Surge in Rutshire?
Even before Rivals, Disney’s riotous TV dramatisation of Dame Jilly Cooper’s 1988 bonkbuster, the honeyed Cotswolds could lay claim to being England’s most desirable country corner. But with the efforts of Emily Atack, David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, Victoria Smurfit and the winsome ingénue Bella Maclean – not to mention all those lovely period houses and gorgeous sun-kissed landscapes – Rivals has set pulses racing in the Cotswolds’ property market too.
Gemma Maclaran, Cotswolds buyer at Middleton Advisors, confirms ‘a wave of new enquiries from international buyers – especially from Americans – for houses in the Cotswolds over the past few weeks’. But how many? ‘A good handful,’ she says, ‘but that is quite a lot for us.’ Hedgehog is sure Dame Jilly would approve.
The art of noise
UBS’s headquarters in Broadgate now features a breathtaking nine-metre-long, cloud-like installation by Bangladesh-born, London-based artist Rana Begum, entitled No. 1238 Mesh. Its 26 brightly coloured forms appear weightless, but the sculpture – commissioned for the entrance – in fact weights around 150kg, which required the strengthening of the ceiling before it could be installed.
According to Louise Evans, who oversees UBS’s art collection in the UK, Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa, art is integral to the culture of the bank. ‘Art is a celebration of what it means to be human,’ says Evans, who tells Hedgehog the bank owns 40,000 works dating from the Sixties to the present day. ‘It reflects who we are as a society and also helps us to make sense of the world around us. Artists are spokespeople of all time, which I think really speaks to why UBS focuses on contemporary art specifically.’
[See also: Is a robot painting worth $1 million or is it just hype?]
Nigerian exodus
Regardless of how long Kemi Badenoch lasts as Leader of His Majesty’s Opposition – the Tories went through three leaders before getting to David Cameron after their wipe-out in 1997 – one thing is assured… London looks set to become a less attractive destination to Nigerian HNWs. That’s according to Bimpe Nkontchou, the managing principal of W8 Advisory, a London-based wealth manager focusing on African entrepreneurs.
‘Following the Labour government’s introduction of VAT on independent school fees, as well as the changes to the previously attractive non-dom tax regime, many HNW Nigerian families will be reconsidering the UK as an obvious destination for education and second homes,’ she tells Hedgehog, noting that they are looking to Canada, the US and the UAE as alternatives.
Content from our partners
‘Whilst the UK has been favoured for providing traditional elitist education, due to the strong colonial ties with Nigeria, the measures introduced by the current UK government will weaken the UK’s edge over other countries. I will not be surprised if the UK sees a decrease in the contributions and investments made by HNW Nigerian families to the education sector, and as a result to real estate in the UK.’
[See also: The best private schools in the world]
Cash converter
Veteran Tory politician Sir Bill Cash, father of Spear’s founder William Cash, is among the thinly fictionalised characters to appear in Christopher Howarth’s debut thriller, The Durian Pact.
Named after the 1971 Five Power Defence Arrangements between Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia, the plot turns on Far Eastern tensions and their ramifications in London, with a principled Tory grandee, Sir Bill Howard, leading the charge at home.
Among other real people to be fictionalised in the story is the Eurosceptic Tory peer and prominent Vote Leave supporter Lord Moynihan. ‘He gets murdered in the book,’ laughs Howarth, a political adviser to the European Research Group in Parliament. ‘I asked him, “As it’s reasonably obvious to some people that it might be you, do you mind being murdered?” He thought it was a great idea but wanted a more gruesome death.
This feature first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 94. Click here to subscribe
