Yves de Contades

Kicking Horse: A resort that lives up to its name.
No helicopters are needed to ski over 30,000 vertical feet a day by any social skier whose nerves hold firm.  as he or she will enjoy of the most challenging skiing they will probably ever experience.  There are some 85 ‘chutes’ in Kicking Horse, I would use the more appropriate word ‘drops’ for most runs.  Most of these runs are largely accessed by a single summit gondola lift, a shorter chair ‘Stairway to Heaven’ opens up further breathtaking runs, lift queues are rare.  

Bentley presented their new fragrance for men, Azure, at the Langham Hotel London last night. It was a great evening and I was feeling pretty dapper, having just been groomed by the celebrated and charming Brent Pankhurst. Pankhursts is the most refined barber in London, providing iconic 60's British luxury and style.

Classic Car Investment
It comes as no surprise over the last decade when banks have performed so poorly that canny investors are looking for alternative methods of increasing their capital. Anything to beat the poor interest rates available from savings accounts and traditional investments.
One of the most interesting to emerge recently is classic car investment. Not only can you invest in something that carries great history, looks fantastic and brings a certain cachet of glamour, but you get a good rate of return.

Culture Jamming is the latest term to come from the states. Essentially it’s a cool Californian term for engaging and creating a team spirit with your employees.
Many companies have an outward facing ethos but do little to foster that ethos within their own community.
Marketing your message out to clients and the world is one thing, but you need to have everyone on your own company rowing in the same direction and enjoying the ride.

The sights, sounds and smells of rallying’s most exciting era will sweep through Goodwood Motor Circuit during the 72nd Members’ Meeting on March 29-30 as the magic of Group B comes to the fore.
From 1982-86, Group B was rallying and made world champions Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist and Juha Kankkunen into international superstars as flame-spitting Audis, Peugeots and Lancias swept all before them on the world stage.

My career started in 1983 when I worked for a small whisky company on the east coast of Scotland. I had the best of both worlds working there; I was 18 and I had a job, but I was also given the opportunity to go and study chemistry in Aberdeen at the same time. Working for such a small company gave me an incredible range of experience so, when the opportunity came up to join the Pernod Ricard family, I already had a very solid grounding in the whisky business. I became Master Blender of Ballantine’s at the end of 2005, and there is no better job as far as I’m concerned.

La Rosiere
Variety is the spice of life and an invitation to ski at La Rosiere, a French resort that had never featured on my radar, was irresistible. Lots of familiar names around: Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Aosta Valley, and in sight across the valley: Val d’Isere so there were obviously good prospects.

Equities are favoured by European investors:
The European mutual fund industry, with overall net inflows of €12.7bn for long-term mutual funds, showed a healthy growth pattern for November 2013. As in the previous month money market products suffered net outflows for November (-€11.7bn). The inflows were mainly driven by inflows into equity funds (+€9.8bn) and mixed-asset funds (+ €4.8bn) as well as into property products (+€0.4bn). “Other” (-€1.5bn), commodity (-€0.3bn), and hedge funds (- €0.3bn) as well as bond (-€0.2bn) products showed net outflows.

Podge Lunches-Creatives Network

Spiced Hot Chocolate
Indulge in the warming sensations of a
sumptuously creamy cup of hot chocolate
enriched by delicately spiced Ballantine's
Christmas Reserve, completed with something
soft and sweet.
SERVE IN:
A Glass cup or ceramic mug
INGREDIENTS:
50ml Ballantine's Christmas Reserve
% mug of high quality hot chocolate
Mini marshmallows
Chocolate sauce
METHOD:
Make hot chocolate to suit your tastes. Add the
Ballantine's Christmas Reserve and decorate