Month: March 2019

TBS in The FT (How To Spend It)

Posted on by Thea Carroll

Thea Carroll is quoted in a feature about the King’s Road – once the byword for boho cool – getting it’s mojo back.

The opening of the Mary Quant retrospective exhibition at the V&A places the King’s Road, the launch pad of her revolution in 1955, back into the spotlight. The King’s Road has a fashion history that long predates it’s 20th Century celebrity and is now undergoing significant changes with the launch of the Kings Road partnership led by Cadogan and Martin’s Properties to drive the curation of great retail on the street.

Thea talks about the appeal of the King’s Road with Americans and Europeans, and is quoted saying “You buy in Chelsea for its identity and community. It’s very much somewhere to be a part of, cosmopolitan but not transient. I’ve helped people move here from other parts of London who no longer want to live next to investment properties.” The fact that the more westerly stretches of the road are not well served by tube or train has, if anything, helped preserve this identity, and is no doubt one of the reasons residents have powerfully resisted the proposed introduction of Crossrail 2. What locals do undoubtedly prize is that the area delivers some of the most covetable assets of modern urban living; security, discretion, greenery and timelessness. Due to a rigorous local planning lobby, additions to the landscape must conform to these core values – even if these are setting world-record prices.

Mary Quant at the V & A (www.vat.ac.uk) opens on April 6.

To read more:  https://howtospendit.ft.com/house-garden/205785-the-king-s-road-s-new-property-groove

 

TBS in The Sunday Times – Thirtysomethings quit the city for the real good life

Posted on by Jemma Scott

New research reveals from Hamptons International reveals the average age for moving to the country has fallen by 10 years. A decade ago those deciding to escape urban life typically did so at the age of 47. Today it is 37.

Many are being driven away by the cost of properties, particularly in London, where a couple with two children looking for a terraced house would have to pay an average of £674,400.

Other reasons include wanting more space for less money and a better quality of life somewhere quieter and less polluted. Flexible working and improvements to broadband in rural areas are allowing more people to move without having to leave their jobs.

Air pollution, overcrowding, noise, the ungodly race for school places, dog dirt and litter on the pavements, the perception of high crime rates in cities: all these factors are prompting urbanites to head for the verdant hills.

“It used to be ‘Have baby, move to country’, but these days it’s definitely more ‘Have absolutely had enough of the city, move to country’,” says Jemma Scott, a partner at The Buying Solution, who recently moved from the capital to rural Buckinghamshire. The appeal of more house for less money — a house that has a garden with an actual lawn, a spare bedroom and even, heaven be praised, a utility room — is particularly powerful.

Jemma also highlights that it won’t be cheaper or any more eco being in the countryside. In reality many country homes are draughty and poorly insulated, losing heat from gas-guzzling ranges and every nook and cranny. The open fire or ancient woodburner is a source of emissions. Worst of all, you need a car — probably two if you’re a couple — that you will drive constantly. “My carbon footprint is through the roof,” Jemma Scott says. “I used to cycle to and from the office, walk and jump on the Tube or bus. Now I destroy a forest’s worth of ozone in one week, simply functioning.”

Read the full articles here (and fill in your own quiz to see if you’re ready for the move):

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thirtysomethings-quit-the-city-for-the-real-good-life-cxflz3l7c

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/follow-our-lead-why-millennials-are-swapping-the-city-for-the-shires-3l8bbgx62

TBS interviews top trainer Warren Greatrex about this week’s Cheltenham Festival

Posted on by Bobby Hall

This week marks the annual Cheltenham Festival meeting which will run from Tuesday 12th to Friday 15th March. It is one of ’the’ National racing calendar events of the year, where many of the best and rarist British and Irish trained horses race, with race prize money second only to the Grand National.

Bobby Hall, Partner at The Buying Solution speaks with his friend and acclaimed trainer, Warren Greatrex, for his insights on the festival.

  • What stands out for you about the Cheltenham Festival?

In National Hunt Racing, it is the equivalent of the Olympics for Human Athletes. Every owner, trainer and jockey wants to have winners there and the whole experience is something to behold.

  • How and when do you prepare for Cheltenham Festival?

The key is to find out if they are good enough over the months before, but I find it important that they have a nice little break before their big race.

  • Where do you tend to find or buy your horses?

The majority of my horses are bought by my wife Tessa, who works for Highflyer Bloodstock; where David Minton and Anthony Bromley are also part of the team and have been buying top class horses for many, many years.

  • How do you decide which horse will race?

You will start off with a horse at the beginning of the season and work out if it is good enough to be able to compete, and then aim them at a race which is suitable for them.

  • Which has been your most successful meeting to date?

I have managed to have 2 winners at the Cheltenham Festival, but I would have to say my first winner Cole Harden who won the 2015 World Hurdle (which is the Championship Race for 3 mile Hurdlers) would have to be my greatest achievement in my career so far.

  • Which horses do you feel will do well?

All of mine going there this year will have chances, but if I had to pin it to two, Theatre Territory in the Kim Muir, and Western Ryder in the County Hurdle would be my best chances.