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.”

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.

THE RETURN of a McDonald’s burger has caused a wild frenzy among its loyal fans, with many calling for its permanent addition to the menu.

The McRib burger will be back on the Golden Arches menu from October 16 to the joy of many hungry diners who are begging for it to stay.

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Taking to social media, many expressed their enthusiasm for the burger’s return with one user calling it “the Greatest McDonalds burger of all time” .

Another commenter said: “My absolute favourite, welcome back Ribby. Please don’t leave us again”.

Whilst others wrote: “It’s what dreams are made of” and “cannot wait, it’s been way too long”.

Another user added: “I’m so getting one I loved them back in the day”

The pork-based patty, which is lathered in smoky BBQ sauce, pickles and onions and encased in a homestyle bun, is back on menus for a limited time from mid October.

The burger first launched in the UK in 1981 and has been hailed as one of the best Mcdonald’s burgers of all time by some fans.

Thomas O’Neill, head of menu at McDonald’s UK, said: “We have heard our fans loud and clear – the fan petitions and pleas on social – and after almost a decade of anticipation, we are thrilled to bring back this iconic menu item.

“Knowing how well-loved the McRib is, we had very little choice – we had to make it happen.”

Though the fast-food chain’s owners have not revealed how long the popular burger will be on the menu for, limited edition foods are usually around for about six weeks.

It will be on sale for £4.49 as an individual item or £6.19 as part of a medium extra-value meal deal, which means it comes with fries and a medium drink.

At 509 calories, the burger is more calorific than a Double Cheeseburger, McChicken and Bacon Double Cheeseburger as well.

Despite most diners excitement some have not been so keen, with one social media user likening the product to “gas station food”.

“I must be the only one that thinks it’s horrible,” said another.

Whilst another commenter wrote: “Yay, another reason for me to stay away from McDonald’s” .

One user even joked: “How about the McHeartAttack or the McBigBelly?”

According to one of our Sun reporters who tried it ahead of its launch, despite the burger looking visually unimpressive, the pork patty is super tender and “better than other burgers” .

But, he added, the burger felt quite sickly because of the abundance of BBQ sauce, which he felt was too sweet.

McRib’s addition comes after McDonald’s confirmed the arrival of a pack of mini hash browns, which will come in a portion of five or 15, with prices starting from £1.49.

These will roll out from October 16 but it is unclear whether or not the snack will become a permanent feature on the menu.

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As Wall Street frets over the looming US presidential election, the giant asset managers are also looking at other ballot box issues: those of their investors.

Bludgeoned for the past two years by US Republicans alleging political wokeism, BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard are now gradually offering investors the chance to vote at companies’ annual shareholder meetings. This marks a significant shift as investors historically have relied on asset managers to vote for them on issues such as board directors, executive pay and various shareholder petitions.

BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink says the change will strengthen “shareholder democracy”. The firm now offers pass-through voting in more than 650 global funds totalling $2.6tn in equity assets. On October 15, State Street is starting a pilot programme that opens its first European exchange-traded fund for voting choice. And in the months ahead, Vanguard is looking to expand its voting programme that launched last year, the firm has said.

Such moves might help asset managers avert some of the criticism that has come their way as shareholder voting became intertwined with battles over issues such as climate change or workplace diversity. But voting choice is not a panacea for them.

Asset managers have typically relied on voting policies developed by proxy voting agencies, in particular the dominant duo Institutional Investors Services and Glass Lewis. And now investors at the big asset managers are being given the opportunity to vote in line with a choice of one of the thematic policies developed by the agencies.

Some curious differences in voting policies might make proxy agencies and asset managers open to more scrutiny. For example, the agencies offer Catholic faith-based voting policies with very different outcomes. When it comes to voting for board directors, ISS’s Catholic policy is stricter. The policy recommended voting against board directors in the S&P 500 index a whopping 77 per cent of the time. By contrast, Glass Lewis’s Catholic policy is more merciful. It recommended objecting to less than a quarter of S&P 500 board directors.

How could ISS and Glass Lewis come to such different outcomes based on the same religious faith?

ISS has built its Catholic voting screen in part from the US bishops policies, and considers voting against directors if a company does not have 40 per cent of its board from “under-represented gender identities”. Glass Lewis’s Catholic policy has a lower requirement of 20 per cent of board directors to be women.

“These things are not binary, black-and-white approaches. It is a bit more of a spectrum of approaches,” says John Wieck, chief operating officer at Glass Lewis. “There will certainly be a fair amount of overlap. But there could be differences,” as there are between the two advisers’ benchmark voting policies. 

Such divergence is apparent elsewhere too. Shareholder advisers also offer a policy for public pension funds. The ISS pension policy supported 80 per cent of all environmental and social shareholder resolutions. But Glass Lewis’s policy supported just 40 per cent of environmental and social issues.

Asset managers have been hesitant to say which investors are using various voting policies, or which ones are most popular. Vanguard said last month nearly half of investors offered voting choices simply deferred to Vanguard’s voting policy as usual. BlackRock says investors holding less than a quarter of the $2.6tn of assets available for voting choice have taken advantage of the programme.

Still, voting choice should prompt companies to think differently about their investor relations, says Georgia Stewart, chief executive at Tumelo, a provider of shareholder voting technology, Historically, companies simply needed to communicate with their institutional investors. But shareholder voting is starting to splinter in ways that investor relations departments have not appreciated yet, she says.

Voting choice also finally gives investors who prioritise environmental, social and governance issues a chance to take a stronger line with their votes. Some have felt frustrated that many ESG funds have shown a long reluctance to support environmental and social shareholder proposals in votes. Companies might now face more support for such resolutions.

“We are heading to an era where the end investors’ choice is king,” says Lindsey Stewart, director of stewardship research at Morningstar. Still, voting choice is unlikely to end the political problems for asset managers, ISS and Glass Lewis. Stewart adds: “A lot of political individuals and groups have these organisations in their crosshairs and I don’t think they are going to let go anytime soon.”

patrick.templewest@ft.com