Author: Ed

journalism

Private banking: personal service cost

The Australian, Wealth INTERNATIONAL banks are targeting the Australian market to provide high-end private banking services that don’t necessarily involve mortgages. Both HSBC and Citibank have launched private banking packages: Premier and Citigold, respectively. They have less stringent requirements than the local so-called private retail banks, but are nevertheless aimed at wealthy people. British banking group HBOS is also building its share of the local market through its BankWest brand, which is expanding on the east coast and offers private […]

journalism

In the trenches: marketing in China

IN THE BLACK: In the trenches Cool customers: the growing Chinese consumer goods market may give us the greatest lessons about understanding the customer. By Ed Charles Knowing your customer is essential to the success of any business enterprise. China is the market that many multinationals are concentrating on. So how does one begin to understand this rapidly expanding and complex market? The scale and the nuances of China are bewildering. Nearly 80 per cent of the country’s people are […]

journalism

Eating in ’08

Herald Sun, Citystyle Rising prices is the biggest news in food this year, writes ED CHARLES WHEREVER you eat this year, it will cost more. Stay at home and the basic staples of flour, bread, pasta and dairy will cost more. Eat out and it will cost more – and the standard of service might not be up to scratch because of a huge shortage of waiters, sommeliers and chefs. Even dishwashers (the human variety) are in short supply. “The […]

Eat streets, Restaurants

Lunch most popular:Movida

Spanish chef Frank Comorra is a laugh. When he sent me a copy of his sell out Movida cookbook he signed it as the CEO of Ikea. He’d read by blogpost where I’d complained Movida didn’t conform to the stereotypical Spanish restaurant and owed more to the Swedish superstore than dark oak, Pablo Picasso or Anton Gaudi.Of course, I’m nothing but inconsistent. Shannon Bennett’s Bistro Vue I complain is a French theme park with its beams, French furniture and a […]

Cooking

Hot day. Cold soup

What do I miss most about home? It has to be the dear old Currant Bun. Today’s headline: Phew what a scorcher! Although they could be holding the front page to the Aussie cricketers a good firm kick in the bollocks. The last time I was home in England, en route to Spain, it was bloody hot. And when I landed in Seville it was 48C. A few seconds of heat melted my suitcase and my cricket bat wilted. There […]

journalism

Cover yourself before you travel

The Australian, Wealth TRAVEL insurance is one of those products that few travellers pay attention to, whether they are begrudgingly buying a policy or relying on cover provided through top-end credit cards. For that reason, travel insurance remains one of the most complained about financial products in Australia. “It’s about 18 per cent of all our work for what would be a small partner in the insurance portfolio,” insurance industry ombudsman Sam Parrino says. “That is a lot of work […]

journalism

Aussies pay dearly for overseas currency conversions

The Australian, Wealth IT’S time for Christmas shopping and many people will be visiting Singapore and Hong Kong or the duty-free halls for their seasonal spending sprees. But retailers could be taking-advantage of the festive spirit by offering payment in Australian dollars and adding a surcharge to foreign currency conversion fees. Called dynamic currency conversion, surcharging payments made in Australian dollars is perfectly legitimate. But this is one of the many pitfalls when spending abroad and is a matter of […]

journalism

Social media is the new thing, and it’s rapidly being integrated into business.

IN THE BLACK Are you a knowledge worker or a pen pusher? The likelihood is that you are the former, which means you are about ideas and -collaboration. In that case, the expressions ‘social media’, ‘Web 2.0’, or more importantly, ‘Enterprise 2.0’, should be in your vocabulary, even if you don’t have a profile on Facebook. While these ideas may seem a threat to old-school types, the reality is that most social media users are Generation Xers and Yers – […]