SOUTH KENSINGTON — Sox was my granddad (left, above). He died when I was about 6. He ran a business called Ingersoll-Rand out of an office in Montreal. I remember visiting the office. I walked by the building two weeks ago. It had long, dark halls, red carpets, a mail trolley and a lovely secretary [...]
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CAPE COD — I am in shock. I have just emerged from a food store. There is a whole row just dedicated to marinades and BBQ sauces. The shelves of food that I might buy in London is a few rows in the very centre of a football field of “family packs” and convenience meals. I [...]
OVER THE OLD OTTOMAN EMPIRE — I said years ago that the airport lounge has become the Walden Pond of my generation. It is for me anyway. It’s a place for respite, relaxation and forced reflection. (The two big British fellows putting away a bottle of white a 7h30 this morning might not agree.) I recognise [...] OLD CHURCH STREET — The front of my paper says that Woolworths will be no more in a few weeks. Lay-offs are being announced in 5-figures already. And deep down, we all know that the bad news has only just begun. But we just carry on about our business. Much the same way that Londoners (myself included) [...] TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD — They’re all in a mess today. Citigroup was once my poster-child for what a global business could be. Now they’re borrowing more than the GDP of Oman. Standard Chartered has long been a favourite because they bank neatly in places that need neat banking – India, Africa, Asia. But they’re in trouble too. And [...] TCR — What a grim morning. I have taken to looking at both the global markets (FTSE, DJI and NIKKEI) and the Cambridge light meter. Recently both have been equally bad. Diving and falling short from day to day. Admittedly the over-night stock market news has been pretty awful, while the light meter seems to be climbing today. So, [...] PICCADILLY — There’s Barclays Bank taking a beating today about investment from Abu Dhabi. The twin US presidents said to be squabbling over a deal to save General Motors. There’s the on-going HBoS and LloydsTSB merger dance. And the sight of Taylor Wimpey, Tesco and Vodafone trying to catch a break. It’s like seeing what has happened to Sylvester Stallone. Time changes [...] WINDSOR — GM, the papers say today, spent $6.9B in the third quarter of this year. Of course it did. This year General Motors celebrate their 100th anniversary. They say they will be bankrupt in a few short months. The unfortunate truth of modern America is is you have no credit, you can’t get no car. It’s a serious [...] Squatters in Mayfair. Circa now. LONDON — In many ways it has been a depressing old autumn. In others you think we get ourselves into these messes. And you wonder why we do that. Earlier this week there was a column in the Times that caught my attention. Speed of the job cuts is the real surprise ST JAMES CAFE – I recognise that this probably changes everything. Well, not everything. But the shape of business at least. The credit crunch… the recession of 2008… the banking crisis… we don’t know what to call it yet. It’s messy. It’s far ranging. It will be difficult. I heard someone on TV last night comparing it to [...] |
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