Operation Ariana works out fine for Boohoo
Anyone still doubting 2021 could be the year we pass peak oil need only look to Saudi Arabia, which has begun a drive to replace petrol-fuelled power plants with solar and gas. News portal Argaam said the strategy of the world’s largest oil exporter and de facto OPEC leader was announced by energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as part of a program called “Hydrocarbon Demand Sustainability”. In other news, Newcastle has stopped burning coal.
WORD reaches Spy that fast-fashion web-shop Boohoo’s plan to seize control of Debenhams was code-named Ariana - after pop star Ariana Grande. Boohoo snagged one of British retail’s most cherished brands for a snip at £55million over the heads of traditional high street retailers. Was this billionaire chairman
Mahmud
Kamani’s way of saying Thank U,
Next?
Meanwhile, Kamani’s son Umar, founder of Boohoo brand Pretty Little Thing, tweeted: “Mad that we used to go into Debenhams every Saturday looking for cheap TVs with my dad.” Dad’s clearly not lost his eye for an on-the-blink bargain.
EVEN by its typically tone-deaf standards, Michelin’s decision to last night strip stars from six British restaurants feels harsh. One of the few times Soho’s Social Eating House could open last year was during Eat Out To Help Out, when Jason
Atherton put together a two-course lunch for £12. Yes, the guide has to keep up standards, but judges - have a word with yourselves.
BUT fair play to Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, who was heard by Eater to respond to her award of a third Michelin star with a live-streamed: “Putain… I don’t know what to say.” Spy seems to recall from French O-level that “putain” is fabulously rude.