The City of London is keen to attract the next wave of fintech start-ups
(Picture: Shutterstock / ZGPhotography)Inflation may have peaked. There are few signs yet of sweeping job cuts. And the tone from big companies reporting results lately has been surprisingly optimistic. Not exactly jolly, but not despairing either.
Today’s results from Mitchells & Butlers suggests even pubs have a shot. Maybe the last boozer in Britain won’t close in 2038 after all.
And maybe next year won’t be nearly as bad as we feared.
Sadly, in the City of London the opposite sentiment seems to apply.
Last night Morgan Stanley said it would cut 1600 jobs, about 2% of its global workforce.
Other banks have already done the same – a whopping 9,000 at Credit Suisse, but it has its own problems – or are sure to follow.
Last week Peel Hunt, a scrappy, small size broker that typifies the City, reported a 99.7% drop in profits. If you work there, the question you’d be asking yourself is: how much longer have I got?
Peel Hunt has suffered from the lack of flotations and from clients being too nervous to trade. It is far from alone.
The risk is that just as the real economy shows signs of a turnaround, the financial bit panics.
Many, many thousands of well-paid folk (who pay a lot of tax) find themselves out on their ear, a blow to London and the wider economy.
Banks are supposed to be good at reading economic cycles. And post Covid, there was a general idea that they wouldn’t do what they normally do: bring out the axe when times are tough; then rehire like crazy when things turn.
How about the banks sit this one out and keep their staff. Have another look come Easter to see how the land lies…
