IN BRIEF

Informed, intelligent and inflight, we present an executive summary to life across the destinations.

FARM OF THE FUTURE

GROWING DUTCH
EFFICIENT, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AND SMARTLY DESIGNED, a very Dutch method of farming has arrived in the UK. The vast greenhouses of Thanet Earth in Kent cover 18ha – 25 football pitches – and are expected to add an additional 15% to British salad vegetable production, growing tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers from its site outside London. Based on the high-intensity horticulture pioneered in the Netherlands, the futuristic farm boasts seven reservoirs to catch rainwater for the crops, and even has its own power generators, which allow it to sell electricity back to the national grid while also producing the heat and CO2 that are beneficial to the plants.

“Building on this scale means we have a sustainable business whereby a greater proportion of home-grown salad crops are seen on retailers’ shelves,” says Judy Whittaker, communications manager for Fresca Group, one of the companies behind Thanet Earth. “It’s a massive investment – about €80m to get the site operational. We’ve invested in this model not only for the sake of our environment but also because it makes sound commercial sense.” www.thanetearth.com

BRANDING

BIG GET BIGGER
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BRANDS HAVE SO FAR HELD ONTO THEIR POSITIONS AT THE TOP OF the tree despite the global recession, according to the fourth annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking by Millward Brown Optimor. The survey reported that the top 100 names grew in value by 1.7% in the past year, reaching a phenomenal $1.95trn. Google maintained its top spot, becoming the first $100bn name in the process, while Microsoft weighed in at number two with $76.2bn and Coca-Cola made it into the top three for the first time with a value of $67.6bn.

There were several brands conspicuous by their absence this year, however, and automotive manufacturers and finance groups were particularly hard hit, with a total of 15 names from these industries slipping off the bottom of the table. Major car brands no longer in the top 100 include Chevrolet, Ford and Volkswagen, while the disappearance of Merrill Lynch, Wachovia and AIG reflected the turmoil in finance.

LEISURE

LONDON IRISH
FOUNDED IN 1950 WITH THE ASSISTANCE of King George VI, The Irish Club was based in Eaton Square in Belgravia until 2003, when it was decided that new premises were needed. Six years later and the doors have finally opened on the all-new club, which is now located in small, homely premises on Tudor Street by Blackfriars Bridge. Its City location makes it ideal for business users, and the club is keen to attract a new young and dynamic membership to work, socialise and relax in its bar, restaurant and function rooms. But with a bar that aims to stock one bottle of every different whiskey made in Ireland, the socialising and relaxing may take priority for many. www.irishclub.co.uk

SMALL BUSINESS

BIZUAL.COM
MADE BY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS FOR small business owners, Bizual is the new service that allows entrepreneurs to market themselves and source suppliers from within an online community. Users sign up to Bizual for free and post a special offer on the site, then wait for other users to take them up on that offer, or go in search of other offers. Users can rate each other for quality of service and the standard of their product and offer, with the best offers rising to the top and attracting more attention.

“Traditional marketing techniques aren’t made for small businesses,” explains co-founder Elliot Jacobs, “but Bizual allows them to promote themselves and compete on the things they are good at.” A system based on exchange, reputation and customer service, Bizual should be music to the ears of any small business. www.bizual.com

TECHNOLOGY

FLIPPING GREAT
CHEAP, LIGHTWEIGHT, AND NOW available in HD, Flip Video’s cameras are still redefining the camcorder market a year after they were first launched in Europe. At a time when almost every mobile phone has a decent camera embedded within it, Flip has gone back to basics and made it easy to record videos with the push of a button. The screen’s tiny, the sound isn’t amazing and there’s no headphone socket so you can’t watch videos in private, but the Flip is all about shooting quick videos – ideal for grabbing a bit of holiday footage this summer.

It’s in the uploading and editing that Flip MinoHD really comes into its own. Just flip out the USB stick, plug the camera into your computer and the FlipShare software will take care of the rest, making it incredibly easy to load pictures onto your computer. That’s when you can really appreciate the HD colours and clarity.

And with YouTube and Vimeo offering HD channels you can share in HD too. Just be careful what you film by the pool. HD is notorious for showing every wrinkle and blemish – you might end up wishing for a bit less clarity! www.flipvideo.co.uk

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