Relax to the sounds of the City January 17, 2013 MOST City workers down a speedy sandwich during their lunch hour, while others make a dash for the gym – but how many actually relax when away from their desk? This is the question being posed by the City of London Festival, which is touting its annual free Winter Concerts programme to encourage us all [...]
Minister to ease rules on turning offices into flats January 22, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT will remove barriers on converting office buildings into residential flats in the hope of easing the housing crisis, it was revealed yesterday. Planning minister Nick Boles is due to announce the move later this week, which will permit developers to convert many office buildings into domestic residences without needing planning permission. But the City of [...]
Teenage intern has sights set on rising the ranks of the City January 28, 2013 THERE are certainly no shortages of age going hand-in-hand with wisdom in the City, or so we are led to believe. However The Capitalist has news of perhaps the youngest worker in the heart of the Square Mile. Jake McMullen, who is a whipper-snapping 17 years old, has been taken on by the City of [...]
West End ranks as the world’s priciest offices January 24, 2013 LONDON’S West End has leapfrogged Hong Kong to regain its spot as the world’s most expensive location to rent office space after rents declined in the Asian city. Property specialists DTZ’s annual Global Occupancy Costs survey published today shows that occupiers in London’s West End had to pay US$23,500 (£14,900) per workstation per annum at [...]
Dealmakers at The Savoy for M&A knees up December 13, 2012 TO The Savoy on Wednesday evening, for one of the final awards dos in The Capitalist’s diary before the Square Mile goes into hibernation for the festive period. The occasion this week was the Mergermarket European M&A Awards 2012, hosted by Daily Politics presenter and Spectator chairman Andrew Neil. The annual ceremony awards the biggest [...]
For a glittering morning after December 18, 2012 FORMER City worker and founder of Chemist Direct Mitesh Soma has created an antidote to the dreaded holiday hangover – his and hers Christmas party survival kits. Soma, a former Deutsche Bank management consultant first put together the emergency packs last year, in response to demand from friends in the Square Mile. He told The [...]
A feathered and furry flock at St. Paul’s cathedral yesterday January 16, 2013 TRACTORS, combine harvesters, chicken, sheep and other furry animals took up residence outside St. Paul’s yesterday. City workers flocked to the cathedral at lunchtime, sandwiches in hand, to get a closer look at the animals, who seemed to be munching their way through a fair few Pret scraps themselves. Plough Wednesday takes place to remind [...]
On his naughty list? Revenge of Secret Santa December 19, 2012 A DISTURBING Christmas survey from NPW, the supplier of impulse purchase products to high street stores such as John Lewis and Paperchase. The firm’s Christmas elves told The Capitalist that not only do a third of us now enter into office present-giving via a mystery Father Christmas, but 32 per cent of chief executives use [...]
Guildhall chases voters in local City elections December 11, 2012 STAFF at the Guildhall, the City’s historic headquarters, are under the cosh to chase up errant businesses in the Square Mile which, despite several reminders, still haven’t filled in their registration forms to vote in the forthcoming local elections. A dedicated team of three assistants at the Guildhall are currently spending most of their time [...]
Scientist says bank bosses are acting ape December 12, 2012 BROWSING the pages of the January issue of Wired magazine, The Capitalist stumbled across a pen–chewing piece of research by stockmarket trader turned neuroscientist, John Coates. In the article, Cambridge-educated Coates asserts that testosterone skews financial markets, and poses the question – should more decisions be left to women? The former Goldman Sachs trader began [...]