I might be going entirely mad, but are Express stores/little supermarket branches closing for works much more often than they used to? Within the past few years I’ve noticed quite a few stores (mainly Tesco) being unexpectedly closed for refurbishment or some sort of works. It feels like that didn’t ...

It is funny how local councils can find the money to paint over a few red crosses on the mini roundabouts, but not fix all the potholes around them


I've always thought this to be quite a weak retort when it comes to this issue - the cost of repainting white lines etc must be less than that of ...

In all my time on Metropol, I can’t ever recall a thread about big hotel chains. I suppose they don’t have quite the same magic as a Tesco Metro (RIP), but nevertheless…

It has come to my attention that Premier Inn have launched a ‘Next Evolution’ style of hotel room which looks, well, naff ...

With the sale of WHSmith Retail completed, WHSmith.co.uk is now redirecting to https://www.tgjonesonline.co.uk/


Bizarre that the only reference to WHSmith on that front page is a tiny little icon at the bottom of the page indicating that they accept the WHSmith gift card as a form of payment ...

Of course, those who want the ad free experience for less might want to consider moving to Albania, where YouTube doesn’t serve any adverts at all…

My local Sainsbury’s is in the middle of a refit which, weirdly, is not something I can ever remember witnessing before. I’ve seen Tesco close a few stores for the purpose of a refurb (one of which accidentally took about six months), but presumably most stores are refurbished whilst remaining open ...

Whilst I almost always carry a small card wallet with me when out of the house, I think it’s perfectly reasonable for people to just rely on Apple Pay etc these days. It’s convenient, accepted basically everywhere, and doesn’t have the payment limits that contactless has (although these have been ...

For the longest time my local high street Barclays has, for some reason, had very visible 24 hour staffing. As far as I’m aware, it’s not a branch that has been prone to a spate of daring bank heists, nor is it a branch in a ‘dangerous’ area, and yet a security guard has been sat in the lobby day or ...

I was going to suggest that the billboard outside Blackhorse Road station seems to be perpetually advertising Lloyd’s Bank (as it always is when I walk past), but Streetview appears to have not captured the outside of the station with a Lloyd’s ad on it once in twelve years! The Apple Maps version ...

It’s a shame that some of the most prolific posters on the Forum also happen to be some of the most miserable, isn’t it? There’s rarely a day that goes by that something happens and one of a crowd of three or four doesn’t bemoan how awful it is or make some overdramatic comment.

I don’t generally ...

Over the weekend I walked past an Iceland that still had the old gradient logo/grey frontage. I don’t think this is an especially uncommon sight, but from a quick check online the logo changed back in 2015, meaning that the shop frontage is around nine years out of date. It got me wondering: what’s ...