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If you're travelling from Heathrow into Central London or across London then opt for the Piccadilly Line as it's often quicker than the Heathrow Express, and cheaper too!
It is often quicker to walk from one place to another than sit in a traffic jam in a taxi. It is healthier too. Avoid crowded shopping streets in favour of almost deserted side streets which run in parallel, eg. Wigmore St rather than Oxford St.
Book trains a few weeks in advance and it's much cheaper - also, you often find that first class is actually cheaper than normal carriages.
National rail is a good site for this: www.nationalrail.co.uk/
If you are in London for the spring/summer or even autumn months, then be sure to check out the numerous Royal parks that dot the capital. Hyde Park - the city's largest, covers a vast area from Marble Arch to South Kensington and adjoins with other parks in the city. Explore the Princess Diana memorial or row a boat on the Serpentine.
My other recommendation would be Green Park, it has a better location right next to Buckingham Palace. Deck chairs are available to rent (£2 for 4 hours) and many food shops nearby mean that you won't go hungry. Great for running or relaxing - take advantage of London's green parks.
Air travel today is increasingly associated with long queues, dire customer service and delays on the ground and in the air. There is one airport that seems to consistently dispel this every time I travel there. That is, London City Airport. 22 minutes from Bank and about 12 minutes from Canary Wharf on the DLR, London City airport has flights to numerous European and domestic destinations. In addition, BA will be starting transatlantic flights (business class only) from London city in the summer!
Check-in (with luggage) can be done an hour before the flight and I've even managed it 20 minutes before the flight! Security queues are short and efficient. The airport does not have all of the facilities you would find at the larger airports such as numerous shops, lounges, etc, but at the end of the day it does what you want - helps you to get from A to B.
London benefits from a host of world-class museums. The UK benefits from free access to most museums so you can pop in whenever you want, however, you may also want to arrange to have your corporate event there to provide entertainment at the same time.
A number of the hotels surrounding Heathrow Airport offer good deals on car parking. This means that should you want to park your car at Heathrow - it can be a similar cost to get a night in the hotel and parking as just parking on its own! Contact the hotels directly for further deals and details.
Hotels surrounding Heathrow airport (and other airports around the country)
Travelling to Manchester? Don't necessarily head to the airport. Train connections are frequent from London Euston and if you are already in the city, then try heading up to Euston for regular (every 30 minites) connections to Manchester. Journey times are 2hrs 10mins and you can buy a ticket before you board on www.virgintrains.co.uk.
Money saving tip one - don't buy a fully flexible ticket. Instead, go to the ticket counter at Euston and buy a saver single or return for your journey. It's unlikely the train will be full (especially 1st class) and you will save a lot of money on your saver return.
Fuzzy's Grub on Fleet Street, London, offers the most satisfying lunch you can imagine - just don't have too many meetings in the afternoon (in case you fall asleep). Fuzzys Grup offers you Sunday roast (even including the Yorkshire pud) for a very reasonable GBP4-5 and the packed queue each lunchtime attests to its quality and taste. Opened in 2002, this place has quickly become a London city worker institution and is often frequented by bankers, lawyers and other professionals on the lunch break. Service is quick and with a smile. It's close to the offices and therefore sets a good challenge to the also delightful Borough market situated south of the river by London bridge.
Fuzzys Grub can be found on Fleet Street, London, EC3V 3PD, 020 7621 0555
www.fuzzysgrub.com/
Italian owned (and staffed) coffee house and pizza/pasta place halfway along Byers Road in the West End.
Go there for the best pizza and coffee in the city, friendly and efficient service and a great perch to watch some of the weird and wonderful locals amble past.
Great to take a friend or sit with the papers and watch the world go by.
Take one booking reference, one surname and pop over to www.checkmytrip.com. Here you can check your flights, e-ticket number and even the seat you are going to have.
In the peak hours of arrival, the taxi queue at Paddington (connecting for the Heathrow Express) can be quite sizable. Don't forget that there is a taxi share service that runs from the station so you can get to where you are going and save money if you share a taxi. London is split into different zones and there should be an agent at the station to help you.
Good food can be quite hard to come by in London (particularly when comparing to Asia), however, one gem famed for both celebrity spotting and for its delightful high tea and breakfast is the Wolseley at Green Park. Located next to the Ritz, this restaurant is the premier destination for anyone who wants to enjoy good quality food as reasonable (around £50 a head) food.
One great tip is to start your business day off here with a meeting. Breakfast is sublime with excellent bakery from the kitchen. Its central location makes it great for anyone staying in the city. High tea is also a great treat. Speciality teas, fine finger sandwiches, moist scones and the most delicate pastries found this side of Paris.
Green Park, London
www.thewolseley.com
If you are around on Saturday mornings and want to explore some of London's finer markets, I can't recommend any more than Borough market.
Located just off London Bridge, you will find a busy hustle and bustle as tourists and locals alike taste and buy some of the freshest and most well-produced foods in the country. Key tip is to pop to Roast for brunch or a takeaway sandwich. The menu can change daily depending on the market freshness of the produce.
Beat the queues at immigration when returning to the UK by registering for the IRIS immigration passport. Here you can waltz through immigration by getting your iris scanned, waving goodbye to queues. Tip: be careful with any luggage you have. If you are pulling a small suitcase it can often be mistaken for a very small person. There is usually someone to hand who can help you or let you through anyway. At least you tried!
Registration details can be found on the www.baa.com website with locations and opening hours of the IRIS desks (The desk at T3 is just to the right of the immigration check before the shops).
www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/technology/eborders/iris/
The number of hotels serving Canary Wharf has doubled in the past year with hotels available to suit all budgets.
Budget hotels
Located in London's East End both the Travelodge (www.travelodge.co.uk) and Holiday Inn Express (www.holidayinn.co.uk) serve Canary Wharf via a complimentary 15 minute minibus route (usually morning and evenings only). Prices start from around GBP65 and therefore the hotels make a perfect stop for the budget-conscious traveller.
Advantages - cheap and cheerful. Typically relatively new and situated around the Excel exhibition centre so good for attendees to this and Canary Wharf
Disadvantages - Poorly connected to the City (taxi, bus or DLR are your only options) and not much to do in the evening.
Mid-class hotels
Located across the river in Rotherhithe, the Hilton Docklands is not so much in the Docklands as overlooking. Access to the hotel is by free shuttle bus from the nearby Canada Water station (5 min bus ride). Access to Canary Wharf can be achieved via aforementioned shuttle service to the tube and then one stop on the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf or via the boat service which operated throughout the day from the hotel and stopping at the west side of Canary Wharf.
Advantages - Parking can be included in the room rate, prices start from around GBP90 a night. Can be particularly cheap for weekend breaks if you would like to extend your stay.
Disadvantages - Not well connected. Access via shuttle bus to tube or by boat.
For a great dining experience on the Thames in East London, not far from the City, try visiting the Shad Thames area and Pont de la Tour. Great seafood, wine and atmosphere overlooking Tower Bridge. They have both a relaxed bistro and a more formal dining room for business dinners.
The Butlers Wharf Building
36d Shad Thames
London SE1 2YE
Tel: 020 7403 8403
If you travel to/ from Heathrow you can use Heathrow Connect trains that are half the price of Heathrow Express and equally efficient.
When staying at the super slick and eco-friendly Andaz Hotel (formerly the Great Eastern) in Liverpool, book Urban Gentry - insider tour guides and get a real insight into the fashion (or art) tribes of East London. The hotel also has it's own Reader in Residence to tell you bedtime stories, or read you a precis of the day's news.
Andaz, Liverpool Street
www.andaz.com
Artisan, at The Westbury Hotel, is one of my favourite restaurants in London. Serving seasonal modern European food, the menu changes regularly. Don't let the fact that it is located within a hotel put you off. The decor is classic, the service is impeccable and the food fabulous. And whilst everything is to a high standard, the place doesn't feel pretentious. I have been there on business lunches, and for dinner with friends.
Is this your business?