Any Other Business – 26/03
Aldeburgh, in Suffolk, played host to an event called Names not Numbers this week, mixing novelists with journos, academics, actors and er, a paucity of bankers. The trip, which ended yesterday, involving Brompton bike rides and fish and chips on the beach, couldn’t be further away from flashy boardrooms and Sushi Samba. But Jenny Grey from Citi, Newton Investment’s Helena Morrissey and Aberdeen Asset Management’s Anne Richards were all down there – the last two taking part in a panel discussion called Capitalism. “We all have a bit of tendency to live in our own silos – this event had an eclectic mix and that’s a good thing,” Richards told The Capitalist. By all accounts the panel discussion was lively. “We certainly didn’t all agree,” said Richards. Can’t argue with skimming stones on the beach though.
ALL EYES were on Sol Campbell and his new biography this month but for City-ites, it’s Simon Astaire, the book’s author, who holds significance. Novelist Astaire is the son of Edgar Astaire, legendary City stockbroker. Edgar’s other son Mark Astaire followed in his father’s footsteps into the Square Mile and is now vice chairman of investment banking at Barclays. So why did Simon chose to write books instead of deals? “My upbringing from my father’s side was the City, I respected that, he was very successful and gave me a good life,” Simon told The Capitalist. “I was always different to my brother and sort of a rebel. Maybe rebels do fit well in the City but I didn’t see it that way.” That’s certainly a matter of opinion.