Latest news with #Belgravia
The Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Sweet-toothed Camilla treats grandchildren to posh ice-cream tasting session with some VERY wacky flavours
THE Queen took home hundreds of pounds worth of ice cream after blind tasting odd flavours including pickled onion and gravy. It came after Her Majesty treated her grandchildren to a £45-a-head tester session at a wacky West London parlour this week. 8 8 8 The royal and her family were handed a pen and paper and had to guess the flavours of iced treats infused with olive oil, sriracha hot sauce and biscuits. She was so taken by some of the flavours, she left with boxes of goodies — including £4.50 single scoops of Ovaltine and Club Orange flavoured ice creams. But insiders revealed the Queen was not a fan of the pickled onion flavoured iced delights. Camilla takes her grandchildren from her first marriage — Lola, Freddy, Eliza and twins Louis and Gus — for a fun treat each year. Their blind tasting at the Anya Hindmarch store, Belgravia, came just two days before the Queen's 78th birthday on Thursday. A source said: 'Camilla and her grandchildren had a great time tasting all of the strange flavours. But Camilla didn't fancy tasting the pickled onion ice cream. Afterwards she bought a lot of treats for her grandchildren and left with a scoop of Club Orange and another of Ovaltine, both for herself.' Sir David Beckham and Harry Potter star Rupert Grint. Telly presenter Gaby Roslin was there yesterday, joining Eastenders actress pal Harriet Thorpe. Gaby said: 'I come here every year and the ice cream flavours are insane. It's absolutely amazing and there are so many to choose from.' Harriet, who plays Elaine Peacock in the soap, said: 'Both Gaby and I love the sriracha flavour, it's got a real kick to it. It's crazy good.' Queen thanks Novak Djokovic for letting her stay in his 'lovely' property in 'private' chat at Wimbledon For £45 a person, visitors can try 15 flavours in the Ice Cream Project Blind Tasting Tea until September 7. Unusual flavours include Irn-Bru, Bird's Custard, Bisto Gravy, Copella Cloudy Apple Juice, Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Flying Goose Sriracha. Other wacky ones on offer are Garner's Pickled Onions, Maldon Sea Salt sorbet, McVitie's Club Orange, McVitie's Milk Chocolate HobNobs, Ovaltine, Quaker Oats, Romney's Kendal Mint Cake, Rowse Honey and Jacob's Twiglets. The store is primarily a quirky fashion business and also sells a range of bags and trinkets, including Heinz Baked Beans candles for £95, a £1,295 After Eight mints tote bag and a Mr Muscle duster silk scarf for £195. IS POSH NOSH TOSH FOR DOSH? SWEET treats shop The Ice Cream Project by Anya Hindmarch has gone viral with its weird and wonderful scoops. Zara Qureshi braved the queues in Belgravia for a £16-a-tub taste test… BISTO GRAVY - 2/5 A WEIRD one, but not totally off-putting. It's got a warm, salty kick that's just right. 8 It is not too much but not too little either. It ends up being oddly tasty without being a total shock to the system. GARNER'S PICKLED ONION - 1/5 The smell hits you before the taste, with unexpected onion bits that take you by surprise. The sourness clashes with the sweetness, which is unusual since I normally like onion sauces. 8 Overall, a horrid flavour. QUAKER PORRIDGE OATS - 3/5 Chewy, chunky and unapologetically hearty. It's a good thing I skipped breakfast because this is more meal than treat. 8 The sweet vanilla base and oaty, coarse texture easily doubles as breakfast. FLYING GOOSE SRIRACHA - 4/5 AS a spicy food addict, I thought I'd tried it all, but this was a first. It starts off cold and sweet, lulling you into comfort, then suddenly hits with a fiery kick of garlic. 8 The contrast is definitely unexpected. JACOB'S TWIGLETS - 4/5 I thought this would be awful, but it pulled off a sweet-and-salty surprise — like American bacon waffles with syrup. Slightly Marmite-y and yeasty, it had a softened crunch which made it unexpectedly delicious.
National Post
6 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Belgravia Hartford Announces USD$5M Convertible Secured Debenture with Round13 DAF & Closing of C$4M Private Placement
Article content it has entered into a binding agreement with Round13 Digital Asset Fund (' Round13 DAF ') for a secured convertible debenture for a one-time principal amount investment of USD$5,000,000 (the ' Debenture ') convertible into common shares at C$0.71, being a 40% premium to the volume-weighted average trading price (the ' VWAP ') for the seven consecutive days immediately preceding the date of this announcement; and Article content as a result of this above-market Debenture, Belgravia has elected to voluntarily reduce its non-brokered private placement to close on 16,091,822 units (the ' Units ') at a price of C$0.25 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of C$4,022,955.55 (the ' Offering ') to the Company. Article content New USD$5 Million Round13 DAF Debenture Convertible at C$0.71 Article content The principal amount and interest of the Debenture is convertible into common shares of Belgravia at a conversion price (the ' Conversion Price ') of C$0.71, being a 40% premium to the VWAP for the seven consecutive days immediately preceding the date of this announcement. In the case that, at any time prior to the maturity date of the Debenture, the VWAP of Belgravia common shares equals or exceeds C$1.42, being 200% of the Conversion Price for 20-consecutive trading days of the common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the ' CSE '), then 20% of the then-outstanding principal amount (together with a proportionate amount of accrued and unpaid interest) shall automatically convert into common shares of Belgravia without any further action of Round13 DAF. The Debenture bears interest at a rate of 4% per annum, accrued monthly, and matures two years from the closing date thereof. Article content Mehdi Azodi, CEO of Belgravia stated: 'This continued support from Round13 DAF, our lead strategic advisor and partner in all areas of Bitcoin-related finance, results in any new securities issued being set at a 40% premium to the price of Belgravia shares for the seven consecutive days immediately preceding the date of the announcement – a far less dilutive mechanism for Belgravia to achieve its stated goals. In addition, as a result of this Debenture, Belgravia has determined that it is in the best interests of our shareholders, to voluntarily cap the Offering at slightly more than 40% of its initial size'. Article content Mehdi Azodi continued: 'This path enables Belgravia to achieve an excess amount of additional Bitcoin than originally expected to our treasury but, most importantly, with almost 60% less dilution.' Article content Khaled Verjee, Managing Director of Round13 DAF added: 'We are extremely pleased to continue to support our partners and believe Belgravia is building an innovative business where Bitcoin treasury strategies play an integral role. From its innovative capital structures, protecting shareholder value, to its suite of, soon to be launched, Bitcoin focused technical tools designed to increase shareholder value and growth at a BTC level, Belgravia is well-positioned in this space. For a microcap to be thinking the way Belgravia is, and to have the technical team it does, it is in our opinion a recipe for long term success'. Article content Closing of Offering Article content As disclosed by press release on June 24, 2025, the Company announced a non-brokered private placement of Units. Under the Offering, each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a ' Common Share ') and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a ' Warrant ') at a price of C$0.25 per Unit. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of C$0.50 per share for a period of 12-months from the date of issuance. The Warrants will be subject to an acceleration clause whereby, if the closing price of the Common Shares on the CSE is greater than C$0.75 for a period of ten consecutive trading days, the Company may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof. In such case, the Warrants will expire 30-days after the date of such notice. Under the Offering, a total of 16,091,822Units were issued at a price of C$0.25 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of C$4,022,955.55. Article content No finders fees or commissions were paid to any party in connection with either the Offering or the Debenture. Article content In accordance with the policies of the CSE and applicable securities legislation, the Common Shares and Warrants comprising the Units will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance. In addition, closing of the Debenture is subject to all rules, policies and procedures of the CSE. Article content Belgravia intends to use the proceeds of the Debenture and the Offering to purchase Bitcoin, in line with the Company's strategic objective of building a 100% Bitcoin only Treasury. Article content Article content Article content Article content
Business Wire
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Belgravia Hartford Announces USD$5M Convertible Secured Debenture with Round13 DAF & Closing of C$4M Private Placement
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BELGRAVIA HARTFORD CAPITAL INC. (CSE:BLGV)(OTC:BLGVF)(FRA:ECA) (" Company" or ' Belgravia ') is pleased to announce that: Belgravia announces USD5M convertible debenture & closing of private placement. Share it has entered into a binding agreement with Round13 Digital Asset Fund (' Round13 DAF ') for a secured convertible debenture for a one-time principal amount investment of USD$5,000,000 (the ' Debenture ') convertible into common shares at C$0.71, being a 40% premium to the volume-weighted average trading price (the ' VWAP ') for the seven consecutive days immediately preceding the date of this announcement; and as a result of this above-market Debenture, Belgravia has elected to voluntarily reduce its non-brokered private placement to close on 16,091,822 units (the ' Units ') at a price of C$0.25 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of C$4,022,955.55 (the ' Offering ') to the Company. New USD$5 Million Round13 DAF Debenture Convertible at C$0.71 The principal amount and interest of the Debenture is convertible into common shares of Belgravia at a conversion price (the ' Conversion Price ') of C$0.71, being a 40% premium to the VWAP for the seven consecutive days immediately preceding the date of this announcement. In the case that, at any time prior to the maturity date of the Debenture, the VWAP of Belgravia common shares equals or exceeds C$1.42, being 200% of the Conversion Price for 20-consecutive trading days of the common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the ' CSE '), then 20% of the then-outstanding principal amount (together with a proportionate amount of accrued and unpaid interest) shall automatically convert into common shares of Belgravia without any further action of Round13 DAF. The Debenture bears interest at a rate of 4% per annum, accrued monthly, and matures two years from the closing date thereof. Mehdi Azodi, CEO of Belgravia stated: 'This continued support from Round13 DAF, our lead strategic advisor and partner in all areas of Bitcoin-related finance, results in any new securities issued being set at a 40% premium to the price of Belgravia shares for the seven consecutive days immediately preceding the date of the announcement – a far less dilutive mechanism for Belgravia to achieve its stated goals. In addition, as a result of this Debenture, Belgravia has determined that it is in the best interests of our shareholders, to voluntarily cap the Offering at slightly more than 40% of its initial size'. Mehdi Azodi continued: 'This path enables Belgravia to achieve an excess amount of additional Bitcoin than originally expected to our treasury but, most importantly, with almost 60% less dilution.' Khaled Verjee, Managing Director of Round13 DAF added: 'We are extremely pleased to continue to support our partners and believe Belgravia is building an innovative business where Bitcoin treasury strategies play an integral role. From its innovative capital structures, protecting shareholder value, to its suite of, soon to be launched, Bitcoin focused technical tools designed to increase shareholder value and growth at a BTC level, Belgravia is well-positioned in this space. For a microcap to be thinking the way Belgravia is, and to have the technical team it does, it is in our opinion a recipe for long term success'. Closing of Offering As disclosed by press release on June 24, 2025, the Company announced a non-brokered private placement of Units. Under the Offering, each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a ' Common Share ') and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a ' Warrant ') at a price of C$0.25 per Unit. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of C$0.50 per share for a period of 12-months from the date of issuance. The Warrants will be subject to an acceleration clause whereby, if the closing price of the Common Shares on the CSE is greater than C$0.75 for a period of ten consecutive trading days, the Company may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof. In such case, the Warrants will expire 30-days after the date of such notice. Under the Offering, a total of 16,091,822 Units were issued at a price of C$0.25 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of C$4,022,955.55. No finders fees or commissions were paid to any party in connection with either the Offering or the Debenture. In accordance with the policies of the CSE and applicable securities legislation, the Common Shares and Warrants comprising the Units will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance. In addition, closing of the Debenture is subject to all rules, policies and procedures of the CSE. Belgravia intends to use the proceeds of the Debenture and the Offering to purchase Bitcoin, in line with the Company's strategic objective of building a 100% Bitcoin only Treasury. For more information, legal disclaimer and about Belgravia Hartford please visit, please visit or
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wealthy UK households rush to leave England over tax change
Labour has been warned over a "flight of the non-doms" as the super-rich flock to leave the UK. Reports say the wealthy elite are leaving over tax changes – prompting a possible rethink by Rachel Reeves, the Labour Party Chancellor. More than 20 luxury properties in the Belgravia postcode are on the market, says a buying agent. One Indian non-dom, who has been living in the UK for the past five years, said she was considering moving her family to Switzerland as a result of the tax changes. 'We love England. We feel very much at home here,' she told the Guardian. 'We want to pay fair tax as members of society. But the biggest pain point was inheritance tax … it is not just ours, but my grandfather's and my parents' wealth that would now be taxed by the UK. That feels deeply unfair as the money was not made here. READ MORE: Warning for thousands of drivers who have 'quiet' EVs on driveway READ MORE: Dame Deborah James' husband's new girlfriend 'unmasked' as he finds love again READ MORE Next UK heatwave set to be 'even hotter than expected' and will start within days 'The current philosophical approach seems to be shrinking everyone's pie instead of enlarging the pie, bringing more investment, employability and wealth to the country.' Sean Cockburn, of the advisers Forvis Mazars, said: 'There has been an acceptance of higher income and capital gains but the emotional trigger has been inheritance tax. That seems to be the motivator for those moving. But not everyone is leaving the UK entirely. 'Yes some people have left, some people are considering it, but some people have decided to stay and are broadly accepting of the new rules. In the media there have been very high-profile, very wealthy people leaving who receive a lot of coverage. I personally have not had many clients leaving.' "Non-dom" describes a UK resident whose permanent home - or domicile - for tax purposes is outside the UK. It refers to a person's tax status, and has nothing to do with their nationality, citizenship or resident status - although it can be affected by these factors. A non-dom only pays UK tax on the money they earn in the UK. They do not have to pay tax to the UK government on money made elsewhere in the world (unless they pay that money into a UK bank account). For wealthy individuals, this presents the opportunity for significant - and entirely legal - savings, if they nominate a lower-tax country as their domicile.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Flight of the non-doms: how worried should Labour be about the super-rich leaving the UK?
In Chester Square, the exclusive London address that was once home to Margaret Thatcher, multimillion-pound stuccoed townhouses are proving a hard sell. More than 20 luxury properties in the Belgravia postcode are on the market, says a buying agent. In nearby Montpelier Square in Knightsbridge, less than a 10-minute walk from Harrods department store, nine houses are on the open market. Huge price reductions do not appear to be working either, with some homes lingering unsold for months and even years despite repeated reductions. One six-bedroom Chester Square townhouse has been on the market since 2022, despite its price being slashed by £4m – almost a quarter of its original £17.5m listing. One possible reason for this luxury property glut has been echoing loudly in City boardrooms and the offices of Mayfair advisers in recent months: the world's footloose super-rich are starting to lose interest in the UK, put off by Labour's tax changes. After Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 halted the flow of wealthy Russians, some claim Labour's non-doms tax has sent the global elite fleeing the UK for cities such as Milan, Singapore, Geneva and Dubai. At the heart of their complaint is the abolition of the centuries-old non-dom regime, which allowed wealthy foreign people to avoid paying tax on money they were earning outside the UK, and avoid paying inheritance tax on their global assets. Such is the concern that Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering softening changes to the inheritance tax aspect of the non-doms clampdown. But that comes amid speculation about more tax rises in the autumn budget, after Labour's U-turn on its welfare bill left a £5bn hole in the chancellor's fiscal plan- with wealth taxes increasingly popular among some campaigners and the left of the party. It was under the last Conservative government that Jeremy Hunt laid out plans to replace the 225-year-old non-doms system, a relic of Britain's colonial era. Introduced under King George III in 1799, it allowed subjects who had been born in Britain's colonies to live in England without paying tax on their foreign rents and stocks so long as the money remained abroad. After winning last year's election, Labour went a step further by also exposing their overseas assets to the UK's inheritance tax. The death duty is levied at a rate of 40% and, although it comes with a basket of allowances and exemptions, it is one of the highest in the world. Under the new regime, non-doms' foreign income and gains are subject to UK tax after four years rather than the previous 15. A new residence-based system means also that their global assets are subject to inheritance tax after 10 years. It is this inheritance tax element that has been the 'emotional trigger' for non-doms, tax experts and chief executives say. One financial services CEO said older wealthy clients in particular were relocating abroad to escape the death duty. Several prominent non-dom departures have captured headlines: Shravin Bharti Mittal, an heir of one of India's richest families; Nassef Sawiris, the Egyptian investor; and Richard Gnodde, a veteran Goldman Sachs banker. One Indian non-dom, who has been living in the UK for the past five years, said she was considering moving her family to Switzerland as a result of the tax changes. 'We love England. We feel very much at home here,' she said. 'We want to pay fair tax as members of society. But the biggest pain point was inheritance tax … it is not just ours, but my grandfather's and my parents' wealth that would now be taxed by the UK. That feels deeply unfair as the money was not made here. 'The current philosophical approach seems to be shrinking everyone's pie instead of enlarging the pie, bringing more investment, employability and wealth to the country.' Sean Cockburn, of the advisers Forvis Mazars, said while many non-doms were unhappy with the changes, most of his clients were staying in the country. 'There has been an acceptance of higher income and capital gains but the emotional trigger has been inheritance tax. That seems to be the motivator for those moving. But not everyone is leaving the UK entirely. 'Yes some people have left, some people are considering it, but some people have decided to stay and are broadly accepting of the new rules. In the media there have been very high-profile, very wealthy people leaving who receive a lot of coverage. I personally have not had many clients leaving.' As well as Reeves considering a reversal of her decision to charge UK inheritance tax on global assets of non-doms, Nigel Farage has promised Reform UK would 'bring back' wealthy foreigners who have left Britain by giving them a full exemption from taxes on their overseas assets in return for a once-a-decade £250,000 fee. The UK counted about 74,000 non-doms when the regime ended in April. After the government announced its changes to the tax policy, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated it could lead to a 12% to 25% decrease in the population of non-doms without trusts. Collectively they paid just under £9bn in tax in 2023, according to figures from HMRC. About £6bn of that came from income tax, £2.3bn from national insurance contributions and £400m from capital gains tax. John-Paul Marks, the new permanent secretary and chief executive of HMRC, told MPs in June that official data would only start to come through in January 2027, when self-assessment tax returns were due. Still, in the absence of official figures, reports with estimates have emerged, often commissioned by interested parties such as the investment migration company Henley & Partners, and campaign groups such as Land of Opportunity and Foreign Investors for Britain. Research commissioned by Henley found the UK could lose a net 16,500 'dollar millionaires' this year, those with at least $1m (£736,000) in liquid investable wealth, which includes assets such as cash, bonds, stocks and gold. But the figures are disputed, with the campaign group Tax Justice Network criticising the report's reliance on social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, as a measure of where millionaires live or reside. A spokesperson for Henley & Partners said the report relied on multiple sources, not just LinkedIn. A spokesperson for New World Wealth, the company that conducted the research, said the report also used sources such as investment migration programme statistics from across the world, its in-house database, company registers and property registers, among others. Stuart Adam, a senior economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a thinktank, emphasised that until official data from the UK government arrives, there simply is not enough information to draw conclusions about how many non-doms have left, or would leave as a result of the changes. 'Scraping people's LinkedIn pages and their changed location is extrapolating massively,' he said. 'A change in location may not correspond with a change in tax residence. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion 'I have not seen anything that could qualify as proper evidence. It is a hot topic so people will put out what they can. But it will be one or two years, or even longer, when data becomes available.' A study co-authored by Arun Advani, a tax economist at the University of Warwick, found previous patterns would suggest the loss of the tax break will result in a 'significant' but 'temporary' exodus. But he has said he expects a bigger backlash this time, particularly because of the change to inheritance tax rules. Non-doms, who previously did not have to pay inheritance tax on their global assets (including businesses they had built in their homeland), now have to pay the levy on these assets if they have been resident in the UK for 10 of the past 20 tax years. 'It was always a mistake to have the IHT rate for foreigners jump from 0% to 40% overnight when they get to 10 years in the UK,' he told Bloomberg. The OBR had forecast that the changes to the non-dom regime would generate £33.8bn in revenue for the Treasury over the next five years. However, there is considerable uncertainty around those numbers. A report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that if a quarter of non-doms left the UK, the net gain to the Treasury would be zero. That research was commissioned by Andrew Barclay, the co-founder of the property platform Yopa, grandson of one of the billionaire Barclay brothers. Barclay now runs the Land of Opportunity Campaign, a lobbying effort that intends to recreate Britain's economy in the image of the US. The non-dom lobby group Foreign Investors for Britain has also been highly active in the area, with research conducted by Oxford Economics on its behalf finding that nearly two-thirds of non-doms were planning to leave the UK or considering doing so because of the changes. That was based on surveys responded to by 73 non-doms and 42 tax advisers. It also found that inheritance tax changes was a key motivator for 83% of non-doms in any relocation decision. Ed Bussey, the chief executive of Oxford Sciences, a builder of UK technology spin-outs from Oxford University, said he was increasingly hearing from non-UK investors, who have historically funded companies in the UK, but who are now leaving the country because of the changes to inheritance tax. 'While they don't want to leave they can't justify having their worldwide assets – which they often grew before coming to the UK – now being taxed at 40%, while other European and Middle East countries are charging little or no inheritance tax,' he said. 'There is simply not enough UK domiciled investment capital to fund the innovation-led companies that we're building and the high dependency on foreign capital is critical.' He said the same issue was also deterring international entrepreneurs from coming to the UK to build their companies. 'We should be rolling out the red carpet to this highly sought-after global talent pool, not 'incentivising' to go to Italy, Greece or Dubai instead – all of which are now seeing substantial inflows of the investment capital that we've lost,' he said. Donald Trump has certainly taken the view that wealthy individuals should be welcomed with open arms. The president has drawn up plans for a 'gold card' that rich foreigners can buy for $5m that would grant them permanent US residency. But Paul Donovan, the chief economist at the wealth management arm of the Swiss bank UBS, added that the population of truly 'nomadic' wealth owners is 'perhaps smaller than popularly supposed'. 'Certainly in conversations with UK clients, the issue of changing tax rules has come up more often, as you would expect,' he said. 'To date there is very little evidence to suggest the idea of an exodus. 'You will always have high-profile nomadic wealth owners who will move and change their location.' For all the noisy departures, there are lower-profile non-doms who wish to stay in the UK, prizing its robust rule of law, elite schools system and world class museums, galleries and restaurants. Giorgiana Notarbartolo, an impact investor who helps to run her family office, is one former non-dom who plans to stay in the country. Born in Italy, she has been in the UK since 2016. 'I have been uncomfortable not paying tax off the wealth I make in Italy,' said Notarbartolo, a member of Patriotic Millionaires. 'Who wants to raise their kids in a two-tier system? 'There are many single millionaires, if that, who are also non-doms. Some are staying and some are leaving, but not all are citing tax as their main reason, it's something that might tip them off the edge if they were thinking about leaving anyway. Education and higher private school fees are a big reason.' Paolo Fresia, also native to Italy and an impact investor who lives in London, said he has been 'appalled by the media coverage' on the subject. In fact, he said, although he claimed non-dom status, he felt 'a bit guilty' and now felt 'relief' that the system was no longer in place. 'I first moved here for educational reasons, not for tax. There are so many reasons to be here, not just tax, but education, meritocracy and the rule of law. There is even a new four-year regime for people.' 'None of my friends or colleagues are moving,' added Fresia, also a member of Patriotic Millionaires. 'Some parents of friends are leaving but those are the ones who are coming to the end of their lives, do not work or invest and were already thinking about leaving. I am happy to pay tax here.'
