Latest news with #London-centric
21-05-2025
- Business
Byredo expands beyond London with Victoria Leeds flagship
Moving away from the typical London-centric trajectory of luxury beauty, Swedish fragrance house Byredo is preparing to open its first standalone store outside the capital — a 2,154-square-foot boutique in the heart of Victoria Leeds. This move marks a geographic milestone for the cult label, but also reflects the broader rise of niche beauty in regional luxury retail environments. The new space, located in Victoria Quarter — already home to Aesop, Jo Malone, and Mulberry — signals Byredo's confidence in the northern market's appetite for elevated beauty and lifestyle products. It follows the brand's successful concession within Harvey Nichols Leeds, where sustained footfall and strong sales performance provided a reliable proof of concept. Best known for its minimalist bottles and conceptual scent narratives, Byredo has built a loyal global following since its founding in 2006 by Ben Gorham. Acquired in 2022 by Puig, the brand remains emblematic of the niche fragrance category — one that continues to outperform the broader beauty market. According to market research firm NPD Group, prestige niche fragrance sales in the UK grew 13 percent year-on-year in 2023, compared to 7 percent growth in mass-market fragrance. This trend is further amplified by Gen Z and Millennial consumers, who are drawn to the artisanal positioning, perceived authenticity, and layered storytelling of independent brands. The Leeds opening will see Byredo expand its physical retail experience to include not only its core fragrance line, but also cosmetics, home goods, leather accessories, and small luxuries — part of a deliberate shift toward full lifestyle branding. The move dovetails with Puig's strategy of cultivating vertical retail experiences to drive both brand equity and margin control. 'The luxury nature of Byredo means they will be a perfect fit with our leading tenant mix," commented Rachel Bradburn, leasing director at Victoria Leeds. "Yet another strategic brand decision to launch its first standalone store outside of London. Byredo's flagship further cements Victoria Quarter as the go-to premier destination for luxury brands.' Victoria Leeds has been steadily positioning itself as a regional luxury hub, with recent arrivals such as Aesop and the announcement that sustainable womenswear label Nobody's Child will also open its first northern store there. These moves reflect a growing recalibration of retail geography, as brands increasingly seek to balance London flagship dominance with broader national relevance — and direct-to-consumer economics. For Byredo, the Leeds opening is less a test case than an assertion: niche beauty has matured, and its market is no longer confined to urban centres or online exclusivity. In a post-pandemic retail environment where experience, locality, and curation are gaining renewed importance, the move underscores a simple truth — niche is no longer niche. It's the new mainstream, and it's going regional.
The Guardian
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Helena Bell obituary
From 2016 until her death, at the age of 64 after being diagnosed with cancer, Helena Bell was the artistic director of Kali Theatre, a company founded by Rita Wolf and Rukhsana Ahmad in 1991 to encourage writing by south Asian women, and now based at the Albany theatre in Deptford, south London. Helena believed that all theatre should be political, and she dedicated her life to unearthing stories from writers silenced by the mainstream, whether on account of their class, race, gender or sexuality. At Kali, in 2018, she created the Discovery programme, which sought to 'discover' new south Asian women playwrights and produce their work. An open call-out saw writers submit their scripts, four of which were chosen for a script-in-hand performance. Any writer unsuccessful in getting through would receive extensive written feedback from the dramaturgs and directors involved in the programme in order to help them develop their craft – an unusual courtesy in the theatre industry, but one that Helena insisted upon. She was also keen to counter the London-centric bias of British theatre, and launched Discovery programmes in Oldham, Leicester and Birmingham. Helena was also instrumental in the publication of a collection of play excerpts for Kali's 30th anniversary, 30 Monologues and Duologues for South Asian Actors, published by Bloomsbury in 2021. I first met Helena in 2018 when she asked me to join the inaugural Discovery programme as a dramaturg after having seen my play Abi (a response to Abigail's Party). During one rehearsal, I remarked that I felt bad about getting paid to sit in a room and have such engaging conversations. In many rehearsal rooms, the director is the ruler, but Helena flattened hierarchies and established a space where everyone's voice – regardless of rank – was welcomed. She had a knack for incubating new talent and provided a warm place for playwrights to thrive. She was known for her laugh, which she would launch into the room and loop others into. It was contagious. Helena was born in Bristol to Jean Bell, who soon after Helena's birth married Mervyn Uren. Helena went to Ashton Park school in the south of the city and, after graduating from Warwick University in 1982 with a degree in English literature, began training to be a teacher in Brighton. There she was diverted on to her theatrical journey, in 1988 co-founding Alarmist Theatre with Stephen Plaice and continuing as co-artistic director of the company until 1998. In 1990 Helena directed Stephen's adaptation of Vladimir Mayakovsky's play The Bedbug, depicting a cryogenically frozen Russian hipster thawed 50 years later into a fictitious European superstate. After its initial run at the Pavilion theatre, Brighton, and the Brighton and Edinburgh festivals, it was one of the first productions to tour in glasnost Russia. Feeding the cast and crew in Moscow was a feat, as food was scarce, so the company travelled to an international hotel where they could pay in dollars. At dinner Helena encountered an American who said he had fallen foul of the local mafia. Helena liked to recount how she came to the rescue and lent him her Russian fur hat by means of a disguise. Back in Britain, she met and was mentored by the director Clare Venables, who provided support in a male-dominated industry. In 1996 Helena directed Fossil Woman, by Louise Warren, about the extraordinary life of the Dorset fossil hunter Mary Anning (and coincidentally also one of Helena's ancestors). A co-production between Alarmist and Shaker Productions at the Hawth theatre, Crawley, in West Sussex, then the Union Chapel, Islington, north London, subsequently transferred to the Lyric Hammersmith and was a Time Out Critic's Choice. Shortly after this, she was chosen to be one of six directors on the Arts Council directors' bursary, a programme designed to train the next generation of British theatre makers. Through this she formed close creative partnerships with the directors Rosamunde Hutt and Pat Trueman. Helena once remarked that she loved to curate not only pieces of work, but people. She put artists in touch with each other, which led to lifelong friendships. She met her own partner, the writer Grant Watson, in 1997. Helena went on to direct Grant's play The Lamellar Project, an epic snapshot of a near future where food systems have collapsed and two scientists clash over how to fix it, at the Arcola theatre in east London for the theatre and film company Pursued By a Bear, where Helena worked for a decade until 2016. Although adopted as a baby by Mervyn, Helena grew up with the knowledge that she was of mixed heritage; her father had been a Punjabi Sikh student with whom her mother had had a brief relationship. Helena subsequently made a research trip to India and Pakistan for Ahmad's play The Gatekeeper's Wife, which was produced by Alarmist Theatre. There she began the process of integrating the two continents from which she hailed. The insights gained from her trip to the subcontinent would inform her work and eventually culminate in her taking up the role of artistic director at Kali Theatre. Helena is survived by Grant and their son, Jake, and by her younger brothers, Geoff and Robert. Helena Bell, theatre director, born 31 January 1961; died 31 January 2025
Daily Record
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Coronation Street Tina O'Brien's unlikely link to huge Netflix star
Coronation Street star Tina O'Brien, famed for her role as Sarah Platt, has a surprising link to an Adolescence star marking a key role in their career. Coronation Street fans have been left stunned after discovering a surprising link between actress Tina O'Brien and popular Netflix star Owen Cooper. Famed for his role in Adolescence, the rising child actor shot to fame for his leading role. Cobbles actress Tina, who is known for her long-running role as Sarah Platt on the ITV soap, has an unlikely connection to Owen, 15. The young star was just 14 years old when he was filming alongside Stephen Graham for the Netflix show. Adolescence, which amassed global audiences and broke Netflix streaming records when it was released earlier this year, details the story of a tragic murder as a 13-year-old boy is accused of brutally killing an older female classmate. In harrowing events, his family, the school, and a therapist are left in complete turmoil as the detective in charge of the case is looking into the details of what really happened. The short Netflix series has been a smash-hit and is currently the number one programme on the global platform, becoming the most-watched streaming TV show in the UK in a single week. It also reached the top 10 most-watched lists in numerous countries. Owen Cooper plays the lead role of 13-year-old Jamie Miller in Adolescence, which also stars Ashley Walters and Stephen Graham, who plays the role of his dad, Eddie Miller. Marking his first ever on-screen debut on Adolescence has been a huge milestone for the child actor. However before this, he did attend acting classes run by a Corrie legend. Coronation Street actress Tina O'Brien revealed that Owen honed his skills at The Drama MOB, the Manchester-based acting school she co-founded in 2013, according to reports in the Sun. Tina, who has similarly been in the showbiz spotlight since the age of 10, runs the school alongside her pal Esther Morgan, helping local talent break into TV and film. It comes after another actor gave The Drama MOB a shout-out for its key part in Owen's journey, as Tina shared the praise whilst also targeting the industry's London-centric bias. The school has since posted its own tribute to Owen, calling his Adolescence performance 'incredible' and celebrating the work of their teaching team. They posted a message saying: "Where do we even begin?! We are beyond proud of Owen for absolutely smashing this role and tackling such a challenging and sensitive subject. "Being able to secure such a major role is incredible in itself, but Owen has completely blown everyone away – and the reviews say it all!" Meanwhile, Tina posted on her Instagram: "Elitist mentality that anything in the North isn't worth mentioning. Thank you for highlighting this @ricomorris2020. "We work incredibly hard at the @thedramamob and we are very proud of the work we do and will continue to do." Despite only breaking into acting a few years ago, Owen has taken Hollywood by storm. The 15-year-old has now landed a huge new role with an award-winning actor. He will star in Emerald Fennel's remake of Wuthering Heights, which is based on the 1847 novel by Emily Brontë. When Owen stars in the remake, he will be playing young Heathcliff, with the older version of Heathcliff played by Jacob Elordi.
The Guardian
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Arts Council England a victim of ‘London-centric' media coverage, CEO says
The chief executive of Arts Council England has launched an impassioned defence of the organisation, claiming it has suffered because of 'London-centric' media coverage. Darren Henley, who saw in his 10th anniversary as Arts Council England CEO last week, told the Guardian there was an imbalance in media coverage. He said London-based figures were able to get newspaper coverage while regional arts leaders to whom ACE has redistributed funds were not getting the same access. ACE is charged with distributing public and lottery funds to arts organisations in England. Henley said: 'I observe the London-centricity in our media. I go around the country, and the people who lead in those places don't get the half-page columns in our national newspapers as easily as the people who are London based. 'There's a power dynamic there … there's a sort of imbalance. Maybe the role I have to play when I'm sitting in the corridors of power in London is to be representative of all those places who don't have a seat at that table.' His comments come after several high-profile London-based arts leaders heavily criticised ACE after the classical venue Wigmore Hall announced that from 2026 it would no longer take public subsidies. Instead the venue has secured £10m in pledged donations, with John Gilhooly, the artistic and executive director of Wigmore Hall, saying he was grateful for ACE's support, but adding that 'it has lost its way'. Henley said: 'I absolutely respect people who have a view that says we're doing something that isn't for their liking or their taste. That's perfectly reasonable for a public body to be challenged that way … but there are lots and lots of people who I meet who say something different. 'You've got a lot of groups who are very passionate about all the things we do and maybe negative voices shout louder than positive voices.' The former Classic FM boss said that ACE was 'not waging war on classical' after the Wigmore Hall withdrawal and criticism from several figures in the sector. One high-profile broadside came from the former English National Opera artistic director David Pountney, who said ACE 'had it in' for opera. Henley said: 'It's really important that we have world class opera at the Royal Ballet here in London, in our capital city that is as good or better artistically as anywhere else in the world. It's really important. But I also think it's equally as important that we have a network of grassroots live music venues in towns across this country.' Henley also dismissed suggestions from former National Theatre artistic director Nicholas Hytner, who argued that ACE funding should follow a UK Sport model and pursue 'excellence'. Hytner said: 'UK Sport is absolutely ruthless about winning gold medals, and if you are one of the sports teams that suddenly does well and wins lots of gold medals, you get more funding next time. If you don't do well, you get less funding. So under his model, if the RSC had an amazing run and the National Theatre had a not-so-good run, money would be taken away from the National Theatre and given to the RSC. 'I think that is not really what he's actually arguing … I think there's a little bit of misunderstanding there.' The government has ordered a review of ACE, which distributes more than £500m of public money and more than £250m of national lottery money annually, and employs more than 650 people. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said the review would be the first step to restore 'people's connection with the arts and culture in every region of the country'.
