The Capitalist
IF you’ve always wanted a nosey around Boris Johnson’s office, then the eighth annual Maggie’s Night Hike might just be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.
FEEL-GOOD fear hormones were flying round the City yesterday after a team of daredevil volunteers – including the Duke of York Prince Andrew – abseiled down the outside of Europe’s tallest building, the Shard.
NERVY investors were alarmed yesterday after news started filtering through that the European Union was on the verge of collapse. Yes, full scale collapse.
THOSE looking for a place to rest their head within spitting distance of the City’s greatest landmarks have a new option, after The D&D Group opened its first hotel in the Square Mile yesterday between Moorgate and Liverpool Street.
THEY’VE been training, raising sponsorship funds, and getting increasingly more nervous for months, and today the day the intrepid Shard abseilers have been waiting for (or dreading) has finally arrived.
CENTRAL London played host to a pop-up Big Top yesterday, as for one day only the Piccadilly Circus Circus rolled into town.
The Capitalist’s hectic schedule means she is no stranger to the odd business breakfast, so it was no surprise yesterday to see one of this column’s favourite morning haunts, The Wolseley, named as best restaurant for both business and breakfast.
LEGEND has it accountants are a boring lot. So thank goodness for PwC’s Richard Oldfield, who’s attempting to bust that image by throwing himself off the top of Europe’s tallest building.
THE London Paralympic Games opened with a dramatic “big bang” last night as a glowing sphere descended into the middle of a giant umbrella signifying the creation of the universe.
THE Paralympics 2012 officially kick off today, and the Dutch seven-a-side football team were having a warm up game yesterday. Not at the Olympic Park, but on another newly created pitch in Tottenham.
Game, set and £3,000 match to the winner who yesterday snapped up Topiary Wenlock in the Mayor’s Fund for London charity auction. Unlike all the other 2m high sporting bodies, this is a living monument, which may need some replanting next year.
IT’S just two days before entries to the Square Mile’s first ferret racing contest close, so you’d better get your entry in quick if you’re interested.
A QUIET summer day in the City was last week livened up by the presence of rugby stars including England captain Chris Robshaw.
■ With the Paralympics set to open tomorrow The Capitalist is looking forward to falling into the grip of sports obsession once again.
SARACENS caused a stir in the City again last night when the high-flying rugby team returned to the Honourable Artillery Club for a glitzy pre-season friendly against French stars Stade Francais.
BANK-BOTHERING Labour MP John Mann won few friends in the City establishment with his robust denunciations of Bob Diamond during July’s hearings into Barclays’ abuse of the Libor rate.
LEXICOGRAPHERS of the internet rejoice: the latest additions to Oxford Dictionaries Online are out.
It’s a rather poor show for Brits on Forbes’ annual ranking of the most powerful women with just two sneaking into the top 100. In Jubilee year, it seems fitting that Queen Elizabeth II is ranked 26. At 86, she’s the oldest woman on the list.
THE flames which will light the Paralympic torch were lit on top of the UK's four highest mountains yesterday. At Scafell Pike (above) war hero Karl Hinett ignited the torch.
VIRGIN Trains is pulling out all the stops in its attempts to get back the West Coast franchise, which it lost to FirstGroup last week.
NOT much is known about how Polly Peck International founder Asil Nadir spent his 17-year exile in northern Cyprus.
IT might not sounds like much given the recent exploits of cycling heroes Bradley Wiggins or Mark Cavendish, but the 30-strong team arriving in London today at the end of a 150-mile bike ride across the country are far from professional cyclists.
JUST four days into the bidding for City Wenlock, the huge sums offered for the gentlemanly mascot have helped pushed the total amount raised for the Mayor’s Fund for London in the Olympics auction to £201,000 – with plenty more to come in the nex
DAOUD AOUANE
AMLIN
The UK may have been more aggressive than it would have been due to pressure from the US, but as a member of the EU there are obligations to Sweden. Threatening to storm an embassy seems a tad extreme.
LONDON has seemed a duller place since the Olympics came to an end. No chance of bumping into an Olympic medallist on your tube journey, and far fewer maroon shirt bedecked volunteers around to share a smile with.
OFFICIALLY, the aim of the HM Revenue and Customs “tax matters” campaign is to make children grow into better citizens, teaching them the basics of the tax system and the purpose behind it, as well as a greater sense of civic responsibility.
LOTS are going fast in the Mayor's Fund for London auction of Olympic memorabilia, supported by City A.M., but as of this morning there’s a brand new piece of history on offer.
ON your marks, get set...BID!
Time is quickly running out to secure your very own piece of Olympic history, with memorabilia on offer in the official London 2012 auction selling faster than you can say “and Usain Bolt takes the gold”.
ANY City workers terrified of public embarrassment, look away now.
LONDON’S free outdoor jazz festival returns to Canary Wharf this weekend with a line up of jazz heavyweights, including Courtney Pine (above) headlining on Saturday evening.
ONCE a year, the City’s social scene decamps to the small town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight for one of the hottest tickets on the sporting calendar, and last night’s City by the Sea party, a central fixture in Aberdeen Asset Management’s Cowes we
WITH the array of dinner parties, live music and pop-up bars on display at Cowes week, it would be easy to forget that there is actually some sailing to be done.
MOST of us spent the last two weeks being constantly surprised by the record-breaking performances of Team GB athletes at the Olympics.
“I am a great believer that politicians are human beings,” claimed David Cameron after the close of the Olympics, “and they need to have holidays.”
LONDON 2012 has left us all with some unforgettable memories, but for those who like something a bit more tangible and, well, soiled, help is at hand.
The City of London was buzzing with Olympics spectators yesterday as the Men’s Marathon took in the Square Mile. Here Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai of Kenya and Yared Asmerom of Eritrea run through Leadenhall Market.
CREDIT where credit’s due. The BBC have produced superb coverage of the London 2012 Olympics – but then it helps to have live broadcast rights for nearly every sport.
Throughout the Olympics, City A.M. will be publishing its Olympic Image of the Day. If you have a shot you think our readers will like, please email pictures@cityam.com
TURNS out you don’t have to hunt down the last of the elusive (and eye-wateringly expensive) Olympic tickets if you want to see a world-famous sportsman in London this weekend.
FRANCE has not exactly covered itself in glory in its somewhat peevish reaction to Great Britain’s utter domination of track cycling at London 2012 – and it seems they just won’t let it go.
Throughout the Olympics, City A.M. will be publishing its Olympic Image of the Day. If you have a shot you think our readers will like, please email pictures@cityam.com
GREG MURRAY
LLOYDS
It depends on how well the site is integrated and the transport links are maintained. If we continue to fund our sports well then further success is guaranteed in the future.
IT WAS the victory that saw Great Britain break its all-time record of 20 golds in a single Olympic Games, but track cyclist Laura Trott’s omnium triumph yesterday must have been celebrated with particular gusto at Samsung Towers.
Throughout the Olympics, City A.M. will be publishing its Olympic Image of the Day. If you have a shot you think our readers will like, please email pictures@cityam.com
HE MIGHT have achieved more firsts this year than an Oxbridge college, but Bradley Wiggins is not the Team GB star tipped to benefit most from the Games.
PERHAPS he’s been taking tips from GB’s medal-winning gymnasts, because London 2012 chairman Lord Coe pulled off a delicate balancing act yesterday when asked about the bottle thrown onto the track before the men’s 100m final on Sunday.
Throughout the Olympics, City A.M. will be publishing its Olympic Image of the Day. If you have a shot you think our readers will like, please email pictures@cityam.com
ELLIOTT TIERNAN
QBE
THERE were red faces at Wimbledon yesterday, where one diligent Olympics volunteer manning the gates thwarted an apparent queue-jumper as most of London clamoured to get into Centre Court to watch Andy Murray’s final against Roger Federer yesterda