A FRENCH region has been revealed as one of the must-visit places for next year – and a ferry from England can get you there in just over five hours.

Brittany in France has made the list of trending destinations for 2025, with distinctive culture, coastal scenery, and miles of seaside walking paths on offer for visitors.

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The list of places was put together by American Express based on card member travel bookings and expertise from its global network of travel consultants. 

France’s northwestern most region has been growing in popularity in recent years, particularly because of its beautiful sandy beaches, secluded coves, and rocky formations.

One beach that’s proven popular among holidaymakers because of its long stretch of sandy beach, stunning views, and tranquil waters is Plage de Tahiti.

Backed by pines, the beach is wide enough to feel spacious even in the busiest seasons.

And the sand is soft, very nearly white, with sea that often sparkles turquoise.

Brittany is also a popular destination for walking and hiking, with over 10,000 kilometres of signposted routes.

The GR34 is the most famous walking route – a 388-mile trail that runs along the north coast.

Also known as the Customs Officers’ Path, it features cliffs, beaches, fishing villages, and seaside resorts.

It’s suitable for moderately fit walkers and the best time to hike it is in late Spring and early Autumn.

Known as the jewel of southern Brittany is the Quiberon Peninsula, with wild coastline that stretches over 30 kilometres.

The peninsula has around 19 beaches, including Fort Neuf beach, Porigo beach, Saint Pierre-Quiberon beach, Castéro beach, and Saint Julien beach, and it’s one of the best places to enjoy water sports.

Sea fishing, sailing, sand yachting, sea kayaking, and kite surfing are all popular here.

But if you prefer to stay on land, there are plenty of walking and cycling routes to enjoy.

Mont-Saint-Michel is one of the region’s most famous attractions, located in the bay shared by Normandy and Brittany.

There’s a medieval abbey with striking architecture and panoramic views of the bay, and the village’s narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with shops, cafes and restaurants.

One of the best ways to get to Mont Saint-Michel is by ferry, from the Saint-Malo or Granville ferry terminals.

Ferry is a popular option for travelling to Brittany from the UK – although the time it takes to travel depends on the route and ferry you take.

Brittany Ferries travel from Plymouth to Roscoff in 5 hours and 15 minutes and Portsmouth to St-Malo 10 to 12 hours overnight.

Or you can travel on Condor Ferries from Poole to St-Malo in 6 hours and 20 minutes.

Amex’s Trending Destinations list was put together with Millennial and Gen Z travellers in mind.

A study conducted by the company found 72 percent of Millennial and Gen Z travellers are more likely to book hotels that offer credit card rewards and 70 percent are interested in a credit card with a collection of hotel benefits across the world.

As such, American Express Travel has added new benefits and expanded its Hotel Collection to include more properties in destinations Card Members are visiting. 

The collection includes upscale hotels located near city centres, popular tourist attractions, great restaurants, and active nightlife.

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Additionally, when Gold and Platinum Card Members book two or more nights at these hotels through Amex Travel, they are eligible to receive a room upgrade upon arrival, 12 PM early check-in, and late check-out up to 4 PM (all subject to availability and certain room categories are not eligible for upgrade).

These benefits are in addition to a complimentary credit valued at $100 (around £76) to use towards eligible charges, which may include food and beverage, spa, or other on-property charges (eligible charges vary by property).

For more details, visit the Amex website.

Brent crude chalked up its biggest one-day jump of 2024, with remarks by US President Joe Biden spurring speculation among traders over whether Israel could engage in retaliatory strikes against Iran’s oil industry.

The international oil benchmark settled 5 per cent higher at $77.62 a barrel, its biggest jump since October last year. West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, also gained more than 5 per cent to $73.71 a barrel.

Vikas Dwivedi, a global energy strategist at Macquarie Group, said he expected oil prices to rise in the short term, potentially jumping to $85 a barrel.

“This is a replay of Russia-Ukraine,” Dwivedi said, adding that the only way for prices to surge near $100 a barrel would be if there was a direct hit to oil export facilities. “We don’t think [a hit to oil supply] is a big concern.”

A POPULAR drinks brand once stocked in Sainsbury’s and Amazon has been plunged administration.

Natural soft drink company Square Root Drinks appointed and administrator on October 3.

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It comes as the website link has been taken down, while stock is unavailable on Amazon.

The announcement was made on X (formally Twitter) by James Beeson, drinks editor at The Grocer.

He said: “Deeply saddened to hear Square Root London has gone into administration.

“I enjoyed my time working for Ed and Robyn – two people who put everything into the brand – tremendously, and owe them a great deal professionally and personally.

“My heart goes out to them both today.”

Square Root made its retail debut in February 2021, launching into Sainsbury’s through the retailer’s Future Brands initiative.

At the time, the company said it was “exciting to be recognised” by the supermarket as a “bold and authentic brand”.

The brand smashed a £250k crowdfunding drive, overfunding by 230 per cent to hit £577,444 from 570 investors in 2021.

Square Root offered a selection of alcohol-free mocktails and natural soft drink flavours, including Ginger Beer, Cola, non-alcoholic gin and tonic, lemonade, and more.

The company was founded in 2012 by Ed Taylor and Robyn Simms in East London.

Administration is when all control of a company is passed to an appointed licensed insolvency practitioner.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the business.

Administration is when all control of a company is passed to an appointed licensed insolvency practitioner.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the business.

But if the administration process can’t rescue the company or find a new owner, this can lead to liquidation.

Liquidation is the process of selling all assets and then dissolving the company completely.

COST OF LIVING PRESSURES

The number of craft breweries in the UK fell from 1,828 at the start of 2023 to 1,815 at the start of the year.

That now stands at 1,748 according to the latest figures up to June from the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA).

The SIBA UK Brewery Tracker takes into account all brewery openings and closures to give an accurate picture of the number of active brewing businesses.

Craft breweries have been hit hard by the cost of living crisis and the pandemic.

While many producers pivoted to home deliveries during covid lockdowns, they were then hit by rising costs combined with people reigning ion their spending.

The prices of energy, rents and ingredients have all shot up. They have also faced higher interest rates when borrowing money to grow the business.

SIBA chief executive Andy Slee said when the latest figures on closures were published in July: “Independent brewers are reporting good sales growth and strong consumer demand, yet breweries continue to close.

“For most breweries the challenge is financial pressures from rising costs and market access, as well as lingering Covid debt – something SIBA has strongly lobbied Government for help on.”

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We kick off this year focusing on press freedoms. We welcome back to the program independent journalist Kevin Gosztola, author of Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange. Gosztola joins the program to discuss the latest updates on Assange’s extradition case, the CIA spying lawsuit and a Congressional resolution process that’s begun. Later in the program we air a conversation between Kevin Gosztola and our cohost Eleanor Goldfield from last year. Kevin joined Eleanor at Red Emma’s in Baltimore to talk about his book, Guilty of Journalism.

A long-serving former Harrods executive has claimed that his offer to become boss of the department store chain Fenwick was withdrawn because of his time working under Mohamed Al Fayed.

Al Fayed, who owned the luxury London store for more than two decades, has been accused of sexual assault or rape by more than 20 women following a BBC investigation.

Niegel Blow, who worked for 14 years at Al Fayed’s companies, said he “never heard about or witnessed” grooming, sexual assaults or rape.

He said he had been deemed “guilty by association” by Fenwick. Fenwick declined to comment.

“I worked at Harrods in senior roles from 2002 to 2007. I can confirm that, during my time at the business, I never heard about or witnessed any such behaviour by Mr Al Fayed.”

“I believe Fenwick’s action is unjustified, unfair and in breach of contract,” Mr Blow told the BBC.

Mr Blow also criticised the BBC over its reporting of executives who had worked with Al Fayed.

“It would appear that the BBC team is prepared to tarnish or ruin the reputation of every senior person who worked at Harrods during Mr Al Fayed’s ownership, under the serious and damaging misapprehension that of course they must have known.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We stand fully behind our journalist and our journalism. This story, which was fully in the public interest, was produced in line with the BBC’s editorial standards, including contacting Mr Blow before publication.”

On Tuesday, Fenwick told the BBC that Nigel Blow had said he would no longer be taking up the position as their chief executive later this month.

No reason for the decision was given.

Mr Blow’s statement on Friday said that the Fenwick chair Sian Westerman told him it was not able to proceed with the employment “in order to safeguard the reputation of the Fenwick business.”

Fenwick declined to comment on this claim. The retailer, which is best known for its 140-year-old store in Newcastle, has eight stores around the UK.

Mr Blow joined Harrods in 1992.

There were several reports of Al Fayed’s alleged abuse of women in the following years including a profile in Vanity Fair alleging sexual misconduct against staff, an ITV documentary and a book detailing alleged sexual assaults.

Mr Blow said that Harrods staff had their offices, phones and cars bugged, and at one point he was followed by the Harrods security team.

“On multiple occasions I saw transcripts of my own telephone calls on Mr Al Fayed’s desk. Such behaviour prompted me to seek alternative employment from 2006,” he said.

In 1997 the Observer published detailed allegations of bugging of Harrods executives and staff carried out on Al Fayed’s orders – and the ITV documentary played excerpts from the tapes.

Mr Blow is currently chief executive of the department store chain Morley’s, based in Wimbledon, though he resigned the position to take up the new job.