Sometimes, clients come to Ultimate Library with a simple request: make me look smart. “We received this as feedback in a recent questionnaire,” explains Mollie Wood, marketing and sales boss at the bespoke book-curation service based in London. “This was obviously not an avid reader, but someone who wanted to look authoritative, to reflect an interest in books they might not actually have.” The decline of reading may be a perennial concern, but the bookshelf has lost none of its power to convey status and refinement.
That’s not to say the company caters only to those trying to convince acquaintances that they’re keen fans of Henry James. On the contrary, many clients arrive at their first consultation with a highly specific set of preferences. “It’s always good to work with somebody who is really engaged in the process and sets us interesting challenges,” says founder and director Philip Blackwell. Ultimate Library designs book collections for hotels, resorts, spas and co-working spaces, but its work on private homes can be divided into two main categories: people for whom their property is their main residence, who may be looking to enhance an existing collection; and those buying a luxury property — sometimes one of many — who are looking to start from scratch.
In either case, it’s about connecting people with the books that best reflect their taste. “We’ll ask a number of leading questions designed to tease out someone’s interests and reading preferences, which may involve where they spend their time, things about their background, where they travel, what their passions are, their favourite genres and writers,” says Blackwell. “To give you an example, if somebody is very interested in crime and thrillers, and their property is going to be in a specific city, there’s usually a great thriller series set there.”
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Library collections are often required to respond to both a content and design brief
The briefs are often far more niche and idiosyncratic than an attempt to look clever. One client was looking for novels about war which had been adapted into films; another wanted a library dedicated to books about Manchester City Football Club — among more contemporary titles, the team tracked down an obscure but fascinating biography of Bert Trautmann, a German goalkeeper who played for the team in the postwar era. “He was just the most amazing character, a truly remarkable figure,” says Blackwell. “Being able to surprise and delight a client by finding that sort of book is wonderful.”
The owner of a private apartment in north London requested a library devoted entirely to witchcraft. “Among the team we’ve got around 100 years of combined bookselling experience. When it comes to witchcraft, there are older people like me who will think of [occult novelist] Dennis Wheatley, and younger ones who are perhaps more into Dungeons & Dragons,” says Blackwell. Drawing from this combined knowledge, the resulting library covered witchcraft from just about every conceivable angle.
Prior to founding Ultimate Library in 2008, Blackwell spent decades working in bookselling and the publishing industry, and the expertise he acquired is integral to the service he now provides. “If someone is looking to build a book collection for a property in Bulgaria, what do we know about that? Well, we know about their leading poet, we know about the International Booker Prize-winning author Georgi Gospodinov, and we know about the people who’ve travelled there who will be able to provide a cultural insight,” he says.
As well as this insight into subject matter, Blackwell’s knowledge of the industry itself allows Ultimate Library to work with the entire spectrum of publishers, from the largest and most established houses to independent start-ups and boutique specialists. “We were looking for a book on the history of Japan the other day, and we came across Old Street Publishing — they produce these very good, shortish histories that you can read in a day and remember for a lifetime,” he says. “We are able to identify books that not only cover the subject, but do it in an amusing and engaging way.”
Book choice can respond to and complement specific colour palettes and designs in a room
Ultimate Library’s work often has to take into account design alongside curation: “One of our skills is being able to tick the aesthetic box while ensuring that the content is good, so it’s about style and substance”, says Blackwell. The interior designers they work with may have detailed requirements, particularly if it is a development site and the ultimate purpose is to sell the property. “A brief will often say ‘it’s a New York apartment, we’ve got 10 linear metres of shelving to fill, we want a muted colour palette, greys and blacks and beiges, and books on art and architectural photography’,” says Blackwell.
When it comes to ensuring that a client’s needs are met, the installation process is vital. The curators spend a lot of time thinking about how a book collection — whether library, snug or single bookshelf — can best match the surrounding space. The collections are designed according to a preprogrammed grid, which has occasionally led to some last-minute surprises. During one project, the team had prepared a selection of classic titles with dark spines to complement a square space in the middle of a room, which they had been told would surround a black, rectangular television. When it turned out the space actually featured a bright, fluorescent art installation, they had to go back to the drawing board, completely refiguring the collection with bright-spined books about art and architecture.
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Philip Blackwell’s unrivalled knowledge of the publishing industry makes him the ideal book hunter
According to Blackwell, there is no single secret to a great personal library — it very much depends on character and taste. “When we’re curating a collection, whether it’s private or institutional, we try to find interesting, quirky books that people don’t necessarily know about, where the titles will leap off the shelf and make people say, ‘Oh, I never knew there was a book about that.’ ”
Leatherbound classics have their place, but it’s the surprising and unexpected choices that transform a collection of books into a truly unique library.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Honeywell International is doing its best to rehabilitate the idea of the industrial conglomerate. Elliott Management, an activist investor, has other ideas.
Elliott has amassed a $5bn — or 3 per cent — stake in the $151bn conglomerate. It is calling on the company, which makes everything from cockpit controls to warehouse robots, to split itself up into two standalone businesses: one focused on aerospace, the other on automation.
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Honeywell does not seem to have got the memo that conglomerates have become achingly unfashionable. At a time when the global trend is for industrial empires to break up and generate returns by specialising in a single area of business, boss Vimal Kapur has been bulking up.
Indeed, in just 17 months on the job, he has spent nearly $10bn on acquisitions, such as a $5bn swoop on Carrier Global’s security access business.
Kapur is sticking to the idea that Honeywell can thrive as a conglomerate by shedding slower-growing, low-margin businesses and buying higher-growth ones. Alongside the acquisitions, it has announced plans to spin off its advanced materials unit into a publicly traded company and is looking to divest its personal protective equipment business.
Even so, Honeywell’s finances suggest it’s time for something more decisive. Its $5.7bn in earnings and $37bn of revenue last year are both less than what it pulled in 2019. Honeywell shares have lagged behind the wider market this year. Before the news of Elliott’s stake, the stock had risen just 12 per cent while the S&P 500 gained 26 per cent.
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Compare that with General Electric, a conglomerate that did get the message that smaller is better. GE shareholders have in effect enjoyed a 160 per cent return since turnaround chief Larry Culp announced a three-way break-up in November 2021, Lex calculates. That beats the S&P 500 index’s 27 per cent gain and Honeywell’s 2 per cent rise over the same period.
Elliott makes a good case that a divided Honeywell would be more valuable. Making aeroplane engines has little in common with making electronic door locks. Aerospace operates on decade-long timelines, while the automation business requires a shorter-term outlook.
The activists also reckon a separation could push up the share price by 51 to 75 per cent in the next two years. Sum-of-the-parts analysis from Jefferies and Deutsche Bank suggest more modest upsides. But if M&A roars back under Donald Trump, a break-up could lead to future deals, with Honeywell’s pieces as targets. Honeywell Aviation could be a good fit with GE Aviation, for example. Pressure to shrink to greatness will be hard to resist.
Lidl’s answer to the iconic Coca-Cola Christmas truck will appear on the roads of Britain in a few hoursCredit: Lidl
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The truck will arrive at each stop around midday and will be giving out freebies until 6 pmCredit: Lidl
Lidl‘s Freeway cola truck will begin its tour of Great Britain on Thursday.
The festive tour will see the truck visit nine different cities until December 1.
Tomorrow, the lit-up red lorry will pull into Dundee and the fun will begin at midday, ending at 6 pm.
The timings stay the same for all locations.
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People who are lucky enough to spot the red truck will find that 2,000 mystery present boxes will be given out.
Each box contains several items from Lidl’s famous “middle aisle.”
However, it is on a first-come-first-serve basis so you must hurry to grab one.
As an extra treat, Lidl has ensured that one in 10 of the boxes contains a “Golden Ticket” as well as the middle aisle freebies.
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This ticket will be a coupon worth £100 that can be redeemed on the Lidl Plus app.
Visitors will also find that Lidl will be handing out festive food and even granting wishes.
Christmas has landed in Aldi – with £3.49 decorations and ‘paint your own’ wooden toys that are even cheaper than Lidl’s
The supermarket chain said visitors to the truck can also make a “wish” for something they want this Christmas, with the retailer granting a number of them.
The full list of locations the truck will visit, and the dates it will arrive there are as follows:
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Dundee – November 14
Harrogate – November 16
Hull – November 17
Nottingham – November 21
Wolverhampton – November 23
Wrexham – November 24
Luton – November 28
Bournemouth – November 30
Southampton – December 1
As Lidl hopes to “highlight the magic of giving, sharing and wish-making this Christmas with a pop-up wonderland at each stop,” Coca-Cola has also detailed some of the plans for its truck this year.
Why is the Coca-Cola truck famous?
The Coca-Cola Christmas truck was first seen in the brand’s hugely popular 1995 advert.
At the time they were known as Christmas Caravans and were decorated with images of the Coca‑Cola Santa by artist Haddon Sundblom.
The 60-second clip features the now-iconic Holidays Are Coming song, which is still synonymous with Coca-Cola to this day.
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The truck began touring the US in 2001 but didn’t start visiting the UK until 2010.
The drinks company confirmed the return of the iconic truck last week promising that the tour this year will be “bigger and better than ever.”
Visitors will be able to take part in festive games and a lucky dip which will give them the chance to win exclusive Coca-Cola merchandise.
A food truck will serve up seasonal food and ice-cold Coca-Cola Zero Sugar drinks.
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The exact dates and locations have not yet been released as Coca-Cola urges fans to keep their eyes out for updates on its Instagram and X pages.
Last year, the truck visited some of the UK’s most major cities including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Manchester.
It started on November 23 and ended on December 3, so the wait should not be too long.
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Cola-Cola has remained tight-lipped about its 2024 tour that promises to be ‘bigger and better than ever’
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