Onward and upwards in 2012 please December 22, 2011 AS the business year draws to a close, there is one last opportunity to reflect on what has gone before, and to consider what might lie ahead. In the financial world, 2011 will forever be remembered as the year the wheels fell off the euro. The single currency is still intact, but nobody quite knows [...]
Where will our readers be spending Christmas? December 20, 2011 DAVID WOOTTON LORD MAYOR OF LONDON “I am going to spend Christmas day in Mansion House with all the family, including my grandchildren who are coming from Chicago. Boxing Day will be spent in Sevenoaks and then to a hotel in Kent for the family to enjoy. Lastly my wife and I will be spending [...]
CATHEDRAL CAROLS SET OFF A YEAR FOR HEALTH December 20, 2011 CITY GRANDEES joined some of the stars of Downton Abbey in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral last night at the launch of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2012. As Lord Mayor David Wootton explained to guests including Phil Raper, head of corporate broking UK at Goldman Sachs, Aon Benfield chairman Grahame Chilton, and Jonathan Moulds, [...]
CATHEDRAL CAROLS SET OFF A YEAR FOR HEALTH December 20, 2011 CITY GRANDEES joined some of the stars of Downton Abbey in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral last night at the launch of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2012. As Lord Mayor David Wootton explained to guests including Phil Raper, head of corporate broking UK at Goldman Sachs, Aon Benfield chairman Grahame Chilton, and Jonathan Moulds, [...]
The City of London needs a Europe strategy that does not lead to it being sidelined December 18, 2011 FEAR is stalking parts of the city that Brussels is determined to undermine its competitiveness. But ask any senior banker or businessman what particular measure it is that Britain needs saving from, they draw a blank. The implementation of a Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) in the EU alone, and not on a global level, would [...]
MANAGERS PULL THE PLUG ON THE OPENING OF NEW £25M SOHO CLUB December 15, 2011 IT SEEMS The Capitalist spoke too soon about the resurgence in Piccadilly’s entertainment scene. Just hours before the champagne was due to be uncorked at the new £25m club Dstrkt on Rupert Street, as reported yesterday (15 December), the long-awaited launch was abruptly cancelled. No official word on why last night’s opening didn’t go ahead [...]
Rolls Building will rule the world undisputed December 11, 2011 IT WILL take some time for the full implications of last week’s EU Summit to become clear. For my part, I will spend much of today in discussion with UK-based EU ambassadors at the Polish presidency’s conference on financial stability and growth, which takes place at the Mansion House. My recent discussions with leading practitioners [...]
Today’s freedom was yesterday’s trade privilege December 7, 2011 THE Freedom of the City originated in the early thirteenth century. Today the freedom is largely symbolic, but in the Middle Ages it was a valuable working document that gave you the right to trade. It would enable you to carry out your trade or craft as a member of one of the venerable City [...]
Like Terry or Lampard, City stars are worth it November 27, 2011 THE publication of the High Pay Commission’s report last week prompted much comment when it found that remuneration for heading one UK bank has increased dramatically more than average wages over 30 years. Coming on the back of last month’s Income Data Services report, which drew attention to the increase of total earnings for directors [...]
LORD MAYOR STEPS UP SECURITY FOR AMBASSADORS’ RECEPTIONS November 24, 2011 IT HAD to be the Queen. “No-one else has that level of police presence,” said one City observer when he noted a convoy of four police motorbikes and two impressive cars making its way towards the Walbrook Building in stately fashion. But no – it was Lord Mayor David Wootton, who had stepped up his [...]