Latest news with #Harrods
Time Out
2 days ago
- Business
- Time Out
The first curved escalators in Europe are coming to London
Honestly, London receiving game-changing, futuristic escalators was not on our 2025 bingo card. But why not? The mechanical step-savers are everywhere we look, from tube stations to tired office buildings, so it's about time they got an upgrade. And Harrods is leading the way in doing just that. Kiss goodbye to the run-of-the-mill straight escalator we've all all come to know and love, as London's poshest department store is about to go round the bend. Yes, Harrods has just announced it's installing Europe's first-ever curved escalators. In some ways, it's not that surprising that the Brompton Road retail cathedral is ahead of the curve. As all true London escalator-heads know, back in 1898, Harrods brought the first escalator to Britain. Soon Harrods will join a select few locations in the US and Asia, including iconic Las Vegas hotel and casino Caesars Palace, as the proud home of a curved escalator. Fun fact: the world's only manufacturer of curved escalators is Japanese producer Mitsubishi. Construction of the new curved escalators is expected to begin in 2026 as part of a multi-million-pound renovation to merge Harrods' fine jewellery and watches departments. The transformation will also deepen the lower ground and sub-basement levels of the store to make way for a 'first-of-its-kind vertical two-storey boutique concept'. The reimagined design of the Grade II-listed building will create 'an impressive sense of arrival, emulating the original Edwardian sales rooms', says Katy Ghahremani, director at architects' firm Make and the project lead. Harrods director of store development Martin Illingworth has promised – rather thrillingly – that the new escalator is 'undoubtedly one of the most complex and ambitious transformations we've undertaken within store in Harrods' 175-year history'. Quite the claim, considering Harrods is no stranger to dazzling revamps. The store's dining hall recently underwent a glitzy makeover that was completed in 2023.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'I tried UK's priciest sandwich and was floored when I looked inside'
YouTuber Ed Chapman, who reviews food on his channel, wasn't impressed when he bit into a Wagyu beef 'sando' from Harrods - which has been billed as the most expensive sandwich in Britain The humble sandwich remains a lunchtime favourite for workers across the nation. We've all made ourselves a sarnie at some point and it's difficult to imagine how you could get such a simple snack wrong. That is, until YouTuber Ed Chapman ventured to prestigious London department store Harrods to sample Britain's priciest butty. After trying several lacklustre sandwiches priced between £10-£18, Ed was eagerly anticipating the Wagyu 'sando'. "This is my kind of meat," he declared. "None of this fish nonsense." However, the moment he unwrapped his 'sando,' Ed encountered an unwelcome shock. He said with evident disappointment: "I've just touched the bread, and it feels very dry." Ed, who regularly reviews food and drink for his channel, continued: "It's kind of rubbery. It's bizarre. And as far as I can tell, this is Wagyu sort of wrapped up in a sort of katsu coating." He observed: "No crusts is an interesting one. But then the bread is very, very hard and tough." In summary, he concluded it prioritised presentation over quality: "Maybe it's trying a bit too hard to be a sandwich," he remarked. "It's one of those people that tries too hard to be cool. They call themselves Sando." The taste of his £28 sandwich failed to impress: "I'm just getting a lot of mushroom. It's odd. It says barbecue sauce, but I'm not really getting the barbecue sauce because it's been bleached into the bread." Ed described the sandwich as "fine, but nothing special" adding: "It almost feels like the way that they've served this up, it feels like I've been up in my grandma's loft and found like an old sandwich from when she was at work, you know, in the '70s. And I've discovered it inside a little shoe box." Ed then quipped that biting into the sandwich felt like chomping on a family heirloom, expressing his disappointment over its lack of freshness: "That's the biggest disappointment," he said. "You pay 28 quid for something," Ed added, "You expect it to be fresh. You expect the bread to not have this weird dryness to it. I know it's probably been done like that deliberately, but it's not the most appetising or fresh feeling when you're biting into a sandwich. " He admitted that the sandwich wasn't terrible, giving it a score of around six out of 10: "But you want it to be better than six for 28 quid. "In conclusion, Ed criticised the pretentious nature of the sandwiches he had sampled: "If you are going to have an expensive sandwich like that, make the filling just like, just your standard stuff. Chicken, bacon, ham, cheese. "Sandwiches are supposed to be simple, quick, and easy," he said, "and cheap. 28 quid? Yeah, don't bother with that c**p."
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Connemara artist Kenneth Webb to have major summer exhibition in UK
Now 98 and continuing to paint with extraordinary energy from his garden and studio in Connemara, the artist Kenneth Webb is the subject of the major summer exhibition by English gallerists Gladwell and Patterson. The landmark show is of special significance to a gallery which has represented the artist in London since 2010 and found important collectors for his work in China, the US and the UK. It will be his final solo show there. A selection of art by Kenneth Webb at Gladwell and Patterson. Kenneth Webb: Kaleidoscope offers recent works and a curated selection spanning nearly eight decades. It is on view in Stamford, Lincolnshire, until July 25 and at Beauchamp Place in London (just around the corner from Harrods) from August 4 to 29. Future pieces from the artist will be included in the wider gallery collection. Read More Art exhibitions and events to visit this summer
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'I tried croissants from Harrods and Lidl and there was clear winner'
A foodie decided to see if Harrods food products are worth the price tags as he compared a croissant from Lidl to a pastry from the department store's iconic food hall Luxury department store Harrods is known for selling exclusive products at high-end prices, whether it's clothes, homeware, or even food. But do the luxury price tags actually mean these products are better than their cheaper alternatives? This is what food fanatic Carmie Sellitto wanted to find out as he put the department store's wares to the test. To do so, he compared a croissant he bought from there to a croissant from Lidl 's bakery. And with the Harrods one costing him almost 20 times more, would it live up to his high expectations, or would the Lidl alternative prove itself better? Taking to TikTok, Carmie decided to share his comparison to his 1.2 million followers, as the video started with him buying the two croissants before starting the test. "Let's compare the Harrods croissant to Lidl," he said in the video, holding up the two croissants. "I wonder what's gonna taste better." He went on to tease in the caption of the video: "this actually really surprised me." Starting with the croissant from Lid, he pointed out the simplistic brown paper bag packaging, but shared his amazement as he only paid 59p for the croissant. "Take a look at that. This looks pretty decent," he said as he held up the croissant for viewers to see before he took his first bite. "Wow, I really thought that because of the price, this was gonna taste horrible. This tastes really good! Just look at the inside, it looks so fresh," Carmie said as he showed the fluffy layers inside the croissant. He then moved on to the Harrods croissant, which he said could be the most expensive croissant in London as it cost him a whopping £12, making it about 20 times more expensive than the Lidl croissant. "Let's see if it tastes 20 times better," he said as he opened up the box that it came in. He then got a shock as he realised there was an edible gold leaf placed on top of the croissant. "Not to mention it's absolutely massive. This could easily feed a family of four," he said as he held up the croissant to show that it was bigger than his head. It was also filled with cucumber, salmon, cream cheese, as well as some caviar. "That's a lot of filling in here," he said before finally taking the first bite out of it. "Okay wow. I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I wanted to hate it, just because it's so obnoxious. But it's absolutely insane, like is there anything Harrods can't do?" He then went on to show what the inside of the sandwich looked like after a bite, saying: "Look how good my next bite looks." "Not only is the flavour absolutely amazing, it also makes you feel expensive because you're left looking like gold," he said as he showed how the gold leaf was now stuck to his fingers, which he said tasted 'like nothing'. So which croissant was the best? After his taste test, Carmie went on to rate the Lidl croissant a respectable eight out of ten. But the Harrods croissant still won the taste test, scoring a ten out of ten. Despite Carmie's thoughts, several people soon took to the comments to say they didn't think it was a fair comparison. "You can't compare these two it's not the same," one person said, with many agreeing it wasn't fair to compare a plain croissant to a filled one. A second person argued: "Harrods looks like a bread roll shaped like a croissant." Meanwhile, a third person said: "£12 seems pretty cheap for that from Harrods."
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Inside Kate's 'difficult' summer when she gained the nickname 'Waity Kaity' and almost worked for Mohamed Al Fayed, according to royal author
Back in the summer of 2009, The Black Eyed Peas had a hit with I Gotta Feeling, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince was showing in cinemas and the world was in shock over the death of Michael Jackson. But for Kate Middleton, who was 27 at the time, it was a 'difficult period' as her university friends were getting married and there was much talk about her future marital status. Royal biographer Katie Nicholl wrote in The Making Of A Royal Romance: 'William had signed up for 18 months of training with the RAF and there was simply no time to even think about a wedding. 'Although they managed to see each other most weekends, their time together was fleeting.' Meanwhile, Kate had been dubbed 'Waity Kaity by the media and was dividing her time between her flat in London and her parents' Berkshire home. Perhaps it was salt in the wound when one of her best friends got married in May as Kate and William pulled out at the last minute, causing speculation among their friends. Kate was said to be dreading the inevitable 'When will you two be next?' question. But her spirits had been lifted when a vacancy popped up at Harrods, owned by Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Dodie, who had been romantically involved with Princess Diana at the time of their deaths in Paris in 1997. Nicholl wrote: 'She had a contact at Harrods, who told her there was a vacancy for a buyer's assistant in the fashion department. 'Kate had always wanted a job in fashion, and was keen to pursue this new opportunity.' A senior source told Nicholl: 'It was discussed. Kate is a regular shopper at Harrods and the chairman [Al-Fayed] had an idea to approach her to do something, but it never came to anything.' The royal author continued: 'The Knightsbridge store is owned by Mohamed Al-Fayed, who has installed a shrine to his son Dodie and Diana in the lower ground floor of the store, and according to sources close to Kate she was worried the job could turn into a potential PR disaster.' And it seems this was for the best, because in 2023, historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al-Fayed - dubbed The Monster of Harrods - came to light. It was around this time that the Queen gave some stinging advice to Kate. In her book, William And Harry: Behind the Palace Walls, Nicholl wrote that the Queen was concerned about Kate's lack of a stable job and the number of holidays she was taking in her book. She wrote: 'While the rest of the world speculated that an engagement was on the horizon for William and Kate, the Queen believed an announcement should be postponed until Kate was settled in a career.' Kate had been dubbed 'Waity Kaity' by the media and was dividing her time between her flat in London and her parents' Berkshire home One insider told Nicholl that 'it is Her Majesty's opinion that if Kate is one day going to be William's consort, then she needs a proper job.' MailOnline reported at the time that sources close to the Queen said she was acutely aware that William's public image could suffer if his girlfriend were not recognised as a working professional in her own right. 'The Queen has had conversations with a few trusted friends about how to tackle what is being called the Kate problem,' a senior aide told The Mail on Sunday. 'On the few occasions the Queen has met Kate, she has thought she is a nice enough girl. But the Queen has admitted she has no idea what Kate actually does. 'Privately, she is very concerned about what the repercussions could be if Kate is not in a stable job as and when William is ready to propose.' When she left St Andrews with a 2:1 in art history, Kate attempted to set up her own children's clothing line as a subsidiary to her parents' mail-order company, Party Pieces. But she was forced to close it before it launched for financial reasons. She then got a job as an accessories buyer at Jigsaw, but quit in 2007. By June 2008, Kate was working for her parents' company, Party Pieces. Wedding fever! William and Hugh van Cutsem attend the wedding of Nicholas van Cutsem and Alice Hadden-Paton on August 14, 2009 In Nicholl's book Kate: The Future Queen, a family friend tells how Kate's mother, Carole, expressed her fears to William that he had not proposed. But he assured her that not only would there be an engagement and subsequent marriage, the couple hoped to have children – and he promised Carole that she would be fully involved in their upbringing. From the beginning, William had made it clear that he would not rush into marriage. Back in March 2005, Kate had been invited to Klosters with the royals where William gave an interview to the press during an arranged photocall at the Swiss ski resort. The 22-year-old reportedly blushed when he was asked about his long-term girlfriend Kate and said he was lucky to have a close circle of trusted friends. He said: 'Look, I'm only 22 for God's sake. I'm too young to marry at my age. 'I don't want to get married until I'm at least 28 or maybe 30.' In December 2006, Kate and her mother attended Sandhurst to watch Prince William receive his army commission, which sparked a frenzy of engagement rumours. Woolworths even commissioned its own range of memorabilia in anticipation of the event. These included traditional china plates, thimbles, mouse mats and even Wills and Kate shaped pick-and-mix sweets. Sadly, Woolworths went out of business in January 2009, before the engagement was announced. But according to Nicholl, it was senior royals who told William to take the relationship steady. She wrote: 'William had been having second thoughts and sat down with his father and his grandmother to have a frank discussion about his future with Kate. 'Both advised him not to hurry into anything.' After dating for nearly a decade, William finally proposed in October 2010, in a cabin roughly 11,000ft above sea level on the side of Mount Kenya in Africa. The wedding took place at Westminster Abbey with 2,000 guests and 2.6billion people around the world watching on television William had been carrying his late mother's engagement ring in his backpack for three weeks before giving it to Kate. True to his prediction, he would later marry Kate Middleton two months before his 29th birthday. They announced their engagement to the public on November 16, 2010, before tying the knot in April 2011. The wedding took place at Westminster Abbey with 2,000 guests and 2.6billion people around the world watching on television At the time, People called it the 'greatest and grandest royal affair' since Prince Charles and Princess Diana's 1981 wedding. Looking back now, that long, hot summer of 2009 must feel like a lifetime ago to Kate. Kate Middleton's pre-royal CV Before joining the Royal Family when she wed Prince William in 2011, the future Queen worked in a series of surprisingly normal jobs. Ahead of going to university, teenage Kate took on some 'back breaking work', earning a pittance as a deckhand in Southampton. And after leaving education, she famously worked in fashion, taking on a role as an accessory buyer for high street brand Jigsaw. Her final foray into the world of work ahead of joining the royals was working for her family business, Party Pieces. 'Back-breaking work' as a deckhand in Southampton One of the first jobs the now-Princess of Wales is known to have worked at sounds like a surprisingly hands-on role for the royal. Ahead of going to university in Scotland (where she famously met her husband-to-be ), like many others her age, Kate took on low-paid work. Over a four-month period, she worked as a deckhand at the Ocean Village Marina in Southampton. One of the skippers Kate worked under at the time, Cal Tomlinson, spoke to author Katie Nicholl for her biography Kate: The Future Queen. He said: 'It was back-breaking work. Kate mucked in and was very professional. She fitted right in, although she did stand out for being so pretty. 'She spoke well, she was very attractive, and she an air about her. She was competent and confident but very unassuming. 'She was polite and respectful to whoever was in charge of her and neat as a pin. She was never wore any make-up; she was naturally beautiful.' A 'terrible' waitress during her university days These days, Kate has the means to be waited on if she likes, but this was not always the case. Like many other students, Kate took on some waitressing while she was at university. It was during the 2019 broadcast of Christmas TV special A Berry Royal Christmas, that the princess opened up about her hospitality experience to show host Mary Berry. During one segment, Mary prepared a non-alcoholic cocktail, which she then passed to Kate to take over to guests. This prompted Kate to quip: 'Reminds me of my university days when I did a bit of waitressing.' When Mary asked if she was good at the job, Kate responded very honestly. She laughed, and replied: 'No, I was terrible!' First foray into the world of fashion After leaving university, Kate landed a job with a major fashion chain. At the age of 24, she took on a role as an accessory buyer for high street brand Jigsaw around the end of 2006. Speaking to confirm the appointment, a Jigsaw spokesperson said at the time: 'We can confirm that Kate joined our staff two or three weeks ago as an accessory buyer for Jigsaw and Jigsaw Junior. We can't comment any further.' According to reports, the future Queen had already helped out the brand at a fashion shoot, where she ran errands, fetching cups of tea and snacks. When Kate was hired by Jigsaw, it was owned by fashion tycoons John and Belle Robinson - close family friends of the Middleton's. At the time, the appointment was described as a major coup for Jigsaw, having the woman who was expected to marry the future king among its staff. Although she left the brand in 2007, to go and work for her family business Party Pieces, the Princess of Wales still appears to be a fan, and has been spotted wearing items of its clothing in recent years. Working for the family business After leaving her role at Jigsaw, Kate went on to work for her parents' business, Party Pieces. The party decoration supplier is owned by Kate's mother Carole Middleton. It was founded in 1987 when Carole was looking for inspiration for her daughter Kate's fifth birthday party. She realised there was a gap in the market and set up the company that offers time-pressed parents an easy choice of imaginative parties for their children. While it may have started as a tiny operation working from the Middletons' kitchen table, it is now a much larger business employing some 40 people and working internationally. The brand's best-selling Party Pieces Collection features products such as plates, napkins, cups, hats, balloons, treat stands and decorations. All three of her children have worked for it at some point, with Kate joining in 2007, after leaving her job at Jigsaw. Her role, according to reports, included working as a website designer and photographer for the business. She left Party Pieces in January 2011, ahead of her April wedding to Prince William.
