Idris Elba, James Corden and Gok Wan all appeared at Advertising Week Europe at BAFTA this month, speaking on various panels about the advertising and creative industries.
Victoria Pendleton, Freddie Flintoff, Morgan Spurlock, Sir Trevor McDonald, Natasha Kaplinsky, Caitlin Moran Steve McManaman, Ashley Roberts, and Steve Coogan all also attended. It was pretty star-studded and we have some pictures.
Is this the starriest girl’s night out ever? Nicole Richie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney, Chelsea Handler, Naomi Watts and Sam Taylor-Wood all met up for a vegan meal at Crossroads in Hollywood last week.
Via Gwen Stefani Instagram.
Stefani, 44, shared a gorgeous black and white photo of the outing on Twitter saying, “#girlsnight @chelseahandler making us all laugh! Gx.”
Paltrow, 41, posted the photo to Instagram on and captioned it, “#girlsnight #latergram,”
Via Gwyneth Paltrow Instagram.
McCartney also posted a picture of the night out on her Instagram page on Thursday, writing “Gals night out! Gwen, Gwyneth, Nicole, Chelsea, Naomi, Sam and I x Stella.”
Via Stella McCartney Instagram.
Would you have liked to have gone on this night out?
Fashion design really starts with street style. Everyday people out and about have no idea they could be the inspiration for the next big trend in fashion and style. Getting spotted doesn’t necessarily mean being featured on a runway or being asked to model for the latest campaign. Designers are constantly looking at everyday life for their next collections visual muse.
We decided to hit the streets of Winchester to see all the fabulous fashion that it had to offer. Winchester is becoming very well know for its Fashion Week. The last one was at the beginning of April and was a huge success. It is now a key date in the calendar in the South East. Also one of the most talked-about fashion events outside of London.
Seeing that the city is steeped in history and it used to be the former capital of England it needed some real fashion savvy reporting. So with this is mind and a camera in hand it was high time to snap away, not the models…No we wanted to see the real people of this beautiful city. The people that are more commonly known as Wintonians.
This rather fabulous lady was elegantly gliding her way down the High Street, we just had to stop her for a snap. Totally fabulous in every way possible.
Casual and so very polished. Matching accessories even when dressing down. 
Casual outfits done to perfection. Real understated style and oh so preppy. Red trousers are the essential style statement to any truly fabulous man’s wardrobe. Those shoes below…the most stylish looking lady. Cool, trendy and radiant from head to foot.
We are loving the distressed jeans.
We took a scenic wander around the Cathedral and spotted cool, stylish and effortless fashion everywhere.
Fun, young and confident style was found in bucket loads too! 
Even the fashionable dogs in winchester have stylish owners!
Colourful accessories are not just about a vibrant scarf and cute shoes. This young lady below was strutting her flamboyant, dazzling and beautiful self along the street and we jumped at the chance to picture her. We have to say Winchester you are spectacular in every way possible! 
For more style and fashion form Sarah head over to www.slbstyle.com and follow her on Twitter @sarahbacchus
Celebrity deaths are much discussed in this social media age. It is not a national mourning, just a general sadness and an unwelcome reminder of mortality.
The death of Peaches Geldof is particularly horrible as she was only 25 and leaves behind a husband and two very young sons: Astala, 23 months, and Phaedra who is almost one. I met Peaches a few times. She was always fun, happy and a little bit naughty. She was also always the centre of attention. Paparazzi followed her everywhere and she seemed to enjoy being in the spotlight.
Of course her life was not plain sailing. She lost her mother, Paula Yates, to an accidental heroin overdose in 2000 when she was only 11. Her mother also left her father for Michael Hutchence who later committed suicide, and Micheal’s half sister, Tina Hutchence, expressed her sadness at her death today. Paula and Michael had a daughter, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence.
This was her last Twitter update: a picture of herself with her mother.
Our thoughts go out to Bob Geldof today, who has experienced more tragedy than anyone ever should, and to Peaches husband, Tom, and their young children. Rest in Peace Peaches.
Bob Geldof released a statement saying:
‘Peaches has died. We are beyond pain.
‘Writing “was” destroys me afresh.
‘She was the wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us.
‘What a beautiful child. How is this possible that we will not see her again?
‘How is that bearable? We loved her and will cherish her forever. How sad that sentence is.
‘Tom and her sons Astala and Phaedra will always belong in our family, fractured so often, but never broken. Bob, Jeanne, Fifi, Pixie and Tiger Geldof.’
We interviewed The Wealthy Women: A Man Is Not a Financial Plan author Mary Waring. She had some great advice to give and has also written a great book that every women should read. In the meantime, pick up some tips in our interview with her.
What made you write the book?
I’ve come across so many very bright women who have an issue with maths and finance. My theory is that the way it is taught in schools is much more suited to a typical male brain rather than a female brain. (I obviously don’t have a typical female brain!)
So many bright women have a mental block about maths and dealing with their finances. I decided therefore I’m would write a very down to earth, no jargon guide to looking after your finances and improving your wealth.
Are women worse than men when it comes to finance?
As above, I think women tend to put it very far down the list of priorities. They look after the house, their partner, the children etc but very far down the list is looking after themselves. In addition only about 10% of advisers are female. The typical adviser is male, middle aged, grey hair, grey suit. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that but many women are looking for someone different and may be struggling to find a female adviser.
Do too many women still rely financially on men?
I think a lot do. The female often looks after the house and the children and all the general housekeeping issues. The male often looks after the finances. In any relationship it’s sensible for one person to look after the finances, and in my experience that is often the male. The woman does not play an active role in the finances and if worst thing happens and they get divorced the female is totally at a loss as to how to look after herself financially. A number of women also assume their husband’s pension will cover both of them in retirement. But this may not be the case.
What are women’s financial strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths- very good at following a set procedure once it’s explained to them. They’re not as competitive as men as a rule so do not need to “beat the market” with their investment return. They’re looking for a steady investment growth. They’re happy to take advice and happy to admit if there’s something they don’t understand.
Weaknesses- lack of confidence regarding finances and tendency to stick their head in the sand rather than deal with it.
What can women do to help themselves financially?
If their partner deals with the finances make sure they sit down on a regular basis and discuss the finances: how much money comes in each month, how much gets spent and what on. Discuss what savings, investments and pensions exist.
If they deal with the finances themselves, then start to look at what they are spending against what income is coming in. They must start to plan for the future and consider what income they will need/want in retirement.
What pitfalls should they look about for?
If something goes wrong (e.g. a large unexpected bill) don’t give up and think the plan isn’t working. Keep at it.
What is the best way to save?
The best way to save is to have a regular amount come out of your account each month by standing order or direct debit. Have that money come out of your account before you start spending. Frequently people wait until the end of the month and decide to save what’s left in their account. But all too often there’s nothing left. If the saving happens before spending it often won’t be noticed that there is less to spend.
Best way to get out of debt?
The best way to get out of debt is to do a strict budget so that you can pay off as much as possible of the debt as quickly as possible. Interest on debt increases at a huge amount so make an effort to get the debt paid down by always paying more than the minimum.
Best way to get wealthy?
The best way to get wealthy is to make that your priority and then each day take some small steps towards achieving that. Too often this looks like too big a challenge but it’s the small steps on a regular basis that can really help your wealth. Choosing to eat out at a much cheaper spot than you would normally use will not make any difference to your wealth if you do it just once. But if you do this on a regular basis so you can save more, then over time it will make a difference.
Top financial tip?
For a period of 3 months keep a very detailed record of what you are spending, including everything that you pay for in cash. Carry a notebook around in your handbag so you can note it down straight away. Look at this in detail and ask yourself “How can I reduce this cost?”. You’d be surprised how much we all overspend without being aware of it. Until you know what you’re spending your money on you are not in a position to do anything about it.
Thank you Mary.
The Wealthy Woman
Last Friday evening saw a true collision of cultures at Singha Beer’s launch for their first European restaurant, Pacata, with East truly meeting West as celebrities, socialites, foodies and journalists came together to enjoy cocktails and menu tasters for a fabulous evening of fun.
Just as Pacata specialises in fusion dishes with a unique story behind them so too was fusion in the air as Louise Thompson and Ferne McCann shared a mojito at the VIP launch. Both brunette beauties looked chic in uncannily similar Spring neutrals bringing glamour and intrigue to the packed event. A hint of coloured metallic and a statement bag set of both outfits with the two chatting intimately whilst enjoying delicious menu-miniatures that were in ample supply.
Both ladies took the opportunity to meet with the restaurant’s menu creator, Yajuzi Marazumi, the world’s only Michelin starred Ramen chef. Ferne said of the restaurant: ‘I have really enjoyed Pacata. Great location. Great food. Great atmosphere. Great drinks.’ We are certain to see the Essex native back at the haunt soon, perhaps on a date for which the location is perfect.
Adding a little testosterone to the proceedings saw Ollie Proudlock in attendance with his beautiful girlfriend. The pair happily enjoyed cocktails and food with friends in the party atmosphere. All three left satiated and eager to return.
@PRandEI
Address: 4 New Row, Covent Garden, WC2N 4LH.
Opening Times: 8am – 1am Monday – Sunday.
We have a great article from Neeta Patel, CEO of New Entrepreneurs Foundation.
Neeta is an experienced executive with over 20 years of strategy and operational leadership
experience in launching new ventures, business turnarounds and change and has a sharp focus on growth and revenues. She has a successful track record of turning ideas and concepts into tangible businesses. Her experience spans financial services, media & publishing, education, arts and the creative industries. She has also led two of her own start-ups.
Prior to joining the New Entrepreneurs Foundation, Neeta worked in Private Equity matching
technology entrepreneurs with investors. Neeta has held senior positions at Thomson Financial (Reuters), Legal & General PLC, Financial Times Group and at the British Council. She is an early internet pioneer having launched the first personal finance web site in Europe for L&G in 1996.
Neeta holds an MA in Chemistry from Oxford University, an MBA (Marketing) from Cass Business School, and a Sloan Fellowship in Strategy and Leadership from London Business School, where she was the winner of the PWC prize in 2009 for a consultancy assignment in China.
Here is her advice:
An entrepreneur needs to have certain key skills and personality traits in order to be successful.I have had many discussions and debates about this, and yet gender has never come up as a particular element. I am reluctant to single out women entrepreneurs in some ways because by doing so, the inference is that they need special help and advice. They don’t. However, there are a number of factors which hold women back when contemplating setting up as an entrepreneur, and I feel its important to encourage them to overcome these and discover how good life as a female entrepreneur can really be. Following a really inspiring female entrepreneur’s event we organised at the New Entrepreneurs Foundation recently, I wanted to share some of the wisdom from leading female entrepreneurs which may help anybody wavering over whether to take the plunge.
Women-led businesses add £70 billion to the UK economy. The latest stats from the Department
of Business, Innovation and skills show that the number of women starting their own business has increased. It still stands at only 19%, but is heading in the right direction. More encouraging is the fact that a quarter of new businesses which are two to three years old have been started by women.
So why do women need extra advice, if they are doing so well anyway? The reason is that not
enough of them are taking the plunge.
Lack of self belief seems to be one of the main reasons. Many women tell me they don’t think they will be taken seriously, that they don’t think they will be viewed as credible when they pitch for investment and that the business world is too tough to make an impact.
Having had years of pitching to some of the scariest venture capitalists around during the early stages of my career, I know what I am talking about when I say that success is nothing to do with gender but with how well you prepare and how well you know your numbers and your business and the market in which it operates.
Remember that women often have far better emotional intelligence than men, and this is very
useful as an entrepreneur in a whole host of ways including negotiating, picking your team and reading people and situations effectively.
Eleanor Mills is Associate Editor of the Sunday Times and one of Britain’s most high profile
commentators. She was fantastically inspiring to potential entrepreneurs at our event recently. She was adamant that women must support each other in business. There is, she says, a specific place in hell for women who don’t.
Geeta Sidhu-Robb, who trained as a lawyer, benefitted from the phenomenally successful Anglo
Scandinavian investments run by her ex-husband in the 90s but when their marriage ended, became penniless. She had three small children to look after on her own, but, armed with those qualities which mark out an entrepreneur she set up a new business called Nosh Detox, which she ran from her kitchen, delivering personalised organic food packages. She is once again very successful and urges other women to become self-sufficient. The only thing that gets in the way of your success is yourself, she maintains.
Adele Barlow, another panellist was so encouraged by the number of young, aspiring female
entrepreneurs who attended the evening that she wrote an excellent blog offering some great tips for wannabe female entrepreneurs, cautioning women to choose their female friends wisely, why you should ignore the nagging from your mother about your love life, and how to choose a good hero, or heroine.
Other advice that was well-received during the event included going for crowd funding rather than traditional methods of fund raising, and exhortations not to be squeamish about being supremely confident when pitching for money. It’s not showing off!
Finally, I would say think really positively about being a female entrepreneur. You have far more flexibility and freedom to run your business and balance your quality of life than you would have in regular employment and if you relish a challenge there are few things more exciting in life than making your own business succeed.
It just occurred to me today that I have spent far too much of my twenties trying to fit a lot of stuff in before I hit 30. And I actually have no idea why. Nothing huge is going to happen when I become 30, I doubt any huge revelation will happen. I actually reckon it will exactly be like becoming 29 only with one more year added on.
Of course it matters to other people. And bitchy people too. The moment I turned 25 people started asking me how I felt about being 30 soon, I mean, calm down. But who cares what other people think anyway, especially when they are rude. Of course, these people will be 30 themselves one day and will probably have someone younger than them act the same way towards them. That is one of the joys of aging: it’s equality. Nobody escapes.
What I have realised is that, actually, the only thing that bothers me about getting older is feeling that I have not done enough to be that age. But even that goes out of the window when I read about the amazing people below. Success doesn’t have an age limit, and neither does talent. In fact, when I hit 30 I will be married, have a successful business and a few other careers, I will have traveled and have amazing friends. Life can only (hopefully!) get more amazing from this point.
Deborah McKinlay
Deborah is the poster girl for life beginning at 40: she had a baby, got a seven-figure advance and a film deal for her novel, That Part Was True, and went back to University. The University just happened to be Cambridge. She was pregnant when she wrote her thesis and says: ‘You never know when life is going to turn around.’ She truly is an inspiration.
Betty White
Betty White was a jobbing actress for decades but it was her role in The Mary Tyler Moore Show that made her famous. She was 51 at the time. The now 92-year-old actress has won numerous Emmys and was also a Golden Girl. Still working: she stars in Hot In Cleveland and hosts her own show Betty White’s Off Their Rockers.
Leslie Neilson
It was his role in the classic 1980s movie parody Airplane! that made him famous at the age of 54. He starred in over 50 television shows in 2 years before that and worked for decades before making it big.
Hulk Hogan
After failing to find work in movies Hulk became a wrestler and found fame in his 40s. This strategy worked as, after finding fame as a wrestler, he got work in movies and became a huge star.
Steve Carrell
Made his name with The Office when he was 43 after sharpening his skills on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart for 6 seasons. He is now a movie star in his own right.
Morgan Freeman
Became famous at the age of 52 after starring in 1988 film Driving Miss Daisy. He was Oscar nominated for his role. Morgan has starred in over 90 films and paid his dues for decades before finding fame.
Vera Wang
Vera Wang only started designing wedding dresses in her 40s after failing to make it on the US Olympic figure-skating team and then being passed over for the editor-in-chief position when she was an editor at Vogue. She is now an incredibly famous and successful designer. So there you go.
Burt Reynolds
Became an actor after an injury sidelined a professional football career. Burt Reynolds has starred in over 70 movies. His breakthrough role was in 1972 film Deliverance. He then became famous and has his own star on the Walk of Fame.
Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal starred in Above The Law as a favour to a student from his dojo. He was a martial arts teacher before that point and Under Siege became a box-office hit a few years later making him an action hero at 40-years-old.
Samuel L. Jackson
A former crack addict and alcoholic, Samuel decided to turn his life around in his 40s and is now one of the most famous and hardest working movie stars with over 100 movies under his belt. His breakthrough role was in Spike Lee’s 1991 film Jungle Fever.
Julia Child
Published Mastering the Art of French Cooking when she was 50 and then got her own show The French Chef which was successful. She discovered French cuisine after moving to Paris with her husband in 1948 when she was 36. She enrolled at the famous Le Cordon Bleu to learn how to cook. The rest is history.
Alan Rickman
Got his first film role in his mid-40s after plugging away for decades.
Feeling inspired? Have any thoughts? Comment below.