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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 4h

(If you’re an author / publishing PR and have a great book coming out but more importantly are an ace raconteur like Gyles, and want to raise money for @nspcc.bsky.social by being interviewed on stage by me…get in touch! We’ve had Julian Fellowes, Loyd Grossman in recent years)

Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 4h

Great fun interviewing the irrepressible Gyles Brandteth on stage at The Reform Club for the annual @nspcc.bsky.social literary lunch. Where he talked about his wonderful new book ‘Somewhere a Boy’, a biography of AA Milne.
Gyles knew the real Christopher Robin!

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 1d

I'm intrigued by the outrage that Nando's has stopped consumers getting free re-fills of full-sugar Coca Cola.
This isn't the "nanny state gone mad". If you want 2nd glass of sugary coke you can pay for it.
KFC stopped selling *all* full-sugar drinks in 2021
www.lbc.co.uk/article/nand...

Outrage as Nando's restricts customers to one Coke per visit sparking 'nanny state' accusations | LBC

New government measures targeting obesity will see tighter restrictions on junk food adverts, promotions and sugary drink refills.

www.lbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Harry Wallop

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 2d

A pub in London Fields is trying to put up a timber canopy over its outside seating.

The planning process so far has taken FIVE YEARS. That’s longer than it took to build the entire Hoover Dam. capx.co/nimby-watch-...

capx.co

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Reposted by Harry Wallop

Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 2d

Here's a subst*ck I've written on the weird new trend of lower body sprays, below the belt deodorants and anti-chaffing creams for your boobs.
open.substack.com/pub/harrywal...

Lower body deodorant – the worst innovation of 2025?

Lynx and other consumer goods giants have started selling lower body deodorant. Perfume for your private parts. Why?

open.substack.com

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 2d

Very sad to hear about Jilly Cooper.
But it reminds me of one of the finest bits of fan fiction of all time – when @benmachell.bsky.social imagined what Jilly's football novel might be like...
www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Spot the balls: it’s Jilly’s footie bonkbuster

Jilly Cooper, our most beloved author of erotic fiction, has revealed that her next novel is going to be about football and that it will be called Tackle! On the one hand, it’s probably worth Jilly

www.thetimes.com

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 2d

Times Births from this weekend

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 2d

Here's a subst*ck I've written on the weird new trend of lower body sprays, below the belt deodorants and anti-chaffing creams for your boobs.
open.substack.com/pub/harrywal...

Lower body deodorant – the worst innovation of 2025?

Lynx and other consumer goods giants have started selling lower body deodorant. Perfume for your private parts. Why?

open.substack.com

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 2d

Do women need a deodorant for their boobs? Do men need a lower body spray, a perfume for their private parts?
Are these useful beauty products? Or just another thing to make already anxious teenagers worry about their bodies?
I have taken a look...

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 4d

Lovely, nostalgic piece by Giles Coren on the irreplaceable joy of shopping in an old-school department store.
And how “going out to get things” is part of what makes us human.
www.thetimes.com/article/d707...

England’s lost a lot, but please, not Selfridges

The demise of department stores, where I still dream of working, would be as big a loss as clean air and skinny children

www.thetimes.com

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 4d

I’m a “veteran” now apparently, according to the Guardian… I’m only 50!

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Kien Tan @kientan74.bsky.social · 5d

🤳 This, this, 100x this from @harrywallop.co.uk... There is no excuse for paper *anything* these days. Like the time I had to fill out a paper form to register at my GP... which they then keyed into their PC 🤦‍♂️
I don't have a landline. I don't open letters. If it ain't electronic, it's not happening!

Is the UK digitally efficient enough? I wouldn’t bank on it

An enforced trip to the Post Office was like a return to the heyday of late Victorian Britain. If we are ever to boost productivity, we could start here

www.thetimes.com

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 5d

Seriously. Why are postal orders still a thing? Rather just a plot device for ‘The Winslow Boy’. A play written in 1946. And set in 1910?
This week’s @thetimes.com biz column on the nightmare of paperwork:
www.thetimes.com/article/61ab...

Is the UK digitally efficient enough? I wouldn’t bank on it

An enforced trip to the Post Office was like a return to the heyday of late Victorian Britain. If we are ever to boost productivity, we could start here

www.thetimes.com

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 5d

📑The government hopes to introduce digital ID cards. Great.
But this is never going to happen when the DVLA insists on some services being paid for by cheque or *postal order*.
Why are some parts of UK trapped in the 1970s? This week’s @thetimes.com biz column on 😱 paperwork

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Reposted by Harry Wallop

Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 6d

Douglas Barrowman and Michelle Mone's company, PPE Medpro, has just been ordered to refund the Government £122m from a PPE contract.

There are two very odd things about PPE Medpro that may affect the odds of the Government ever getting that £122m...

Thread:

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 6d

Astonish story in @thetimes.com. A cleaner worked from 8am-5pm at Parliament, then 10pm to 6am at Deutsche Bank. Five days a week for 16yrs.
And she’s been sacked. She deserves a medal!

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 7d

Keir Starmer 2025 vs John Major 1993. A remarkably similar approach – conjuring up romantic fantasies of Britain in the face of plunging poll numbers.
(Does anyone even still eat half-time oranges?)

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 7d

Would you pay to watch Diary of a CEO podcast. In a cinema?

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Reposted by Harry Wallop

Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 10d

Restaurants are increasingly relying on loyalty apps. As one diner told me, “you’d be insane to eat at Pizza Express without the app”
My long read on £100 ‘bill shock’ at high street restaurants. For @telegraphnews.bsky.social:

www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-dri...

Middle-class families are choking on the £100 ‘casual meal out’

A table for four hitting triple digits is triggering ‘bill shock’, to the detriment of Britain’s best-known restaurants

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Reposted by Harry Wallop

Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 10d

The polling company @savanta.bsky.social monitors c160 restaurant & pub chains in UK. It asks diners if bill was less or more than they expected – to gauge ‘bill shock’.
In 2017: 30% of diners were hit with bill shock
2025: 43%.
How are consumers reacting? How are restaurants coping?

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Reposted by Harry Wallop

Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 10d

The £100 ‘Bill Shock’ in high street restaurants. What happens when a once affordable treat – at Wagamama/Bill’s/Pizza Express etc – becomes a luxury?
I have investigated…🧵

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 9d

Brasserie Blanc is a chain. It has 15 outlets nationwide.

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 9d

Well, all you need to do is enter your email and you can read the article
(Just remember to cancel subscription within a week)

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 9d

If you’re going to slag off “public school boy telegraph Conservative” – which is, of course, your right – at least have the courtesy of reading the article.
(Also – I’m freelance; I write for Guardian, Times etc; also you have no idea how I voted at last election)

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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 9d

And this is what happened. I have the receipts – quite literally

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