing business she has continued to grow with passion.
Your hotel is wonderful, what experience do you want your guests to have? I believe we have created a unique environment for our guests. Our concept of regionality and authenticity is followed through from the minute you walk through the entrance right through to the minute details such as the flower arrangements in the lobby across to the fabrics used in the rooms, to the delicious food our chefs are creating all the way to the amenities provided in the spa. I believe our guests feel that when they walk through the door. Each of our therapists are trained and educated in their field on an ongoing basis, we make sure the atmosphere creates an aura of calm where one can completely relax.
Bregenzerwald and especialy the village Bezau is still untouched internationally however you have returning guests that. What do you think keeps them coming back? Indeed – the area is remote but thats the beauty of it and thats also the secret. We are in the countryside but yet only 2 hours away from Munich and Zurich so easily accessable. The Hotel Post Bezau skin line is sold internatyionally as far as South Korea to New York City – so many clients that use my treatments take the opportunity when visiting Europe to pop and experience our products first hand.
Would you be so kind and tell one beauty secret that you would share with our readers: Of Course! Each morning when I wake up I put on a thick layer of Susanne Kaufmann Anti Aging Eye Cream on for around 15 minutes whilst preparing my kids for school. It really helps my eyes glow throughout the day.
One last question – what would you recommend a man should book when visiting the spa? ? Definitely a manicure! Well groomed hands are refined and can be very sexy – of course without the nail polish…
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RONNIE KESSEL “The Man of Dreams” – “L’uomo del sogni”
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onnie Kessel looks me straight in the eye. “We do not offer services. We offer dreams.” Kessel’s boyish looks are deceptive. Behind them is a man who leads a group company with seventy employees; a person whose life experiences have matured him faster than his peers and someone who has a genuine passion for his work and for realising the dreams of his customers. Shakespeare said, all men are “such stuff as dreams are made on,” and someone’s dreams often tell us more of about their them than their cv. Kessel is a man who intends to realise dreams – for himself and others. The enthusiasm with which Kessel and his staff explain what they do, and how they do it,is contagious. His vision provides Kessel Group with its strength. It would be difficult to withstand the enormous sacrifices that his business involves if it was not fuelled and supported by such belief and commitment. For a car lover, entering the Kessel factory is like crossing the threshold of a cathedral. It provides the very best that the industry can offer, but above all, when there, you feel the genuine care with which everyone carries out their work. Over all of this hovers the figure of the late Loris Kessel, Ronnie’s unforgettable father, and former F1 driver. He died suddenly in 2010, and Ronnie, just 22, at an age at where most young men are studying and enjoying life, found himself shouldering the a great responsibility of running the company. The memory of Loris is still tangible to Kessel, who describes him as a sort of spiritual guide. He says: “The early years after my father died were very challenging, but we were able to maintain and grow what he had built thanks to the solidarity and humanity of the people who worked with him. I grew up with these people, 90% of those who worked with my father are still with me. The advantage of our Group is that, despite our numbers and workloads, we remain a family company. Of course we work with prestigious brands which make it more engaging work and encourage us to give our best, but none of this would be possible without the hard work and commitment of everyone here.”
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oi non offriamo servizi. Offriamo sogni”. Ronnie Kessel mi guarda dritto negli occhi. Dietro al suo look di ragazzo “à la page” c’è un uomo d’azienda che guida un gruppo con una settantina di dipendenti; un uomo che le esperienze della vita hanno fatto maturare più velocemente rispetto ai coetanei e che riesce in pieno a trasmettere una passione autentica per il suo lavoro e per i sogni dei suoi clienti che realizza ogni giorno. Del resto gli uomini, come cantava il grande Bardo, sono “fatti della stessa sostanza dei sogni”. E chi si rivolge al gruppo Kessel è una persona che, raggiunti i suoi obiettivi nella vita e nel lavoro, intende realizzare i suoi desideri per capire veramente un uomo, più che al curriculum o al conto in banca bisogna guardare alle sue passioni, che ci raccontano tanto della sua storia. Per poter assecondare quest’ansia di realizzazione servono certamente competenza, tecnica e professionalità, ma, anche in questo campo è fondamentale il “sacro fuoco”. Tutto questo lo offre il gruppo Kessel che fa della passione il proprio punto di forza altrimenti non si riuscirebbero a sopportare i sacrifici che questa attività comporta se non si fosse sorretti da questa “febbre”. Sia che si faccia il meccanico nelle 250 giornate di corse che la Kessel Racing affronta ogni anno, o il venditore di Ferrari, Maserati, Bentley e Pagani alla prese con clienti giustamente esigenti. Per un appassionato delle quattro ruote entrare negli stabilimenti Kessel di Grancia è come varcare la soglia di una cattedrale. Ci si trova dinnanzi a quanto di meglio il settore offre, ma soprattutto, girando per lo stabilimento, si percepisce la passione con cui tutti svolgono il proprio compito. L’entusiasmo con cui Ronnie, le sue collaboratrici e collaboratori ti spiegano cosa fanno e come lo fanno è contagioso. Su tutto aleggia ancora la figura del compianto Loris Kessel, l’indimenticato padre di Ronnie, già pilota di F1, scomparso improvvisamente nel 2010. Da allora
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The challenge of maintaining such a high level of excellence is, according to Ronnie, met by integrating people. He explains: “Each person has their own skills, but all realize that the group is a whole and cannot be separated from their individual contribution to each aspect of it.” Kessel Group is unique. It is a giant machine divided into six areas (the racing team, the motorsports industry, car sales, the workshop for racing cars and everyday cars, the restoration of classic cars and renting supercar exclusive). Ronnie explains “Kessel Car has many competitors, Kessel Racing few, we have no rivals to a group as a whole, or to our ability to engage in many fields. The other parts of the company specialise in racing, or car selling. No one else has successfully engaged in all these fields.” Kessel explains that they’re so successful because, while selling different brands and catering for many different types of customers, everyone at the company “thinks Kessel.” He explains “what unites our clients is passion, but our customers have many different interests. There are the sports racing customers who are naturally linked to Ferrari Maserati, and Pagani, while in Restorations we cater to an audience who prefer elegant and classic cars.” Kessel offers several brands, but unites them all with a single philosophy – that of providing car sector excellence. For example, in brand positioning Kessel offers a full range of cars and in doing so are able to offer all customers the car of their dreams with the highest quality of bodywork, traction and power.
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Ronnie, a 22 anni, un’età in cui si pensa allo studio, allo sport e ai divertimenti, si è ritrovato sulle spalle la grande responsabilità di guidare il gruppo. Il ricordo di Loris è tuttora tangibile all’interno della Kessel, una sorta di guida spirituale, come spiega Ronnie: “Gli anni iniziali dopo la scomparsa di mio padre sono stati molto impegnativi, siamo riusciti a salvaguardare e a far crescere quello che aveva costruito Loris grazie alla solidarietà e all’umanità delle persone che lavoravano con mio padre e che mi hanno aiutato. Io sono cresciuto con queste persone, il 90% di chi lavorava con mio padre è rimasto con noi. Il vantaggio del nostro gruppo è quello, nonostante i numeri e gli impegni attuali, di essere ancora un’azienda familiare. Certo lavoriamo con marchi di assoluto prestigio che rendono più coinvolgente il lavoro, ci stimolano a dare il meglio, ma tutto ciò non sarebbe possibile senza il duro impegno quotidiano e la collaborazione di tutti”. La sfida, per rimanere a questi livelli di eccellenza è, come racconta Ronnie “integrare tutte le persone. Ognuno ha le sue caratteristiche, ma tutto quello che realizza il gruppo è integrato e non può prescindere dal valore umano di ogni elemento”. Kessel è adesso una macchina gigantesca divisa in sei settori (la scuderia racing, il settore eventi motoristici, la vendita di auto, l’officina sia per le vetture racing che che per quelle d’utilizzo quotidiano, i restauri di vetture classiche e il noleggio di supercar esclusive) che rendono il gruppo un “unicum”. Come spiega Ronnie “Kessel auto ha tanti competitor, Kessel racing pochi,
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The automotive sector, despite, or perhaps because of, the recent financial crisis, is among the most innovative. What looked like a mature product, often under fire, has recently found new life because of new technology which has provided more environmentally friendly cars to a society that does not want waste. Kessel sees this as a great opportunity for the future: “We should not be afraid of the future in our industry, but thank it for the opportunities it gives us. We have to welcome it in the best way. We can already see an integration of technologies – new materials, electronics – that enable companies to make even better machines, more efficient with lower fuel consumption, more environmentally friendly. And we must not forget that this future is also giving added value to the automotive past. Right now there are major investments in the sector, we are facing a positive situation that is made possible precisely by the awareness of such a promising future.” Kessel has no doubts or worries about the next move of the Ferrari brand, which is expected to be listed on the stock exchange soon: “We are very confident that this decision will take the Group forward. We have already seen that with the positioning of the Maserati brand in the premium sector which represented an opportunity for us to provide prestige cars for everyday use. I think Ferrari will be equally successful because the brand has a great future in front of it and a great history behind it.” The link between Ferrari and Kessel is longstanding. In addition to the team in charge of the races and the sale of prestigious cars, collaboration is very strong in the restoration of classic cars. These operations are
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non abbiamo rivali come gruppo nel suo complesso, nella nostra capacità di impegnarci in tanti campi. Gli altri infatti sono specializzati o nella scuderia corse o nella vendita auto, nessuno riesce a impegnarsi con successo in tutti i settori”. Tanto che in Kessel, pur occupandosi di diversi marchi e avendo diversi tipi di cliente, piace “pensare Kessel”: “La base comune del nostro ciente è la passione racconta Ronnie -, ma chi si rivolge a noi si divide in diverse tipologie. C’è il cliente racing e sportivo che è naturalmente legato a Ferrari e Maserati, a cui abbiamo aggiunto Pagani, mentre con Bentley e i restauri ci rivolgiamo ad un pubblico elegante e classico. Diversi marchi quindi, ma un’unica filosofia di gruppo il cui obiettivo è essere al fianco dell’appassionato nel settore delle auto d’eccellenza. Già adesso con il nuovo posizionamento del marchio Maserati abbiamo un’offerta ampissima che con l’arrivo dei modelli Suv di Bentley e del Tridente sarà a 360 gradi. Per chi cerca un’auto di altissima gamma siamo in grado di offrire di tutto, sia a livello di motorizzazione che di carrozzeria, di trazione e di alimentazione. Il cliente che vuole stare in casa Kessel trova ogni genere di vettura, naturalmente parliamo di macchine che devono trasmettere passione e che facciano sognare”. Il settore dell’automotive, nonostante o forse grazie alla crisi, è tra quelli più innovativi. Quello che sembrava un prodotto maturo, spesso sotto accusa, ha trovato nuova linfa nella tecnologia fornendo mezzi sempre più ecologici e rispettosi di una società che non vuole più sprecare. Un futuro che Ronnie Kessel vede come
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delicate, and are of high-quality industrial architecture, which can be likened to the restoration of ancient books. The quality of restoration reached is such that every car is given a certificate saying it came from the Kessel factory in Maranello. Kessel commits its most experienced employees to this area and safeguard the knowledge and expertise of people who would be in trouble in other areas of the company where new technologies matter more. The work is so detailed that it even creates new components for the cars which are based on original designs. At the end of the restoration, the customer does not have in his hands a “fake”, but a perfectly restored Ferrari original. All work completed is documented step by step and kept in on record. Of course this level of service is not provided by everyone – the number of companies in the world that can make restorations certified Ferrari can be counted on one hand. The classic car sector has here received a big boost from the financial crisis because many investments have been based on “material” such as watches, stamps, coins and just classic cars. Kessel’s group numbers are impressive: Twenty-two titles won in the classes they represent in the Ferrari competition. Six divisions of the company (Racing, Event, Car, Service, Classic and Rent). Thirty racing cars involved in five championships for about one hundred
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una grande opportunità: “Non dobbiamo certo avere paura del futuro nel nostro settore, ma ringraziarlo già da ora per le opportunità che ci si presenteranno. Dobbiamo accoglierlo nel migliore dei modi. Già adesso vediamo un’integrazione di tecnologie - i nuovi materiali, l’elettronica - che permettono alle aziende di produrre macchine sempre migliori, più efficienti con minori consumi, rispettose dell’ambiente. E’ uno dei settori dell’economia moderna dove si sono realizzate più innovazioni e integrazioni. E non dobbiamo dimenticare che questo futuro sta regalando un valore aggiunto anche al passato dell’automotive, un lunga storia di cui si apprezzano sempre di più i vari passaggi. In questo momento nel settore ci sono importanti investimenti, siamo di fronte ad una congiuntura positiva che è resa possibile proprio dalla consapevolezza che ci aspetta un futuro promettente”. Anche sulle prossime mosse del marchio Ferrari, che in autunno dovrebbe essere quotato in borsa, Ronnie Kessel non ha dubbi e preoccupazioni: “Siamo molto fiduciosi sulle decisioni che prenderà il gruppo FCA. Abbiamo già visto che il nuovo posizionamento del marchio Maserati nel settore premium ha rappresentato un’ulteriore opportunità per noi che possiamo fornire macchine di prestigio per un uso quotidiano. Penso che la quotazione Ferrari sarà un grande successo perché
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thousand kilometers of distance in the race. Six trucks accompanying various leagues for a total of three hundred thousand kilometers. Sixty employees of the group, of which fifty are engaged in the racing department. Forty pilots served, twenty different nationalities. The races are held in more than forty international circuits. Others who have used cars prepared by Kessel are champions MotoGP Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. For the 2015 racing season Kessel has been engaged in the Blancpain Endurance Series, in the European Le Mans Series, the championship Ferrari Challenge, GT Sports Club and Sports Races.
il marchio ha un grande futuro davanti e uno splendido passato alle spalle”. Il legame tra Ferrari e Kessel è di lunga data. Oltre alla scuderia che si occupa delle gare e la vendita delle prestigiose auto del “cavallino rampante”, c’è un altro settore dove questa collaborazione è fortissima: quello del restauro di vetture d’epoca. Si tratta di operazioni delicatissime, di pregiata archeologia industriale, che possono essere equiparate al restauro di antichi volumi. E il livello raggiunto è tale che ogni vettura che esce da un restauro certificato è riportata a come uscì dalla fabbrica di Maranello. In questo settore Kessel impegna i suoi dipendenti più esperti e appassionati, salvaguardando la competenza di queste persone che sarebbero in difficoltà in altri settori dell’azienda dove contano di più le nuove tecnologie. Il lavoro è talmente maniacale da prevedere la creazione di nuovi componenti sulla base dei disegni originali. Il cliente al termine di questa operazione di restauro certificato non ha tra le mani un “falso”, ma una Ferrari originale, come se fosse appena uscita dallo stabilmento. L’opera viene seguita passo per passo, documentata e raccontata in volumi che rappresentano un autentico tesoro. Naturalmente non si tratta di operazioni alla portata di tutti, si contano su una mano le aziende al mondo possono fregiarsi di effettuare restauri certificati Ferrari. Il settore delle classiche ha ricevuto un grosso impulso dalla crisi. Molti investimenti infatti sono stati girati su prodotti “materiali” come gli orologi, i francobolli, le monete e appunto le auto classiche. I numeri del gruppo Kessel sono impressionanti. Ventidue i titoli conquistati nelle classi che vedono in competizione le Ferrari. Trenta le auto da corsa impegnate in cinque campionati per circa centomila chilometri di percorrenza in gara. Sei camion al seguito dei vari campionati per un totale di trecentomila chilometri. Una sessantina di dipendenti del gruppo di cui cinquanta (con innesti esterni nei periodi di maggior sforzo) impegnati nel reparto corse. Quaranta i piloti serviti, di venti differenti nazionalità. Le gare si disputano di più di quaranta circuiti internazionali. Hanno utilizzato vetture preparata da Kessel anche i campionissimi del motomondiale Valentino Rossi e Jorge Lorenzo nelle loro esperienze sulle quattro ruote. Nella stagione 2015 Kessel è impegnata nelle Blancpain endurance serie, nelle European Le Mans Serie, nei campionati Ferrari challenge, Gt Sports Club e Sport Races.
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AUTUMNAL NIGHTS When it comes to being quintessentially British, dapper dressing and the right drink counts. Welcome to the ninth Pillars of Style, brought to you by Beefeater 24 and Hackett London.
Inspired by the best of British engineering, designer Jeremy Hayward is tasked with producing Hackett’s Aston Martin Racing and HKT Sport ranges each season. When it comes to Autumnal nights Jeremy is all about focusing on the technical elements. He says: “The Aston Martin Racing by Hackett collection offers a dynamic range of menswear. My favourite piece for the Autumn/Winter season is the quilted outerwear jacket in olive; lightweight whilst still retaining its ultra-performance, perfect for those chilly Autumnal nights. Team this with Aston Martin Racing denim jeans and four-way stretch knits in a full-zip and vest shapes to create the perfect outfit to enjoy the changing of the leaves.”
“The chai infused Beefeater 24 imparts spice and gentle tannins from the tea, bringing autumnal flavours to the palate in this reworking of one of gin’s greatest, but lesser known, cocktails – The Last Word.” - Beefeater 24 Brand Ambassador Sebastian Hamilton-Mudge
THE NEXT WORD
Glass – Coupette/Cocktail Ingredients • 35ml Chai Infused Beefeater 24 • 5ml Beefeater homemade Fruit Cup • 20ml Maraschino • 20ml Lemon Juice • 10ml Gomme
Method 1. Pour a bottle of Beefeater 24 into a glass jug then add 4 teaspoons of loose tea and leave to brew at room temperature for at least 4 hours. Filter well and re-bottle. 2. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake hard with ice and strain into glass.
Visit www.beefeaterginblog.tumblr.com for more information
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LONDON LIFE | BUSINESS | EVENTS | INTERVIEWS | LUXURY
WHERE TO EAT
The laneSborouGh
Treat yourself to dinner at the recently reopened Lanesborough London, now part of the Oetker Collection and emulating the style, service and joie de vivre of its Parisian sister, Le Bristol, Paris. Overlooking Hyde Park Corner, adjacent to the ground of Buckingham Palace, the re-launch includes new restaurant Céleste, under the guidance of Executive Chef Florian Favario, protégé of Le Bristol’s three-Michelin starred Chef Patron Eric Frechon. Céleste’s menu draws on traditional French ‘savoir faire’ whilst championing the finest in British produce, and will offer everything from an informal lunch, traditional afternoon tea and fine dining for dinner. The Lanesborough, Hyde Park Corner, London, SW1X 7TA lanesborough.com
Sexy FiSh
The much-anticipated new Asian fish and seafood restaurant from Caprice Holdings, will open mid October 2015 in Berkeley Square. The restaurant will pair contemporary cuisine with cutting-edge art and design to create a dynamic new dining experience. The Asian-inspired menus will concentrate on fish and seafood, and will be overseen by young British-born Head Chef Ben Orpwood, whose previous experience spans roles in Istanbul, Dubai, Sydney and Tokyo, including restaurants such as Zuma, Toko, the Sydney Collective Group, and with the Japanese izakaya, Daniel San. Sexy Fish, Berkeley Square House, London W1J 6BR Telephone: 020 3764 2000
Make The MOST oF london What’s going on in and around the greatest City in the World this month
WHAT TO DO
cycle revoluTion
The Design Museum has an exciting new exhibition coming up celebrating the all things cycling from the diversity of contemporary cycling in Britain from every day commuting to Olympic level competition. You will also be able to take a look into the future at where design and innovation may take the riders of the future. Design Museum, Bermondsey, 28 Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YD. designmuseum.org Wednesday 18th November 2015 to Thursday 30th June 2016
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olyMpia, The london inTernaTional horSe ShoW
London’s annual equestrian fiesta graces Olympia once more for a full week of galloping, jumping and pinpoint dressage steps. There’s enough to please everybody at the London International Horse Show, with the UK’s only World Cup dressage qualifier, spectacular show-jumping competitions, and some fantastic equestrian shopping opportunities. 15th to 21st December 2015. olympiahorseshow.com
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The Fabric oF india
The highlight of the V&A India Festival this autumn, The Fabric of India is the first major exhibition to explore the dynamic and multifaceted world of handmade textiles from India. The exhibition showcases over 200 objects from the 3rd to the 21st century, including Tipu Sultan’s spectacular 18th-century tent, a stunning range of historic costume, highly prized textiles for international trade and cutting-edge fashion by celebrated Indian designers.
harrodS chriSTMaS GroTTo 2015
Harrods is putting on its well-loved Harrods Christmas Grotto from 6th November to 24th December 2015, open to Harrods Rewards cardholders, where children can meet Father Christmas in a magical setting. Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London SW3 1RT Telephone: 0845 350 0015. grotto2015.harrods.com
From 3rd October 2015 to 10th January 2016 vam.ac.uk/fabricofindia
SouThbank cenTre WinTer Wonderland 4th December 2015 to 4th January 2016 Free Entrance Book via southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson
hyper Japan chriSTMaS MarkeT 2015
The Christmas Market will offer plenty of festive shopping opportunities with stalls and booths hailing from both Japan and the UK. The perfect weekend to pick up some Christmas presents with many great quality Japanese goods on offer along with amazing entertainment, gourmet dining, fashion, pop culture. Hyper Japan, 27th, 28th & 29th November. hyperjapen.co.uk
WinTer Terrace aT babylon
Enjoy Warming cocktails and devour baked cheeses whilst taking in the breath-taking London Skyline from Babylon’s fully heated terrace. Babylon, Rooftop Gardens, Kensington
SculpTure in The ciTy
reGenT STreeT liGhTS
Square Mile, London, Until June 30th 2016. cityoflondon.gov.uk
Regent Street, Soho Sunday, 15th November 2015 to Wednesday 16th January 2016
Sculpture in the City aims to enhance our urban environment with cuttingedge contemporary works from leading artists sited in and around the Square Mile. Set amongst London’s iconic architectural landmarks, this open air exhibition includes works from internationally renowned artists.
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Regent Street gets its usual Christmas makeover with garlands of lights down the length of the road. The switch-on event promises celebrity appearances, family activities and a fireworks display.
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THREE MICHELIN STAR CHEF PIERRE KOFFMANN It was a love of international rugby rather than good food that brought a 22-year-old Pierre Koffmann to Britain in 1970. As he says: “Food was not at its best and the rugby more interesting.” Pierre expected to stay only six months.
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y pure luck Pierre quickly found himself working for Michel and Albert Roux at Le Gavroche in London’s West End. Within another six months he was promoted to Number 2 and after a quick stint at their Brasserie Benoit in the City, Pierre was appointed Head Chef at the Roux Brothers’ new Waterside Inn at Bray. In his five-year tenure he helped them achieve two Michelin stars. In 1977, Pierre and his first wife Annie opened their first restaurant, La Tante Claire, in Chelsea and achieved three Michelin stars before taking up residency in the Berkeley Hotel in 1998. After decades of contributing massively to British cuisine and training some of our finest chefs, Pierre folded away his precious knives in 2003 and realised a dream of hanging up a sign saying “Gone Fishing”. Becoming slightly bored a year later he came back to be a consultant to some major food retailers. The call of the restaurant trade was too loud. In 2009, Pierre agreed to take a ‘pop-up’ La Tante Claire to be the Restaurant on the Roof at Selfridges for one week. Two months and 3,200 servings of his classic Pieds de Cochon aux Morilles later, Pierre once again returned to The Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge and to open Koffmann’s with partner and business partner Claire Harrison. Koffmann’s offers a relaxed, informal style with classic provincial French cuisine. The food of Pierre’s childhood in rural Gascony and the food that first inspired Pierre
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to follow his love of cooking using fresh, seasonal ingredients to deliver exquisite unspoiled flavours. Pierre was born in Tarbes, in South West France in 1948. His father was a mechanic for Citroen and his mother worked for the council. Pierre spent many happy holidays with his maternal grandparents, Camille and Marcel Cadeillan on their farm at Saint Puy, a very small village not far from Tarbes in central Gascony. Pierre’s grandparents were peasant farmers, living off the land. Although Pierre’s mother and grandmother were both very good cooks, it’s his grandmother, Camille that inspired him the most. Cooking as the seasons dictated on a big open fire, using every part the animals had to offer from the land and from the streams. Pierre left school at 14 because he was asked to. He tried for jobs with the post office and French railway but opted for the local cookery school. Not so much because of the food but because it was still school. There he was happy, he really enjoyed it. From there Pierre took his skills to Strasbourg, the French Riviera and then Lausanne in Switzerland before settling in England. Pierre is father to Camille, Louis and Margaux. H Edition talks exclusively to Chef Koffmann about the love of cuisine. E
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You were inspired by your grandmother’s cooking, would you say this has been your biggest inspiration? Absolutely yes – my grandmother inspired me from a young child and the memory of her and her wonderful cooking continues to do so to this day.
What are your favourite ingredients to work with? All ingredients that are super fresh and in season – I also particularly love working with game given the richness of flavours.
Where do you like to eat when not working? Maintaining 3 Michelin stars is a job in itself, what do you think are the main components of a team working well together? There are two key components – an absolute love of food and respect for the customer.
You opened Koffmann’s at the Berkeley in 2009 after coming out of retirement. Where would you have seen yourself now if this did not happen? I would be sitting by a river or a lake somewhere fishing!
Having worked with some of the greatest chefs in the world is there anyone in particular that you keep in touch with? I try to keep in touch with all those who have worked with me.
Which fellow chefs do you believe are the ones to watch out for in 2016? There are so many young brilliant British Chefs coming up – it’s an exciting time for the UK and London in particular for emerging talent!
Brasserie Chavot and La Petite Maison are two of my favourite restaurants in towna
Who cooks at home? My lovely wife Claire – I’m very lucky to have my very own personal chef!
How do you relax? I sleep!
What is your favourite traditional British dish? Steak and kidney pudding
You have 3 children Camille, Louis and Margaux have any taken in your footsteps? None of them!
Any plans to expand in the future? No plans to expand, I just want to carry on working and being in the kitchen developing my team and mentoring young chefs. This is what I love and I can’t imagine being anywhere else – food is my passion and I feel lucky to be able to work with what I am passionate about every day.
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“There are two key components for a team working together – an absolute love of food and respect for the customer”
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| COSMETIC BEAUTY
Collagen & Maintaining Healthy Skin By Dr Ohan Ohanes M.B.Ch.B., PGDip Clinical Dermatology, H Edition’s Cosmetic Doctor & Beauty Specialist
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ollagen is a natural type of protein which makes up over 80% of a person’s skin. It is one of three major components of skin, the other two being elastin and glycosaminoglycans. It is what provides the tissues and organs with necessary strength, with the elastin providing the stretching abilities. It is a very important structural protein and is found all throughout the body, including the muscles and bones – not just the skin. With age and environmental damage, collagen is lost, and as time goes on, the body’s natural production decreases. The damage to the underlying structure of the skin reduces the skin’s ability to maintain elasticity and retain moisture. Skin is central in the social and visual experience, as it clearly reflects the consequences of aging. Facial aging usually begins in your 20s when the firmness of your skin begins to decrease. Wrinkles, blemishes, and sunspots may also start to appear, becoming more pronounced with age. Facial aging is caused by both internal and external factors. Internal factors happen over time and are caused by genetics and the natural aging process. External (or environmental) factors are things in the world around you, including sun exposure, smoking, pollution, gravity, facial expressions, and sleep position. Ultraviolet radiation causes damage to DNA and molecules and results in the generation of free radicals, making it the crucial factor in the acceleration of wrinkling skin. Prevention is the key to minimizing wrinkles, and an SPF of at least 35 is necessary for sun protection against UVA and UVB. After the age of 25, it is recommended to use Retin-A as an anti-aging cream. It is a vitamin A derivative that can cause redness and peeling during the first one to two months of use, but overtime it improves fine lines, pores, brown spots, and precancerous changes. Chemical peels and non-invasive lasers can build collagen and improve the skin’s appearance too. Studies indicate that the Mediterranean diet is linked with improved health and longevity. The Mediterranean dietary pattern centres upon fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, monounsaturated fats (MUFA; like those found in olive oil), and a healthy ratio of omega3 to omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The unique properties of this diet are also of particular 64
interest for the skin. The Mediterranean diet may exert an anti-inflammatory effect due in part to its emphasis on extra virgin olive oil. Research advancements within the cosmetic and medical aesthetics industry have seen exponential growth over the last 20 years. Within corrective dermatology, the most sought after treatments include those with the least amount of down time and minimal risk. These include lasers, intense pulsed light, hyaluronic acid based fillers, botulinum toxin (BOTOX®), chemical peeling, radiofrequency and laser skin resurfacing.
10 Foods that Improve Collagen in Skin Naturally Cabbage Cabbage is a source of fibre, vitamin B6, folate, manganese and it also provides iron, magnesium, phosphorous, calcium for strong bones and potassium, which helps reduce high blood pressure. Also rich in Vitamin K.
Soy Products A glowing skin diet should include soy products like soy milk and cheese as they help you get rid of wrinkles and fine lines. The presence of antioxidants in soya act magically in skin care, antioxidants protect the skin by controlling the production of free radicals that can be the main reason of damage or death to a cell. One of the most important benefits of antioxidant in skin care is skin firming.
Red Fruits and Vegetables Red fruits like apples, oranges, cherries, strawberries and red vegetables like beets, red peppers, red potatoes act as anti-aging foods that increase collagen. The presence of antioxidant like lycopenes in red fruits and vegetables increase collagen production. Lycopense prevents DNA damage in the cells and help the cells function better.
Beans If you want healthy skin, make sure to include beans in your diet. It contains hyaluronic acid which is a vital anti-aging substance. Hyaluronic acid holds water that www.heditionmagazine.com
plumps your skin so that wrinkles and lines are less visible. Hyaluronic acid increases skin hydration, keeps skin moist and smooth, boosts skin elasticity, increases collagen synthesis, nourishes healthy skin cell growth, promotes firm skin tone and supports healthier joints. It is one of the most important components that plays an important role in cell proliferation and migration. Beans can be consumed in any form and sprouts are a very healthy option.
Carrots Carrots are rich in Vitamin A which helps increase collagen production and slows the breakdown of collagen and elastin that causes skin aging. Vitamin A thickens and stimulates the dermis where collagen, elastin and blood vessels are present and it also helps improve blood flow to the surface of the skin. It repairs the cellular structure of the epidermis which gives us protection from UV rays and it decreases the clustering of melanin granules that reduce brown spots and pigmentation. It gives us healthy skin by decreasing sebum production and also lowers the problems of acne. It helps in the eradication of pre-cancerous skin lesions and promotes a strong cellular membrane around the cell.
Flaxseeds and Walnuts Flaxseeds are an amazing source of omega 3 fatty acids. One quarter cup of walnuts contains about 2.7 grams and one quarter cup of flaxseeds contains about 6.3 grams of omega 3 Fatty Acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids. They are immensely necessary for health but our food is the only source of it as our body can’t produce it.
Black or Green Olives The inclusion of black or green olives in your diet is one of the best practices for healthy skin. Black or green olives are rich in sulphur which promotes collagen formation. Sulphur was used in ancient times to treat skin problems like dermatitis. It helps reduce skin oiliness, acne and prevents pore blockage from forming.
Lemons and Oranges The presence of Vitamin C in lemons and oranges helps increase collagen production. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that slows the rate of free-radical damage and it is the key to avoiding scurvy. Fruits for healthy skin containing Vitamin C include strawberries, pineapple, oranges, and papaya.
Avocado oil Avocado oil is high in plant steroids which help immensely to reduce age spots. Avocado oil is rich in Vitamin E which protects our skin from damage caused by free radicals and protects skin cells from oxidizing. It is a great source of omega 3 Fatty Acids.
Turkey The presence of carnosine in turkey reduces cross lining process of the skin. Carnosine is an amino acid made naturally in the body and reduces skin aging, wrinkles and supports skin elasticity by rejuvenating skin cells. Turkey is a great source of zinc which reduces dry skin, inflammation in the skin and promotes skin cell growth by increasing the production of collagen and elastin. Zinc boosts our immune system and lowers high blood pressure thereby reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. It also helps to prevent ear and lower respiratory infections. Contact info@hamblecomms.com to ask Dr Ohan a question. www.heditionmagazine.com
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