Smack-bang in the middle of the City sits the Bank of England. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, as the place is affectionately known, is a reassuring presence, its thick walls and imposing grandeur oozing power and control.
The vast Bank building is an unashamed throwback, a reminder of how things were. Of the once great City institutions, only Lloyd’s of London is still in situ. Its corner, though, is all steel and glass, and for how long it remains even there is up for consideration. The rest, the various exchanges and the main regulators, the traditional pillars, have all downsized or relocated out of the Square Mile.
The privilege of working in the huge, famous edifice is not all that it was, measured at least by the fact the daily roll call would not even get up to half full.
At a time of great and growing crisis, not to mention market turmoil, the Bank of England, the central bank, responsible for ensuring the UK has financial and monetary stability, is largely in work from home mode.
Perhaps this should not be surprising. The man in charge Andrew Bailey chose to make one key broadcast from his kitchen and not from his office at the height of the Covid crisis. It was not a good look, but if anything the calls on the Bank and its leader to get a grip have only grown.
The roads and pavements might be busy, but up above, most of the rooms are quiet. The City still has not returned to full-time working and there are doubts it ever will. All of which combines to afford the Bank a lost, marooned air.
An inability to lead
Right now, you could be forgiven for supposing they would all be in there, urgently discussing and analysing, and burning the midnight oil, as the country and rest of the world grapples with the shocks of a war and a global pandemic. But no, these public servants are mostly at their homes.
What’s alarming about this is the inability of Bailey to command and lead. In City parlance, he is the governor, the boss. But increasingly, like the liveried doormen at the entrance of his more than half-empty headquarters, he appears to be unsure of his role.
That sense is not helped by the behaviour of the current occupants. Take working from home. Following a consultation at the Bank, its 4,000 staff are required to go into the office 40 per cent of the time from this month, with plans to increase that to 50 per cent of the week over time.
Bailey has struggled to convince in recent months. Comments from him and his colleagues on interest rates have only served to confuse rather than clarify. This is dangerous territory — the City is looking to the guv’nor for authority, not wooliness.
On Thursday, the world will find out just how the pressure has impelled Mr Bailey to show his mettle. A half-point or more rise in rates would go a long way to setting a change of tone.
It’s emerged that Bailey is spending £200,000 on private consultants to create a “mission statement” for the Bank that will define “the essence of the organisation”. The consultants from The Storytellers, a London firm, will be paid £203,000 of taxpayers’ cash for four months’ work.
Only two months ago, the Bank spent £50,000 on a “softening” of its logo, to make the design more “inclusive”. Out went a pile of coins at Britannia’s feet and the St George’s Cross on her shield was replaced with the union flag.
Describing “the essence” is what you get on menus of restaurants that crave to be taken seriously or labels of cheap wine or packs of perfume — it’s not what you expect from somewhere that is meant to be as sure-footed as the Bank of England.
It’s not something either, that to my knowledge Bailey’s predecessors ever felt obliged to pay good money to describe. The idea of Eddie George, for instance, issuing such a commission beggars belief.
The Bank has been in existence for 328 years, and independent of government for the last 25 of those. You would think by now they would know what it is for.
It’s worrying that Bailey should be so uncertain. He chairs the Bank’s powerful monetary policy committee as well as the committees for financial policy and prudential regulation.
While those bodies cannot be expected to devote their time to the wording of a mission statement — presumably they’ve got more pressing items to occupy them — it is a topic that would sit perfectly well with the Bank’s court of directors.
This, in effect, is its board, the 12-strong (five executive and seven non-executive) group that is charged with setting the Bank’s strategy and budget and taking key decisions on resourcing and appointments. Bailey sits on the court, which is chaired by Brad Fried.
The court should hold the governor and his deputies and the senior management to account. Its published minutes, though, give the impression of a committee that is too close for comfort with those it is meant to be challenging.
In the December minutes, published in February, the court “noted” that staff pay is up for review and rises would be assessed according to “a new performance approach”.
There is no sign of anyone raising a hand and querying whether this was appropriate, given that Bailey, who is paid £575,000 a year, and was present at the meeting, has argued repeatedly for pay restraint.
The City is wanting more, too, from Bailey and co in another respect. The Bank should be championing the City, shouting for London. The City and the UK’s wider financial services industry are vital to the UK economy — without them we would be truly lost.
At present, they are wobbling — they were inexplicably sidelined by the government during the Brexit negotiations, and EU and global competition is fierce and getting fiercer all the time. This is without considering the problem of working from home, after-effects of Covid and shortage of staff that many City leaders are having to deal with.
In short, the City is crying out for a voice, someone who can speak up for their hegemony, who can fight their corner. Bailey could be that person, spreading that story. Hopefully, The Storytellers will tell him how.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
RESULTS
Bantamweight:
Zia Mashwani (PAK) bt Chris Corton (PHI)
Super lightweight:
Flavio Serafin (BRA) bt Mohammad Al Khatib (JOR)
Super lightweight:
Dwight Brooks (USA) bt Alex Nacfur (BRA)
Bantamweight:
Tariq Ismail (CAN) bt Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Featherweight:
Abdullatip Magomedov (RUS) bt Sulaiman Al Modhyan (KUW)
Middleweight:
Mohammad Fakhreddine (LEB) bt Christofer Silva (BRA)
Middleweight:
Rustam Chsiev (RUS) bt Tarek Suleiman (SYR)
Welterweight:
Khamzat Chimaev (SWE) bt Mzwandile Hlongwa (RSA)
Lightweight:
Alex Martinez (CAN) bt Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
Welterweight:
Jarrah Al Selawi (JOR) bt Abdoul Abdouraguimov (FRA)
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The years Ramadan fell in May
The five pillars of Islam
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Prophets of Rage
(Fantasy Records)
Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m. Winner: Majd Al Megirat, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Shehhi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m. Winner: Dassan Da, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Heba Al Wathba, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Richard Mullen, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Harbour Spirit, Adrie de Vries, Jaber Ramadhan.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Ottewill-Soulsby%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPrinceton%20University%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E392%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJuly%2011%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
