Chuckle Brothers fans flocked to remember one half of comedy duo, after his death age 73
The hearse was just pulling in to Rotherham United’s football ground when the first cry rang out. “To me!” shouted one woman. “To you,” yelled another. Inside one of the funeral cars, Paul Elliott, better known as Paul Chuckle, sat silently, head bowed. His brother Barry was dead, and along with it a lifelong comedy partnership, the Chuckle Brothers.
Among the mourners was Tommy Cannon. One half of Cannon and Ball, he knows how special it is to be part of a double act. “Losing Barry will be like losing an arm for Paul,” he said. “If I’m ever doing anything without Bobby [Ball] I’m always looking around to see where he is.”
Continue reading...Vegan collections feature materials such as synthetic suede and B-mesh made from recycled bottles
Fashion has been somewhat slow to mastermind viable – and desirable – animal-free alternatives to materials such as leather and suede, but this week the resolve picked up momentum.
On Tuesday, Helsinki Fashion Week banned animal-based leather as of 2019. The decision was said to enable “an active stand against cruelty to animals and the damaging environmental impacts that the use of animal leather brings with it”, said its founder, Evelyn Mora. Later in the week, the sustainable Paris-based trainer brand Veja showed that consumers are willing to do the same, as it revealed its turnover for 2017 increased by 60% year-on-year to €18 million. Its vegan collection, introduced in December 2016, features materials such as B-mesh made from recycled bottles, synthetic suede, wild rubber and recycled jute and is a significant part of its offering.
Continue reading...Critics say relocating effigy of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst would be a scandal
A row has erupted over plans to relocate a statue of the suffragette pioneer Emmeline Pankhurst from its site near the Houses of Parliament to the private Regent’s University in Regent’s Park, London.
The statue, which was funded by suffragettes, was unveiled in Victoria Tower Gardens near the House of Lords by the then prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, in 1930.
Continue reading...London-based bank set to become fintech ‘unicorn’ after lining up $150m of funding
Monzo, a digital bank popular with millennials, is set to become one of the UK’s technology “unicorns” after lining up new finance that would value the three-year-old company at more than $1bn (£787m).
The London-based bank has organised $150m of funding from investors, including Silicon Valley’s Accel Partners, which was an early investor in Wonga. Monzo’s fundraising will value it at up to $1.5bn – about four times the £280m value placed on the bank when it last raised money in November 2017, the Financial Times reported.
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