Getting Euros In The City Of London On Sunday
I’m going on a cruise tomorrow and thought I’d get some euros, as we’re calling at Corunna, Casablanca, Cadiz, Gibraltar and Lisbon.
I did try yesterday to get s0me at the Angel yesterday, but banks don’t seem to keep them. So I took a bus this morning to Bishopsgate to this Euro Cashpoint under Tower42.
NatWest’s Euro Cashpoint On Bishopsgate
It was a lot less painless than going into and collecting some, as I’m rather allergic to queues.
I’m not sure how much the euros cost yet! But I only needed a few, and I suspect the boat might be a lot more expensive.
David’s Golden Rules And Cyprus
I’ve mentioned my late friend and bank manager, David’s rules before, so how would they apply to the Cyprus bail-out and the problems it has created.
Things have changed since he died six years ago, but the two principles he gave me still apply.
If you a UK citizen or resident, he would never have advised anybody to use a bank that was head-quartered outside of the UK, as you don’t know what external factors will apply in that country.
The second principle, was never to bank with a small bank, that has the possibility of being taken over by a man with a large ego for his own purposes. He said this, when I got an offer from Bank of Scotland, in probably the 1990s. I know that they didn’t have the Fred the Shred problem, but he felt that given the changes that would happen in banking, it might be something I would regret.
Incidentally, he was not against smaller building societies and credit unions, and once told me that he believed the latter would be strong in the future. He was wrong on that, but I think he underestimated the conservatism of the average bank account customer, who are reluctant to change banks.
So if we look at the last few years, his rules would have ruled out banking with the Icelandics, RBS and probably Bank of Scotland too!
I didn’t bank with any of them!
So what would he have thought about Cyprus. He would probably have had a very juicy tale about one of the Cypriot Banks ans of course they do break both golden rules, in that they aren’t in the UK and are two small. They may be OK, if you need a local bank account, but these days, with electronic transfers, you could probably manage it all through the Internet. I don’t know for sure, as I’ve only ever been to Cyprus as a tourist for enjoyment. Nothing in the world, would encourage me to live outside of the UK anyway!
But making account holders in Cyprus take a haircut is something, that will happen elsewhere in the eurozone, as the precedent has now been set.
In fact, if I was George Osborne, I might be having a quiet chuckle, as the Cyprus haircut, might be one of the better things that happen to the UK financially this year. Will those, EU citizens with a dodgy banking system in their country, look even more seriously at the UK as a more benign place to live?
I think too, we’ll see more innovative financial products coming out of the City of London, designed to appeal to those with money in other parts of the European Union. If you’re very rich, these products already exist, but will we see products for say the German engineer or doctor of comfortable means, who wants his money safe, to work for him and give him a comfortable retirement.
Some People Will Nick Anything
I saw the Big Egg Hunt in London last year at Canary Wharf, but I can’t find the post. According to this report, one of the eggs has been stolen in Glasgow. Two actually went missing in London, but were returned.
Some people would think, that as the eggs went to Liverpool, that stereotypes would say that some would have gone missing there. But they didn’t! On the other hand, Liverpool has lots of street sculpture and the Superlambananas.
Bank Customers To Share Pain Of Cyprus Bail-Out
The Eurozone and the IMF have agreed a deal to bail out Cyprus to the tune of €10 billion, as is reported here on the BBC.
What is different though in this bail-out, is that bank depositors will also have to take some of the pain. The comment from the BBC correspondent; Andrew Walker is as follows.
It has been a long and difficult negotiation, partly because of the reluctance of other Eurozone countries to use taxpayers’ money to help foreign customers of Cypriot banks. Many of them are wealthy Russians.
There are concerns around Europe about whether all that money was legitimately acquired and also about how effective Cyprus is in dealing with money laundering.
The deal involves a levy on bank deposits intended to ensure those investors contribute to the bailout. But it will apply to all deposits – at a higher rate on amounts above 100,000 euros.
I’m personally not that sorry, that laundered money will be effectively taxed, but it does strike me, that this crisis could get a lot bigger, if the Russians get annoyed.
607 Bridges And Still Counting
The Times also tells the tale of Toni Rüttiman, a man who has helped to build 607 bridges. There are more details here on Wikipedia. He is summed up by this sentence.
Toni Rüttimann has no home; he carries all he needs in two small bags. One is for his personal effects, the second one for his suspension bridge building materials. Rüttimann works with destitute people to build or re-build their own bridges, often after a hurricane, an earthquake, or a war event.
He works for free!
He is definitely one of the world’s unsung heroes.
No Budget; Employ Students
In the depths of The Times is a story about a walk in the City of London, with the planning officer; Peter Rees. This phrase caught my eye.
As we walk through the ornate arcades of Leadenhall Market he points to the rich roof decoration and says, “the Corporation had no budget for restoration, so I employed art students to do the job.”
Good lateral thinking. They did a very good job too!
The article also says that some of the best views of London are from the roof of One New Change, the new shopping centre in the City by St. Paul’s. I must check! There’s more about it here.
Here Come The Cavalry!
I was surprised to see this phalanx of Police motor-cyclists today at the Angel.
Here Come The Cavalry!
I assume they were trainees or on some sort of exercise, as there didn’t seem to be much crime about.
If You Want Good Publicity, Black Death Is A Surprisingly Good Idea
I have a Google News alert for Crossrail and today, it flagged up nine stories on the web.
Eight of these were about the story I reported on yesterday, about the finding of a cemetery for plague victims.
Usually, companies try to disassociate themselves from death and other dark stories.
If you’re wondering the other story, was about Crossrail driving up residential property prices. But then rising property prices are a good news story in many peoples’ minds.
Marks And Spencer Go Back To The Future
This story from the BBC web site is another interesting marketing and publicity idea.
More than a century after one of the UK’s most recognisable high street brands started trading the firm is going back to its roots with a stall in a city centre market.
It has returned to the very market building, in Leeds, where it was founded, in a move councillors hope will bring additional shoppers in.
The opening comes 129 years after Michael Marks, a Russian-born Polish refugee opened a stall at Kirkgate Market in 1884 – the small beginning from which Marks and Spencer evolved.
It’s an idea that might work or it could be a terrible failure.
But why shouldn’t a big company, try something a little out of the ordinary?
Although, I don’t think the traders in the markets round here, would like to see Marks and Spencer open a nearby stall. Although for many years, there has been a small Marks and Spencer at the side of Chapel Market at The Angel. Perhaps they should move their coffee bar, which is just inside, into the street outside?
Collumpton Thinks About Banning The Apostrophe
Mid-Devon Council has provoked outrage, by discussing the removal of the apostrophe from street signs. Appropriately, this is the subject of a piece in the Guardian.
A picture in the piece is from my neck of the woods; Hackney and shows a sign labelled “Childrens’ Garden”
I think that they should all be correctly shown.
Note that even Transport for London, has an apostrophe anomaly in Barons Court not being Baron’s Court. It’s all explained here.
The Anonymous Widower 