'It has been a privilege to work with Fortnum & Mason on such a rare and ambitious project. The double helix staircase is at once a technical marvel and a deeply human piece of design, marrying engineering precision with craft at the highest level. Our aim has been to create a structure that feels timeless, one that restores architectural integrity to the store while also delivering beauty and joy for the millions who pass through its doors each year.'
Tom Athron, the London-based retailer's chief executive, said Trump's stricter country of origin rules and the end of the de minimis cost exemption for parcels worth less than $800 (587) had hit customers across the Atlantic. The American authorities have told us this is the tea industry in its entirety that if you've got tea from China and India in your tea, then its country of origin [is] China or India, and therefore those enormous tariffs apply, he told the Financial Times.