By Tim Roe, Managing Director, Rated People Everyone wants to add value to their home, whether they are staying for a decade or selling up and buying bigger next year. Research by the Nationwide Building Society has found that adding a double bedroom and en-suite bathroom to a house will see its value increase by 23 per cent. With return on investment so strong, it seems sensible to get the builders in. The great news is that adding value to...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Spoilt by pop-up ventures, market stalls and a veritable smorgasbord of world cuisines the hungry residents of Shepherd’s Bush could be forgiven for omitting the behemoth Westfield Shopping Centre as a dining option. But as a short walk from the tube goes to show, there’s a few gems amongst the chains. Balans Soho Society is one such gem. Founded in Soho but now boasting an impressive presence across London the ‘contemporary global’...

By Emma Siverthorn @HouseOf_Gazelle From its opaque start through to its ambiguous denouncement Robin Campillo's Eastern Boys is a brilliantly complex exploration of power dynamics. In the opening scenes, the Eastern Boys, (hailing from the Ukraine, Russia and Romania), roam the Gare Du Nord, their purpose and intention unclear but their sense of pack protection obvious. Yet as the film progresses this sense of immigrant solidarity quickly darkens and shifts to something more akin to captivity than camaraderie. The leader...

By Oliver Ward Apple´s announcement this week for a 1,300 acre solar farm strengthened Apple´s commitment to becoming a 100 per cent renewable energy company. Not only will it provide the power for Apples new campus and shelter them from the ever increasing costs of brown energy, but it represents the astute and progressive success Tim Cook has earned as the CEO of the worlds best known phone and tablet manufacturer. On this day in 1779 another world famous Cook...

By Matt Keay @mattadamkeay It’s extremely rare that a film endowed with large amounts of fizzing and controversial column inches can ever live up to the hype. John Carter, Dark Shadows, and American Hustle recently suffered from this phenomenon, but for a completely different reason than The Interview. The hype surrounding most films might concern the star-studded cast, or the jaw-dropping visual effects, but in the case of Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen’s most recent satirical car crash, it is...

Sport News 24/7 By Sean Simara  @Sean_FootyMad  @TLE_Sport The NBA starts to get very serious at this time of year, their marquee fixture 'All-Star Weekend' is where best players from the Eastern Conference go against the best of the Western Conference in an exhibition game.  Mix that up with a celebrity game, a slam dunk & three point contest and it's all a bit of fun. The seriousness does kick in now and in the coming weeks I will review...

Review by Miranda Schiller Pierre Dulaine is a world champion of ballroom dancing. He was born in Jaffa, but like many Palestinians, his family fled in 1948. In 2011, Dulaine returns to his hometown for the first time, and with an ambitious project. He wants to give dancing lessons to school children and have Jewish and Palestinian children dance together. He strongly believes in the power of dance to overcome prejudice, teach people to respect themselves and each other, to...

By Will Bateman (WillBateman6611) Electric Ballroom - 12/02/15 After over 10-years The Cribs have become a staple of the UK live gig circuit, an institution. A consistent level of sweaty, raucous performances, specifically wherever they can in small, intimate venues. Any fan worth their salt will have likely witnessed their brand of anarchic Wakefield punk a good handful of times, with a high chance of crowd surfing, mosh-related cuts and bruises and the occasional chance of a stage invasion. The...

Sport News 24/7 By Richard de Winter  @rgdewinter  @TLE_Sport It’s been quite an eventful couple of weeks for us QPR fans.  First of there was the underwhelming transfer-deadline day, which promised little and delivered even less, then our opinion-splitter of a manager resigned on the flimsiest of excuses; we’ve been linked, and swiftly unlinked, to a several potential new managers, before appointing from within, and finally, at the 12th time of asking, we’ve managed to come back from an away...