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Caledonian Travel   Reviews

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Reviews 4.6.

14,422 total

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It was our first time with Caledonian…

It was our first time with Caledonian Travel, very happy with the whole experience. The room was basic but very clean, infact the whole hotel was very clean. A very nice eating area for breakfast, a good selection of hot and cold food everything you needed to set you up for the day. Will definitely use them again and happy to recommend them to family and friends.

Date of experience : 26 March 2024

Reply from Caledonian Travel

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experiences whilst booking and travelling with us. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to welcoming you on board again in the near future. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Not at all moneys worth !!

Paid for a midweek mystery day trip from Middlesbrough and went to Ripon, stopped for an hour and go back on. Stopped again for 2 hours at Skipton, back on and stopped a 3rd time at Grassington. Each of which had nothing at all to do but to look in sweet shops or walk around hoping for the time to pass quicker. Actually spent more time on the coach all day driving through the moors from place to place than we did having an actual day out. Definitely won’t be returning again for another one anytime soon!!

Date of experience : 27 March 2024

Thank you for your review, I am sorry to hear of your disappointment with your recent break. Our customers do have a range of reasonings for travelling with us and therefore the locations chosen do tend to incorporate a range of areas with some shops available but certainly scenic locations. Ripon, Skipton and Grassington do tend to be extremely popular destinations to visit however I am sorry this wasn't to your taste on this occasion. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

super value coach trip

We've just done our 1st coach trip,we chose Caledonian to visit Warwick Castle and Chatsworth House with and overnite hotel inc mealsand admission prices inc. We could have paid almost as much each in admission to Warwick as we did for the whole trip! Booking was easy. The coach was clean and comfy with a happy driver. The hotel was great and good meals. We were perhaps lucky to get such good weather but overall we really enjoyed it and will book more trips now

Date of experience : 23 March 2024

Me and my son have just come back from…

Me and my son have just come back from Blackpool Tower Circus and Disney On Ice We absolutely loved both days and our driver Mark was amazing getting the kids to play games and answered any questions we had We love travelling with caledonian and are looking forward to our next trip in May

The staff in the wakefield shop were…

The staff in the wakefield shop were very helpful as always, also when rung the no on the brochure are the same as we having been on lots of coach trips over the years as a friend husband usually books, but i do it now as its so easy, cant wait for our next april 29th for my parteners birthday on 28th to torquay , regards D. Boothroyd .

Date of experience : 18 March 2024

Glasgow to Letterkenny with Caledonian Travel

The whole trip was great.The driver John Reilly was excellent and looked after us superbly both getting to our hotel in Letterkenny and the day trips and on the return journey home. The hotel, the Mount Errigal was terrific in general and the meals were very,very good.

Date of experience : 11 March 2024

Relaxing and exciting

The trip to London for the Mamma Mia show was great. Very relaxing to know that everything was taken care of. Our driver, Andy, let us informed of things as we went and everything was timed perfectly. The Britannia International where we stayed was very well kept for it's age and the staff were friendly and helpful. Our seats were in the Grand Circle if the Novello so quite a way from the stage but the whole thing was still visible and you felt closer than appears. Would definitely return for another show and plan to book further breaks with Caledonia.

Date of experience : 15 March 2024

Went into Gateshead shop to book a…

Went into Gateshead shop to book a holiday, needed a 3 beded room,assistant tried phoning hotel, no answer, she tried through out the day and got me all booked n sorted. Every time i go into this shop the staff are 100% at getting me fixed up. Thankyou xx

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experiences whilst booking with us. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to welcoming you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Very well organised trip to Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon.

Had a very pleasant journey down, in a nice clean coach to our hotel in Coventry with Duncan our driver. Very smooth driving which made me feel relaxed. My hotel room on 3rd floor was newly refurbished, making it clean and fresh. Meals were excellent. Duncan took great care of all of us ensuring we had the best time. No negatives at all. Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon were beautiful and interesting places to visit. Tour guide Sue was great and informative on the Stratford trip. Would book this trip again.

Date of experience : 21 March 2024

Positive re booking experience

Just re booked with you for an April break with my sister and friend. The lady taking the booking was very friendly and rang hotel to see if the had a triple room for us so we didn't miss the special offer Caledonian Travel had on. All in all a positive experience booking with with you, your staff are very helpful.

Date of experience : 16 March 2024

Lovely weekend away 😊

Our driver was fab with the kids and let them go down to the front of the coach to watch all the animals up close on the safari drive. He was a fab driver always happy and great with everyone😊 the holiday Inn Coventry was lovely fab rooms and great food. Will defiantly be booking another trip asap

Thanks Caledonian

Caledonian on line booking service is quick and simple to use. Recently I had to contact their customer centre for help with my booking as I required a triple room to allow my wife, myself and my grandson to travel, which wasn’t offered as standard. The rep was very helpful and managed to arrange this for us. Thanks Caledonian Travel for an excellent service 10/10

Date of experience : 19 March 2024

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experience and look forward to welcoming you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Coach drivers Tim and Sean were excellent they were friendly polite and helpful. Our stop in Chester was good but feel 4 hours too long especially for people with mobility issues. The Beaufort park hotel was great dinner and breakfast was good. Our visit to Cheshire Oaks outlet I felt 4 hours again was to long and that’s the only negative from the trip. I had a lovely time and I 100% will be booking another trip soon.

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experience and will pass on your further comments to the relevant departments in our aim to consistently improve our service in all areas. We look forward to continuing to welcome you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Wow from getting collecting to coming home not one problem.Mike our driver was truly amazing and couldn’t do enough for us . We book away with you soon thankyou we have had a great time x

Date of experience : 25 March 2024

Incredible service my Mark

Incredible service my Mark, he went to his uttermost and found our party of 6 single rooms even though 2 ladies told us there were none available. Rang up first thing on the Saturday an he managed to find a single room. The following day I again managed a single room, both days rang at 8.03 am. The early bird catches the worm. Thanks Gentlemen for your great efforts. Anne Morley

Just back from Chester and Chesterfield…

Just back from Chester and Chesterfield oaks tour stayed at Beaufort Hotel in Wales hotel and food was lovely but special thanks to pur drivers Tim and Sean who were fantastic made it an enjoyable break from start to finish

another mystery tour to finish at the…

another mystery tour to finish at the norbrek castle,bit boring time after time,and then off to liverpool again. surely you can do better than this.

Date of experience : 25 February 2024

Fantastic trip

From start to finish trip was amazing, very smooth journey from start to finish. Drivers kept us informed at all times of times and anything else we needed to know . I have been a few trips now and been this particular one a few times and have always had a great experience with the drivers but this particular trip was made fantastic by Tim and Sean . We had the best time and laughed out loud loads . They were the most helpful and friendliest of drivers I’ve had . Good luck to Sean in his new career he will do amazing, and thanks again Tim for making this trip the best .

All 6 of us had a great weekend on the…

All 6 of us had a great weekend on the Chester/Cheshire Oaks trip The hotel Beaufort in Mold was so welcoming very comfortable room and meals delicious I would definitely be booking this trip again Thanks Caledonian once again

Good customer service …

Phoned on the 13th March to book a holiday. Friendly, helpful staff. So polite. Very good customer service. Have travelled with this company before, and will be travelling with them again.

Date of experience : 13 March 2024

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Caledonian Travel   Reviews

In the Tour Operator category

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Write a review

Reviews 4.6.

14,422 total

Most relevant

Great value and service …

Great price for a trip away including tickets for the tattoo . Staff on phones were really helpful when I couldn’t book a single supplement. All very easy

Date of experience : March 23, 2024

Reply from Caledonian Travel

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experience and look forward to welcoming you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Elaine in the Interchange travel shop…

Elaine in the Interchange travel shop gateshead was very polite and professional she answered my questions and advised me on my choice of destinations.... Also a friendly chat on the joys if travel....

Date of experience : March 14, 2024

Very easy to do booking either online…

Very easy to do booking either online or by telephone. Friendly and helpful staff, Reasonably priced. Coaches clean and well maintained. New trips needed and some of the hotels need upgrading.

Date of experience : March 25, 2024

Going away with friends didn"t realise two mystery trips leaving same day, checked with customer service and we were booked on different coaches but adviser solved issue, many thanks

Date of experience : March 21, 2024

So easy to use

So easy to book first time using phone normally book online but needed help with gift card call handler was friendly and very helpful

On two occasions I had to phone while i…

On two occasions I had to phone while i was trying book on line(unsuccessful) ladies in the office were very helpful and offered to book it for me which was done very smoothly.

Date of experience : March 12, 2024

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experiences whilst booking with us. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to welcoming you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Definitely recommend

Enjoyable break to Torquay. Trip to Dartmouth was lovely but the trip to Plymouth not as good, nothing to do after boat trip, food in café excellent but expensive, too far to walk up to the town from drop off!

Date of experience : February 26, 2024

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experience during your break and look forward to hopefully welcoming you on board again in the near future. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

It was easy to just pick one out and…

It was easy to just pick one out and book. I did however have to add in the notes that a rollator would need to be taken. I know there is limit to what can be taken, so would have preferred a place to add one and know that it is okay, rather than just put it in notes.

Date of experience : March 19, 2024

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive booking experience and will pass on your further comments to the relevant departments in our aim to consistently improve our service in all areas. We look forward to continuing to welcome you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Brilliant holidays with value for money

We always choose Caledonian travel as they are a great company to holiday with, your well looked after and it’s so easy to book up and brilliant value for money.

Date of experience : January 02, 2024

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experiences whilst booking and travelling with us. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to welcoming you on board again in the near future. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Been to Scotland Arrochar at he…

Been to Scotland Arrochar at he claymore hotel we had a great four days hotel was comfortable they couldn't do enough for you definitely going back again had a fab time thankyou

Date of experience : March 22, 2024

The customer service was outstanding l…

The customer service was outstanding l needed to swap hotels as mobilty not good and would be easier at the new choosen one which is flat and near the beach

Date of experience : March 17, 2024

Very helpful when booking trip to…

Very helpful when booking trip to pitlochry.A bit disappointed we could not get a single room for my brother.

Date of experience : March 18, 2024

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive booking experience however do apologise that the single room availability was fully allocated for this particular tour. We look forward to continuing to welcome you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

HAVE I BEEN RIPPED OFF. The booking process went well until the…

The booking process went well until the choice of rooms at the hotel. We asked for twin room only to be told non available so we asked for standard room only to be told that there was only sea view rooms available with a surcharge of £30 per person. It's interesting that was about the discount that was offered on the trip. Have I been ripped off.

Date of experience : February 11, 2024

Thank you for your review, Our sales team only have access to the rooms available at the time of booking the tour, which I can confirm was Twin-Sea View room which does hold the supplement of £30.00 due to the upgraded room type. As a company that is customer focused we certainly wouldn't ever rip anybody off. I do hope you have an enjoyable stay. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Thoroughly enjoyable trip

After booking, immediately a most pleasant customer service agent phoned to confirm my wheelchair type so he could make the appropriate arrangements. I was also kept informed of arrangements and change of hotel etc frequently by email and got a prompt email reply to a query I had about the new accommodation. The journey to and from the hotel in Southport was most enjoyable and the driver was informative and pleasant. He also was very helpful, having my wheelchair set up for me at each break and folding it up to put away when I got back to the bus. The bus was comfortable and looked brand new. The Royal Clifton hotel had just been renovated and was lovely with tasteful decor throughout and ensuite rooms. It was handy for everything and overlooked the lake, and faced towards the sea (although seeing the sea in Southport, is almost impossible). I got suitable accommodation as a disabled person and sometimes wheelchair user as I had requested. The meals were okay and enough selection for me to find something to suit my fibre free diet. Would have preferred it to be waitress service as I find it hard to use a buffet and carrying food when using a walking stick and also there were quite long queues for the food at times. The tribute acts were okay, good music but not the best of singers ( Neil Diamond &Lionel Ritchie), but the warm up acts/ singers on both nights were good. In all, an excellent break and would highly recommend Caledonian Travel.

Good food, clean hotel ,staff great, The drivers have been good well mannered and respectful. We have had a good time travelling with you and met some lovely people and we hope to continue in future journeys. Thank you all

I have been on many trips with…

I have been on many trips with Caledonian and they have all been very enjoyable, I am looking forward to my next trip going to Folkestone and Bruges in May

Date of experience : November 24, 2023

Northumberland 3 day trip

Stayed at the Brittannia Hotel Newcastle, had mixed feelings about it, but needn't have, the staff were lovely, very helpful if needed, there was a good choice of food at both breakfast and evening meal times, our beds were clean and comfy, the shower was fantastic, hairdryer in the room, lovely and warm, no complaints about anything. Durham is a nice place to visit, the cathedral is beautiful, went to Lindisfarne and Seahouses, then had a few hours in Whitely Bay before we set off for home, great value for a 3 day trip, ready for the next one now.

Lovely hotel

Lovely hotel, great food and entertainment, with amazing staff, also our fabulous driver Stuart!

Date of experience : February 16, 2024

Great company

Polite drivers on any trip I've been on. Any member of the team ive had any interaction with have been polite and helpful. Never had an issue with the company.

Date of experience : January 13, 2024

So easy to use just type your…

So easy to use just type your destination and select your preferred date then pick your seats and you're done

Caledonian Travel   Reviews

In the Tour Operator category

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Reviews 4.6.

14,422 total

Most relevant

It was our first time with Caledonian…

It was our first time with Caledonian Travel, very happy with the whole experience. The room was basic but very clean, infact the whole hotel was very clean. A very nice eating area for breakfast, a good selection of hot and cold food everything you needed to set you up for the day. Will definitely use them again and happy to recommend them to family and friends.

Date of experience : March 26, 2024

Reply from Caledonian Travel

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experiences whilst booking and travelling with us. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to welcoming you on board again in the near future. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Not at all moneys worth !!

Paid for a midweek mystery day trip from Middlesbrough and went to Ripon, stopped for an hour and go back on. Stopped again for 2 hours at Skipton, back on and stopped a 3rd time at Grassington. Each of which had nothing at all to do but to look in sweet shops or walk around hoping for the time to pass quicker. Actually spent more time on the coach all day driving through the moors from place to place than we did having an actual day out. Definitely won’t be returning again for another one anytime soon!!

Date of experience : March 27, 2024

Thank you for your review, I am sorry to hear of your disappointment with your recent break. Our customers do have a range of reasonings for travelling with us and therefore the locations chosen do tend to incorporate a range of areas with some shops available but certainly scenic locations. Ripon, Skipton and Grassington do tend to be extremely popular destinations to visit however I am sorry this wasn't to your taste on this occasion. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

super value coach trip

We've just done our 1st coach trip,we chose Caledonian to visit Warwick Castle and Chatsworth House with and overnite hotel inc mealsand admission prices inc. We could have paid almost as much each in admission to Warwick as we did for the whole trip! Booking was easy. The coach was clean and comfy with a happy driver. The hotel was great and good meals. We were perhaps lucky to get such good weather but overall we really enjoyed it and will book more trips now

Date of experience : March 23, 2024

Me and my son have just come back from…

Me and my son have just come back from Blackpool Tower Circus and Disney On Ice We absolutely loved both days and our driver Mark was amazing getting the kids to play games and answered any questions we had We love travelling with caledonian and are looking forward to our next trip in May

The staff in the wakefield shop were…

The staff in the wakefield shop were very helpful as always, also when rung the no on the brochure are the same as we having been on lots of coach trips over the years as a friend husband usually books, but i do it now as its so easy, cant wait for our next april 29th for my parteners birthday on 28th to torquay , regards D. Boothroyd .

Date of experience : March 18, 2024

Glasgow to Letterkenny with Caledonian Travel

The whole trip was great.The driver John Reilly was excellent and looked after us superbly both getting to our hotel in Letterkenny and the day trips and on the return journey home. The hotel, the Mount Errigal was terrific in general and the meals were very,very good.

Date of experience : March 11, 2024

Relaxing and exciting

The trip to London for the Mamma Mia show was great. Very relaxing to know that everything was taken care of. Our driver, Andy, let us informed of things as we went and everything was timed perfectly. The Britannia International where we stayed was very well kept for it's age and the staff were friendly and helpful. Our seats were in the Grand Circle if the Novello so quite a way from the stage but the whole thing was still visible and you felt closer than appears. Would definitely return for another show and plan to book further breaks with Caledonia.

Date of experience : March 15, 2024

Went into Gateshead shop to book a…

Went into Gateshead shop to book a holiday, needed a 3 beded room,assistant tried phoning hotel, no answer, she tried through out the day and got me all booked n sorted. Every time i go into this shop the staff are 100% at getting me fixed up. Thankyou xx

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experiences whilst booking with us. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to welcoming you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Very well organised trip to Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon.

Had a very pleasant journey down, in a nice clean coach to our hotel in Coventry with Duncan our driver. Very smooth driving which made me feel relaxed. My hotel room on 3rd floor was newly refurbished, making it clean and fresh. Meals were excellent. Duncan took great care of all of us ensuring we had the best time. No negatives at all. Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon were beautiful and interesting places to visit. Tour guide Sue was great and informative on the Stratford trip. Would book this trip again.

Date of experience : March 21, 2024

Positive re booking experience

Just re booked with you for an April break with my sister and friend. The lady taking the booking was very friendly and rang hotel to see if the had a triple room for us so we didn't miss the special offer Caledonian Travel had on. All in all a positive experience booking with with you, your staff are very helpful.

Date of experience : March 16, 2024

Lovely weekend away 😊

Our driver was fab with the kids and let them go down to the front of the coach to watch all the animals up close on the safari drive. He was a fab driver always happy and great with everyone😊 the holiday Inn Coventry was lovely fab rooms and great food. Will defiantly be booking another trip asap

Thanks Caledonian

Caledonian on line booking service is quick and simple to use. Recently I had to contact their customer centre for help with my booking as I required a triple room to allow my wife, myself and my grandson to travel, which wasn’t offered as standard. The rep was very helpful and managed to arrange this for us. Thanks Caledonian Travel for an excellent service 10/10

Date of experience : March 19, 2024

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experience and look forward to welcoming you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Coach drivers Tim and Sean were excellent they were friendly polite and helpful. Our stop in Chester was good but feel 4 hours too long especially for people with mobility issues. The Beaufort park hotel was great dinner and breakfast was good. Our visit to Cheshire Oaks outlet I felt 4 hours again was to long and that’s the only negative from the trip. I had a lovely time and I 100% will be booking another trip soon.

Thank you for your review, We are pleased to hear of your positive experience and will pass on your further comments to the relevant departments in our aim to consistently improve our service in all areas. We look forward to continuing to welcome you on board with us. Kind Regards Beth Customer Services

Wow from getting collecting to coming home not one problem.Mike our driver was truly amazing and couldn’t do enough for us . We book away with you soon thankyou we have had a great time x

Date of experience : March 25, 2024

Incredible service my Mark

Incredible service my Mark, he went to his uttermost and found our party of 6 single rooms even though 2 ladies told us there were none available. Rang up first thing on the Saturday an he managed to find a single room. The following day I again managed a single room, both days rang at 8.03 am. The early bird catches the worm. Thanks Gentlemen for your great efforts. Anne Morley

Just back from Chester and Chesterfield…

Just back from Chester and Chesterfield oaks tour stayed at Beaufort Hotel in Wales hotel and food was lovely but special thanks to pur drivers Tim and Sean who were fantastic made it an enjoyable break from start to finish

another mystery tour to finish at the…

another mystery tour to finish at the norbrek castle,bit boring time after time,and then off to liverpool again. surely you can do better than this.

Date of experience : February 25, 2024

Fantastic trip

From start to finish trip was amazing, very smooth journey from start to finish. Drivers kept us informed at all times of times and anything else we needed to know . I have been a few trips now and been this particular one a few times and have always had a great experience with the drivers but this particular trip was made fantastic by Tim and Sean . We had the best time and laughed out loud loads . They were the most helpful and friendliest of drivers I’ve had . Good luck to Sean in his new career he will do amazing, and thanks again Tim for making this trip the best .

All 6 of us had a great weekend on the…

All 6 of us had a great weekend on the Chester/Cheshire Oaks trip The hotel Beaufort in Mold was so welcoming very comfortable room and meals delicious I would definitely be booking this trip again Thanks Caledonian once again

Good customer service …

Phoned on the 13th March to book a holiday. Friendly, helpful staff. So polite. Very good customer service. Have travelled with this company before, and will be travelling with them again.

Date of experience : March 13, 2024

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Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan review – the Dickens of our post-Brexit pandemic age

A north London man of letters slides down the social ladder in the novelist’s pitch-perfect tragicomedy of manners whose cast list connects the capital’s many worlds, from a hip-hop-loving hacker to a wealthy activist

T here has been hysterical talk, of late, of “no-go areas” in London , districts out of bounds to one community or another. To anyone who moves about the city every day the characterisation is nonsense, an invention of political voices that feed on division. But there is, at the same time, a more private realm in which barriers between communities are being raised: that of storytelling. There is a strain in the culture that wants to put “keep out” signs around the particular experiences of the capital’s varied citizens; to make each community’s tales and histories only theirs to tell.

This is a rare novel, in that hostile landscape policed by cultural studies departments and the 3am stasi on social media, that is temperamentally unafraid of trespass. Andrew O’Hagan goes where his story takes him, deep into the lives of all the communities who live around “the Cally”, the main road that heads north from the capital’s new centre, King’s Cross. The result is a book – it’s hard to resist the word Dickensian – that feels as near an authentic slice of contemporary London life as any packed tube carriage.

He starts, where novels have often started, in the life of that newly endangered species, the white British male academic. Campbell Flynn is an art historian, a writer of bestsellers about the Dutch golden age. Flynn, a tenement Scot who now wears a cravat, has married into that landed caste with “invisible money” after whom the Georgian squares of Islington are named. He and his wife have a townhouse in one of those squares – there’s also a weekend place in Suffolk, where the neighbour stocks “an honesty larder” of local produce at the roadside – but Flynn’s hold on that life is precarious, both materially and psychologically. The novel’s epigraph is from Robert Louis Stevenson: “After a certain distance, every step we take in life we find the ice growing thinner below our feet…” The reader is invited to watch in sympathetic fascination as, over the course of more than 600 pages, Flynn slips below the ice.

He does not go down without a struggle. He’s clever enough to have sensed that cultural survival lies both in serious reinvention and the retention of a sense of humour: “If ambiguity was the spirit of the age, Campbell felt he had been a dutiful officer in that war… He’d marched against Section 28, he’d read every book on the fall of empire, was the proud father of a queer daughter, the first into pronoun therapy, yet his destiny, like everybody’s, was to fall short, and he knew it would be better if he could see the funny side.”

When we meet him, as the capital is giving its head a wobble after the successive concussions of Brexit and lockdown, he is exploring different strategies for that personal renewal. For one thing, he has written, anonymously, a short polemic about the crisis in masculinity, “Why Men Weep in Their Cars”. In his public life, meanwhile, he has befriended one of his students at University College, Milo Mangasha, who has grown up on the estates that rise above Flynn’s own leafy Henry James world; Milo is both an after-hours computer hacker and a radical post-colonial theorist; he is still half-involved with his rap artist mates from school. Flynn wants, naively, to find the common purpose in their worlds; Milo sees an opportunity for show trial and re-education.

This is no simple morality tale, however. In delineating Flynn’s fall, the light of O’Hagan’s attention falls on each of his characters equally – this is a book that comes with a two-page cast list as a preface, to help you keep your bearings. Flynn writes of his beloved Vermeer that he was “the patron saint of individual merit… For thousands of years, privilege and power, determined by birth were the drivers of history. But with this mysterious woman, standing at a musical instrument or reading a letter in the common light of day, we find that it is merit and consciousness, the personal power of ordinary people, that rules the world.” O’Hagan’s book examines what that platitude might actually mean for people like Flynn and employs that “common light” as his own authorial ambition, bringing to full life not only the man of letters, his titled friends and relatives, but the complex day to day of the people who work in the car wash or do shifts at sweatshop garment factories.

Without too much strain, his plotting establishes a web of connection that convincingly takes in all of these worlds: the sitting tenant in Flynn’s Islington basement, Mrs Voyles, bitter remnant of an Islington before gentrification; Cecylia Krupa, praying for a better England in her Polish church; and Zak Byre, the property developer’s son, who divides his time between a £7m flat and direct action for Extinction Rebellion. This being a novel of London, the thread is indebtedness. If you follow the money, O’Hagan suggests, it inevitably leads from eye-watering mortgage to city fixer to money-laundering oligarch to Saudi real estate, with stops for drug dealers and people traffickers and bitcoin investors along the way.

As a journalist, longtime editor-at-large of the London Review of Books , O’Hagan has always been curious to discover the precise tone of new worlds and old. Alongside critical essays on Burns or Stevenson, he has written deeply researched investigations into cryptocurrency and Julian Assange and the dark web; his personal report on the Grenfell Tower fire excited outrage among those who wanted the security of seeing the tragedy only through their own off-the-peg preconceptions, by instead insisting on proper human complication and nuance.

As a novelist, he has tended to write more closely from his own emotional life, from his debut, Our Fathers , set in the Ayrshire housing projects in which he grew up, to Mayflies , 2020’s poignant fictionalised account of a teenage friendship. This book is a departure from that more personal focus, in that he brings into play all of his reporter’s eye for detail and feel for critical ironies. The result is a tragicomedy of manners that has a pitch-perfect grasp of the icy snobberies of Garsington Opera and the patois of drill rappers; a frontline dispatch from the trenches of culture wars and a much-needed, vividly enjoyable broadside to them.

• Observer book of the week

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Economy in significant downturn, says Chambers of Commerce

Need-to-know scottish business stories: quiz changes management; caledonian hotel to undergo £35m revamp; scottish salmon suffers brexit losses.

Hello and welcome to our daily digest of business, financial and economic news from around Scotland.

1. There has been a “significant downturn” in cashflow and profits across the Scottish economy, according to research from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.

Its quarterly review, published on Thursday, also found an expectation of further price rises as input cost pressures remained high in the first three months of the year.

Alongside that, many businesses are finding it difficult to recruit staff, while more than half of companies have frozen investment because of the uncertain conditions.

Many respondents also cited concern about Scottish government tax policy including income tax divergence compared with the rest of the UK, as well as proposed charges such as a visitor levy.

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