A remarkable effort to turn grim tragedy into something positive September 12, 2023 More than two decades on, the sheer visceral terror of the September 11 attacks continues to linger. Few working in the City then, in a world of global finance, did not know someone caught up by the assault on New York in some way. In the world before immediate smartphone communication, those were anxious days [...]
A Stoke Newington gelato serves up a reminder that immigration makes London tick September 6, 2023 An 8pm queue for a Stoke Newington gelato joint may not be an obvious starting point for a column about the City’s competitiveness, but start there we will. Every evening, especially in this welcome burst of long-overdue sunshine, there is a line at least 10-or-so outside of Romeo & Giulietta. Amongst the families bribing small [...]
To win back business, Sunak should tear up his current playbook August 31, 2023 Business and politics, politics and business. Dance partners, perhaps, but all too often to different tunes: whilst the private sector rips off a salsa the public sector can feel a lot more comfortable with a more staid two-step. Right now, however, it’s hard to get the two on the same floor, let alone dancing in [...]
Nutrient neutrality tweaks look a rare example of sound policy August 30, 2023 Nutrient neutrality. It’s fair to say they might not be the two sexiest words to have ever moved a stock market but yesterday they most certainly did, with housebuilders flying on the news the government was set to ease the paperwork surrounding new housing developments. In short, current rules mean that in a full 62 [...]
The UK’s stamp duty on shares is a form of fiscal self-harm August 29, 2023 The malaise of our stock markets has been discussed at length over the past year. Reasons offered vary: Britain’s investors lacking a risk appetite, pension funds not putting sufficient capital into equities, a lack of research thanks to Brussels-era unbundling rules, even our liberal approach to short sellers have all been given as perfectly sane [...]
Prigozhin death a needed reminder the West cannot sit back on its laurels August 24, 2023 It is a sad fact of life that war fatigue exists. When the Russians invaded Ukraine in February of last year, it was on our front page day after day. That isn’t the case anymore, even if the daily devastation wrought on Ukraine remains much the same. Indeed sometimes it is easy, almost, to forget [...]
Blitz spirit may be overdone but there’s a lesson in taking quick action August 23, 2023 The worst fire in the City’s history was not, in fact, the Great Fire of 1666. It came on a Sunday night in December 1940, when seemingly half of the City was blitzed into oblivion. The other half took its punishment on other nights in that terrible few months. Amongst the many indignities suffered by [...]
Individual climate action is rendered meaningless if the big polluters – like HGVs – roll on August 22, 2023 Like a ropey old pullover, pulling at the threads of Britain’s net zero efforts can sometimes do more damage. Take our roads, for instance. Over the past decade – in truth the past two or three years – even the country’s most committed petrolheads have come round to the idea of electric cars. Our black [...]
What a day out in Whitstable tells us about our water companies August 21, 2023 Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink. To be fair to the water companies, they continue to provide us with drinkable stuff out of the tap. Unfortunately it’s everything else they’re failing at. Over the weekend, a City A.M. reporter took a trip to Whitstable for a sunny(ish) weekend break. The beach was [...]
Long-term investment ends in triumph – just look at the Lionesses August 17, 2023 Everything’s going up, they cry. Well, almost everything. The price of a ticket to watch Arsenal’s women’s team at the Emirates last year was £12. This year it’s come down to £7 or £9, depending on how many games you buy for. Who said you can’t find value in 2023. The story of women’s football’s [...]
