OUR GUIDE TO THE BEST SPORTS FILMS TO WATCH DURING THE VIRUS HIATUS P26 BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY

TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 ISSUE 3,578 CITYAM.COM FREE

US markets extend spiral ‘CATASTROPHIC’ on Covid-19 HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE INDUSTRIES SOUND ALARM AFTER BORIS HARRY ROBERTSON JOHNSON TELLS BRITS TO AVOID THE OFFICE, PUBS AND RESTAURANTS AND EDWARD THICKNESSE @harrygrobertson @edthicknesse US STOCK markets suffered their biggest single-day fall since 1987’s infamous Black Monday crash for the second time in three sessions yesterday, as investors shrugged off a dramatic Federal Reserve stimulus package aimed at propping up the economy during the coronavirus outbreak. The S&P 500 crashed 12 per cent by the end of trading, while the Dow Jones finished 12.9 per cent lower and the Nasdaq ended 12.3 per cent down. Yesterday’s collapse surpassed the carnage of last week’s so-called Black Thursday crash, in which US stocks shed around 10 per cent, with markets now well and truly in freefall. Late on Sunday night the Fed slashed its base interest rate to a range of zero to 0.25 per cent, also announcing a $700bn (£570.3bn) worth of quantitative easing in an attempt to protect markets EDWARD THICKNESSE, JESS CLARK acknowledged was unprecedented in with long-term conditions, those over 70 saying Johnson had “now pulled up the from the ravages of the AND ANDY SILVESTER peacetime, he urged Londoners in and pregnant women, should shield life raft”. global disease. particular to “avoid all non-essential themselves from social contact for 12 Though the Prime Minister told Brits to The action was mirrored on @edthicknesse @jclarkjourno @silvesterldn contact” with others and work from weeks. Furthermore, any household avoid large gatherings and forgo pubs a worldwide scale by the THE UK’s hospitality industry issued a home wherever possible, as the spread which has a single member displaying and restaurants, he stopped short of International Monetary doom-laden warning last night after of Covid-19 in the capital appeared to symptoms should self-isolate for 14 days. mandating their closure as governments Fund, which pledged $1 Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday be a “few weeks ahead” of the rest of As businesses and the wider public have done across Europe — with serious trillion in lending. The told Brits to steer clear of pubs, eateries the country. absorbed the latest measures, an implications for businesses’ ability to drastic step also had a and theatres as the government Updating guidance to the public, almighty row erupted between the claim on insurance. negligible impact. escalated its coronavirus “fightback”. Johnson announced that those in the cultural and hospitality sectors and the The FTSE 100 fell 4.01 per In a statement which Johnson most high-risk groups, including those government, with one industry body £ CONTINUES ON P2 cent by the close. £ CONTINUES ON P3

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MIND THE GAP Transport for London to ask for Westminster bailout as revenues expected to plummet by up to half a billion THE CITY VIEW It’s time for Johnson to say: ‘Whatever it takes’

T THE start of a crisis, especially one as alien and as fast- moving as the Covid-19 pandemic, governments can count Aon a certain amount of public support. Quite a high amount, in fact, as has been borne out by recent polling revealing high levels of approval for the government’s handling of things so far. But as the crisis takes hold, as its impact deepens and its consequences loom larger, the public can start to question elements of the official response. Firstly, a political ceasefire that held in the first few weeks can fail as Westminster combatants get bored of peace. For its part, the government is more than capable of provoking a resumption of hostilities, and the past 24 hours have shattered the truce. Ministers, for the first time in this emergency, have dropped the ball. When Boris Johnson urged the public to avoid pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants TRANSPORT for London (TfL) was the latest to warn of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, writes Stefan Boscia — in the past and theatres he should have week, passenger numbers on the Tube were down by 19 per cent year on year, while bus passenger numbers fell 10 per cent. TfL announced a watertight has accumulated an estimated £11bn in debt and will “be looking to the government for financial relief to cope with losses”. commitment to support these industries. Furthermore, by stopping short of issuing an A public health order to close such businesses, crisis could soon he has condemned them to Insurance worries add to limbo: devoid of customers but be an economic with no recourse to their catastrophe insurance or existing support schemes beyond those announced in the Budget last week. It is telling that those measures, hailed as a £12bn resilience footfall fear in the capital package, now seem wholly inadequate. Business rates relief and some help with sick pay will do next to nothing for thousands CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE away from running out of cash. they are planning to save livelihoods,” upon thousands of businesses facing an immediate cash crunch The anger was mirrored by the UK’s he added. and an utterly bleak few months. Added to this, the calls for “This is catastrophic for businesses creative industry bosses, with Caro- All called for urgent support from help from other industries are now deafening. Airlines are and jobs,” UK Hospitality chief execu- line Norbury, chief executive of the the government. tive Kate Nicholls said. Creative Industries Federation and Chancellor Rishi Sunak held an facing a crisis of epic proportions and the sector is braced for its “The government has effectively Creative England, describing it as a emergency meeting of a new Eco- own Lehman Brothers moment. The rail industry cannot shut the hospitality industry without “crippling blow”. nomic and Business Response Council survive with passenger numbers plummeting and retailers, any support.” “As the social distancing measures yesterday — with sector-specific meet- many of whom were struggling before anyone had heard of “The PM’s statement is the worst of announced this afternoon are only ings to come later today — in which he all worlds, leaving businesses, guests advisory, rather than an outright ban, is expected to outline a support pack- Covid-19, are increasingly concerned. Behind all of this and and teams all unprotected and in we are deeply concerned that creative age for business. It follows a number seemingly resistant to the medicine of central banks, the stock limbo. No insurance will apply unless organisations and cultural spaces will of measures included in last week’s market is gripped by fear and volatility. Now is not the time for the government requires closure, find they are unable to claim compen- Budget. Sunak said yesterday: “We are academic arguments about creative destruction or the perils of and even then any payout will come sation for the huge losses they will doing everything we can to can to far too late to save millions of jobs,” experience as a result of Covid-19,” keep this country, and our people, state intervention. If the government wants to stop a public she added. she added. healthy and financially secure.” health crisis being compounded by an economic catastrophe, it Emma McClarkin, chief executive of Jonathan Downey, the chief execu- Last night a government spokesman must act. Confidence must be restored. It’s time for the PM to the British Beer and Pub Association, tive of street food market operator told City A.M. that they understand said the “very existence of some pubs London Union, said the decision to the “considerable impacts” placed on channel his inner Mario Draghi and declare that he will do is now at threat”. advise customers to stay at home business by yesterday’s announce- “whatever it takes”. Hospitality venues in London had rather than close venues is a “passive ment. “We will continue to engage already reported a 47 per cent drop aggressive lockdown”. with business to discuss what support in year-on-year footfall on Sunday “I understand how they are saving they need in this challenging pe- Follow us on Twitter @cityam and some firms are around a month lives, but I don’t understand how riod,”they added.

FINANCIAL TIMES THE TIMES THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL AB INBEV DRAWS DOWN WHAT THE VIRUS CURFEW IMPOSED AS UNION: RISK TO DELIVERIES US AIRLINES TO SEEK $50BN ENTIRE $9BN LOAN FACILITY OTHER US SCHOOLS SHUT DOWN AS TRUCKERS BLOCKED CORONAVIRUS AID PACKAGE Anheuser-Busch Inbev (AB Inbev), the Three US states banned gatherings of Lorry drivers who are essential for Reeling from the coronavirus crisis, US world’s largest brewer by volume, has PAPERS SAY more than 50 people yesterday, with keeping supermarket shelves stocked airlines are seeking over $50bn become the latest big company to New Jersey announcing the first curfew during the coronavirus crisis are being (£40.8bn) in financial assistance from bolster its cash position by drawing THIS in America after the country's leading blocked from washing facilities at the US government, more than three down the entirety of a $9bn (£7.34bn) public health body urged an end to delivery sites — risking sweeping times the size of the industry’s bailout loan facility from global banks, people MORNING large events. product shortages, the truckers’ union after the 9/11 attacks. The exact form of with direct knowledge of the decision has said. the aid is under discussion. said yesterday. The brewer, which has BRITISH AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA been working to reduce a $95bn debt AND IRAQ KILLED CIVILIANS US HEALTH AGENCY SUFFERS TRUMP STEPS UP EFFORTS burden built up during a years-long There is credible evidence that British VIRUS-TIED CYBER ATTACK TO SLOW OUTBREAK SPREAD acquisition binge, made a request to airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have killed The US Department of Health and Trump yesterday ramped up measures tap the facility late last week, these multiple civilians, the US-led military Human Services (HHS), a key part of the to contain the spread of the coronavirus people said. the rating on Boeing’s credit and coalition against Isis said. The verdict federal response to the fast-spreading outbreak across the US, including unsecured debt from A-minus to BBB, contradicts the Ministry of Defence’s coronavirus outbreak, was hit by a banning gatherings of more than 10 BOEING’S CREDIT RATING which remains investment grade, on a insistence that UK armed forces are cyber attack on Sunday night. Multiple people, and encouraging the public to CUT TWO NOTCHES BY S&P day that the beleaguered aircraft firm’s responsible for the death of only one hacking incidents appeared aimed at end discretionary travel as cases in the S&P Global Ratings yesterday lowered stock dropped nearly a quarter. non-combatant in the past six years. slowing down department systems. US cases increased to around 4,140. CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 NEWS 03

SHEN-GONE ZONE European Commission proposes 30-day entry ban for all visitors Canada closes Airlines move to borders amid global lock-up limit damage as EDWARD THICKNESSE @edthicknesse CANADA yesterday shut its borders to all foreign nationals apart from travel restricted US citizens due to coronavirus, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warning people to stay away from each other as much as possible. EDWARD THICKNESSE seat capacity by 80 per cent in April The move was the latest drastic @edthicknesse and May. measure implemented due to the Yesterday it was revealed that the spread of the virus, with French THE UK’s largest airlines yesterday airline’s bosses would write to Prime EUROPEAN Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen yesterday proposed a 30-day President Emmanuel Macron took drastic steps to ensure they could Minister Boris Johnson seeking £7.5bn ban on all incoming foreign travel to the EU Schengen Zone, as leaders battle to limit unveiling new measures to protect survive the coronavirus outbreak, in state aid for UK aviation. Easyjet the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. It would not apply to UK and Irish citizens. French businesses, including a grounding the vast majority of their also joined calls for government sup- €300bn (£273.5bn) loans guarantee fleets in response to widespread port for the industry. for companies. travel bans and flight cancellations. Both IAG and Easyjet stressed the Speaking to the public via a Aviation stocks were again among strength of their respective balance televised address, Macron said that the biggest fallers on the FTSE, with sheets, with IAG reporting a total liq- Johnson calls on businesses to no French company would be British Airways owner IAG losing 27 uidity of €9.3bn (£8.5bn). Other air- allowed to fail, no matter how big. per cent and Easyjet down 19 per cent. lines are in a more precarious state, From midday today, citizens in IAG said that it would cut 75 per with Norwegian especially exposed. make ventilators in NHS support France will have to remain at home cent of its capacity in April and May, The carrier said it would cut capac- for 15 days, with anyone caught in with chief Willie Walsh announcing ity by 85 per cent and temporarily lay EDWARD THICKNESSE make the components themselves. breach of the restrictions to be that he would stay in his position due off 7,300 staff. @edthicknesse The Prime Minister told firms such punished. Gas, electricity, water to the crisis. Shares plummeted 27 Separately yesterday senior execu- as Ford, Honda, and Rolls Royce, that bills and rent payments will also be per cent to 255.7p yesterday. tives at Heathrow airport, including PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has "responding to coronavirus and suspended during the crisis. Virgin Atlantic said it would ground boss John Holland-Kaye, said they will called on the UK’s biggest companies reducing the spread of the peak Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, 85 per cent of its fleet during April, take pay cuts over the next few to help produce crucial medical requires a national effort”. US President Donald Trump said and has also asked staff to take un- months as the UK’s busiest airport equipment like ventilators as the He added that the ambition for that people should avoid paid leave of up to eight weeks over tries to limit the damage done by the coronavirus crisis worsens. industry should be “to manufacture restaurants, bars, and public spaces the next three months. Ryanair also coronavirus outbreak. Last night Johnson spoke to more as many new ventilators as possible, as well as unnecessary travel, said it would ground the majority of Sky News first reported Holland- than 60 UK businesses, asking them so we can all help the most saying the outbreak would likely its fleet in the next week, reducing its Kaye will forego his salary until June. both to share their expertise and vulnerable and our NHS”. last until July or August.

VIRUS CASES CONTINUE TO RISE 1,543 IMF chief says Fund ready to lend up to UK cases now confirmed with 55 fatalities THE WIRE and Luther star Idris Elba was the $1 trillion to ease coronavirus fallout latest celebrity to be diagnosed with Covid- CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE and demand, one that is uniquely mobilise its $1 trillion (£813bn) of 19, announcing his difficult for policy-makers to ‘fix’.” lending capacity to help member diagnosis on social The moves only served to deepen “Low rates don’t solve a shortage countries deal with the impact of media yesterday. investor fears that monetary policy of semiconductors if a factory needs coronavirus, the organisation’s Across Europe, Italy cannot curb the fallout of the virus. to shut down,” he said. managing director Kristalina now has 28,000 cases The S&P has now fallen to its Despite traders’ attitude to central Georgieva said yesterday. and more than a lowest levels since December 2018, bank stimulus, new Bank of England Central bankers such as Fed chair thousand have died. with US President Donald Trump governor Andrew Bailey yesterday Jay Powell have said they are aware Spain has 8,734 cases, warning that a recession was now a said Threadneedle Street stands of the limited effect that monetary while 4,138 cases of possibility. ready to take more “prompt action” policy will have on supply chains in the virus have been Andrew Sheets, chief cross-asset when needed to tackle the economic the short term, but hope their confirmed in the strategist at Morgan Stanley, said: “It fallout from coronavirus. measures will support economies as United States. is a negative shock to both supply Meanwhile, the IMF is ready to the virus fades.

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* Terms, conditions and exclusions apply. Offer ends 3 April 2020. New customers only that have opened their accounts between 3 February and 3 April 2020, and spend a minimum of £3,000 in the first three months. The approval of your application depends on financial circumstances and borrowing history. We take Barclaycard is a trading name of Barclays Bank PLC and Barclaycard International Payments Limited. every Barclays Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register number: 122702). payment Registered in England No. 1026167. Registered Office: 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP. Barclaycard International Payments Limited, trading as Barclaycard, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. seriously Registered Number: 316541. Registered Office: One Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, Ireland, D02 RF29. Directors: Paul Adams (British), James Kelly, Mary Lambkin Coyle and Peter Morris. 04 NEWS TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM Travelex owner Finablr in danger of Walmart nears failure as shares frozen by watchdog ANNA MENIN sale of Asda as financing, which meant it no out an independent investigation @annafmenin longer had any certainty over its into its finances. financial position. Shares in the Travelex owner had PAYMENTS company Finablr Finablr said it had discovered fallen 9.89 per cent yesterday yesterday warned it is in danger of $100m in undisclosed cheques made morning before the FCA agreed to collapsing as trading in its shares was before its initial public offering in suspend trading. new bids appear frozen by the Financial Conduct 2018 that may have been used as The news marks the latest blow for Authority (FCA). security for financing arrangements the empire UAE-based billionaire BR In a dramatic update to the stock for the benefit of third parties. Shetty, Finablr’s founder and exchange yesterday, the Travelex Chief executive Promoth Manghat majority owner. Shetty also founded JESS CLARK interested parties were private equity owner said it had found around has resigned from the payments firm, hospital operator NMC Health, whose @jclarkjourno firms, but last week said the discus- $100m (£81m) of undisclosed which has appointed Kroll to carry shares were suspended last month. sions were “informal”. US RETAIL giant Walmart has edged “Together, we are in discussions closer to a sale of Asda after three pri- with a small number of interested vate equity firms competing to buy parties who share Walmart and the supermarket reportedly made it Asda’s commitment and passion to through to the next stage of bidding. growing the business,” Walmart and Buyout firms Apollo Global Manage- Asda said in a joint statement. ment, Lone Star Funds and TDR Capi- “No decisions have been made and tal submitted first round offers for we will not be commenting further the UK grocer and have since been on these discussions.” invited to the next stage of bidding. They said Walmart would maintain A deal could potentially value the a significant minority stake in any UK supermarket at more than £7bn, deal agreed. Bloomberg reported yesterday. Walmart last year said it was weigh- TDR Capital has reportedly joined ing up listing Asda on the stock forces with petrol station chain EG market. Group on the bid. The US retail giant last week said it However, market volatility caused “firmly believes that an initial public by the global outbreak of coronavirus offering is an attractive long-term has sparked concerns over access to objective for Asda. Asda is a great cheap financing that could put the business with a clear strategy for the sale at risk. future.” Walmart previously confirmed it Apollo and TDR Capital declined to was in early-stage talks about selling comment yesterday. a controlling stake in the UK super- Lone Star and Walmart did not re- market, after receiving “inbound in- spond to a request for comment. terest” from a small number of firms. Walmart shares closed down 6.43 A person close to the talks said the per cent last night.

BAD APPLE Tech giant lands €1.1bn penalty from France for anti-competitive behaviour

FRANCE’s competition watchdog yesterday fined iPhone maker Apple €1.1bn (£1bn), saying it was guilty of anti-competitive behaviour towards its distribution and retail network. It is the biggest ever fine levied by the French antitrust body. EU rejects Britain’s call for quick agreement on financial services ANNA MENIN In a letter to EU Commission @annafmenin executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis, Sunak argued that the THE EU’s head of financial regulation UK and EU “should be able to yesterday rejected the UK’s calls for conclude equivalence assessments the City’s future access to the bloc’s swiftly” given that they currently markets to be settled by the end of have the same financial regulations. June, warning that Brussels’ decision However in a reply seen by City will be based on the extent Britain A.M., Dombrovskis said that the EU wants to deviate from EU rules. had never agreed to reach a decision UK chancellor Rishi Sunak last by 30 June. In the letter, dated 13 month called on the EU to make March, he said the Brexit deal quick progress in the granting of so- requires both sides to try to complete called equivalence rights for British their equivalence assessments by the financial services. that time, not to make final decisions.

06 NEWS TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM Primark owner Plus500 raises forecast after shares halted in demand booms ANGHARAD CARRICK @angharadcarrick PLUS500 is one of the few winners from the coronavirus outbreak as virus sales warn it raised its outlook after a boom in trading activity. Last week the FTSE 100 suffered JACK RICHARDSON It said the remainder of its its biggest one-day fall since the locations, including the UK which 1987 crash after US President @JackRich93 represents 41 per cent of sales, had Donald Trump imposed a travel SHARES in Primark owner Associated suffered like-for-like sales declines ban on Europe. British Foods (ABF) were suspended over the last two weeks. The spreadbetting firm said it for an hour yesterday morning after These drops have accelerated over “has continued to see a the firm warned store closures would the last few days due to reduced foot- significantly increased level of hit sales. ball, the company said. The fashion brand’s shares rose eight per cent during the first quarter of 2020 customer trading activity alongside The retail conglomerate’s shares “We are managing the business strong momentum across all were halted after falling sharply, as appropriately but do not expect to financial and operational KPIs.” ABF said 20 per cent of its retail space significantly mitigate the effect of the Plus500’s trading platform allows was now closed due to government contribution lost from these sales,” H&M closes hundreds of stores customers to bet on whether a measures in France, Spain and Austria it said in a statement. share price will rise or fall. Revenue to limit the spread of coronavirus. from customer income has been ABF said the rapidly changing scale ABF as Europe battles coronavirus strong because of the heightened of the coronavirus outbreak has levels of market volatility. meant it is too early to “provide earn- 2,500 P JESS CLARK Czech Republic. Bulgaria, Belgium, London’s FTSE 100 fell four per ings guidance for the remainder of 2,000 France and partly in Greece. It cent yesterday after a day of the current financial year”. @jclarkjourno yesterday added Luxembourg, widespread selloffs. Shares closed down 5.2 per cent to 1,500 H&M SHARES dropped 10.7 per cent Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia Plus500 said it had also 16 Mar 1,739.5p at the bell yesterday. 1,000 yesterday after it announced it has and Kazakhstan to the list. experienced gains from customer The budget retailer said these stores 1,739.50 shuttered hundreds of stores across “The situation in every country is trading performance, which is accounted for 30 per cent of its sales, 500 Europe as coronavirus continues to changing rapidly,” H&M said. “The expected to be neutral over time. and the company had expected rev- 0 spread across the continent. H&M group is working extensively to Despite a strong performance, enue of £190m from them over the The group has temporarily shut all manage the Covid-19 situation, the shares in Plus500 closed down 5.7 next four weeks. 10 Mar11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 16 Mar its stores in Italy, Poland, Spain, the highest priority being safety.” per cent to 731.2p yesterday.

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Try Xero free for 30 days. CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 NEWS 07 UK withholds Garden Bridge report STEFAN BOSCIA London and former chancellor George The 2016 paper reportedly contains Osborne. However, the trust was liqui- internal cost estimates of the project @Stefan_Boscia dated last year after the bridge was and a potential warning to not put THE DEPARTMENT for Transport scrapped by Sadiq Khan in 2017 more taxpayer dollars into the bridge. (DfT) yesterday said it will not release because of a £70m funding gap. Len Duvall, chair of the London As- a report into the failed £48m Garden Despite that, a Freedom of Informa- sembly’s oversight committee, said Bridge so it can protect a trust that no tion (FOI) request by Architects’ Jour- the DfT’s suppression of the report longer operates. nal to see an internal report on the was “completely out of order”. The Garden Bridge Trust was set up project was rejected by the DfT on the “I can’t think of a worst example of to manage the disastrous project, grounds that it was protecting the public waste than the Garden Bridge which was championed by Boris interests of the liquidated Garden project,” he said. “The government Johnson when he was mayor of Bridge Trust. should hang its head in shame.” The bridge was scrapped by Sadiq Khan in 2017 in light of a £70m funding gap

IN BRIEF LSE GETS US APPROVAL FOR DEAL Tinned gin in, US regulators have approved the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) takeover of financial data firm Refinitiv, the bourse announced fruit pies out of yesterday. LSE said that the US Committee on Foreign Investment had determined that there were no inflation basket national security concerns related to the $27bn (£22bn) deal, which HARRY ROBERTSON was first announced in August last year. The all-share deal would triple @harrygrobertson LSE’s revenues to £7bn, as well as SELF-TANNING products, gin in a creating new income streams for tin, reusable mugs and gluten-free the company from data distribution cereals were yesterday added to the and analytics. basket of goods used to calculate inflation as Brits go eco-friendly and AMAZON TO HIRE 100,000 health-conscious. WAREHOUSE WORKERS Meanwhile, frozen imported legs Amazon said yesterday it will hire of lamb, fruit pies and frozen 100,000 US warehouse and delivery chicken breasts have been chucked workers and raise their pay by $2 in the bin to better reflect per hour throughout April, in a bid consumers’ gastronomical tastes. to meet demand amid the virus The Office for National Statistics outbreak. The e-commerce giant (ONS) has a basket of goods that it said it would invest around $350m uses to measure the changing costs (£285m) to increase employee pay, of products and services over time. and that new jobs would include Each year, it switches around both full-time and part-time some of the products to make positions. “We are seeing a sure it captures what UK consumers significant increase in demand, are buying. which means our labour needs are This year, the arrival of vegetable unprecedented for this time of year,” crisps and “free-from” cereals in the Amazon said in a blog post basket has highlighted Brits’ yesterday. The firm has reported a increasing concerns about health sharp increase in online shoppers as and sustainability. coronavirus takes its grip around Home-killed beef and fresh turkey the world and people are steaks have been ditched. increasingly told to Self-tanning products made it on self-isolate. to the list, and could become even more popular this year as INVESTMENT COMPANIES holidaymakers looking for a golden INCREASE DIVIDENDS glow are forced to stay in Britain Global markets have been spooked amid the virus outbreak. by the coronavirus outbreak in Alcohol products are still a staple, recent weeks, but 21 investment but consumers increasingly favour companies have been increasing their cocktails in a tin. their dividends for more than two “The gin trend shows no sign of decades. The Association of slowing, with an extra entry for gin Investment Companies (AIC) added to the basket to reflect how yesterday published a list of its 21 much we all love the tipple and the “dividend heroes” that have variety of options out there,” said consistently increased their Laura Suter of AJ Bell. dividends for 20 or more years. When not enjoying a metallic City of London Investment Trust, mojito, Brits are more likely than Bankers Investment Trust and ever to be drinking their coffee or Alliance Trust lead the way with 53 water from a reusable bottle or cup years of consecutive rises, followed in the name of saving the planet. closely by Caledonia Investment ONS senior statistician Philip with 52 years of increases. Seven of Gooding said: “Many consumers are AIC’s dividend heroes have rolled looking to decrease their out a further year of increases. environmental impacts.” LSL scraps Countrywide merger amid virus JESS CLARK upmarket chain Marsh & Parsons, Bairstow Eves, Gascoigne-Pees and did not give a reason for its decision Hamptons International, reported @jclarkjourno yesterday, however the spread of that it had seen a bounce in public LSL PROPERTY Services yesterday coronavirus across the UK has sentiment at the beginning of this pulled out of a potential £500m sparked uncertainty and volatility in year and that agreed sales in February merger with Countrywide, the market. were ahead of expectations. terminating a deal that would have Countrywide said it had seen some In a statement yesterday the firm created the UK’s biggest estate agent, “softening in recent days” due to the said: “Countrywide notes the amid market uncertainty due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but added that it announcement by LSL that it now no outbreak of coronavirus. was too early to assess its impact. longer intends to make an offer for A merger between the two firms could have led to widespread job cuts LSL, which owns Your Move and The estate agent, which owns Countrywide.”

CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 NEWS 09

GAMES OVER? Olympic Committee to hold crunch talks on Tokyo 2020 in pandemic EU watchdog Car makers shut tightens rules on shortselling European plants ANNA MENIN @annafmenin HEDGE funds and other investors will have to give regulators more as virus spreads information about the stocks they are betting against, the European Union’s market watchdog said yesterday, warning that the stock EDWARD THICKNESSE worst hit by the disease, with nearly market rout triggered by 28,000 cases. coronavirus could last weeks. @edthicknesse Likewise, French giant Renault is The European Securities and CAR GIANTS across Europe will shut closing 12 sites across the country, THE INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee (IOC) will today hold talks with the heads Markets Authority (Esma) yesterday plants and curb production due to affecting around 18,000 workers of international sport organisations to discuss its response to the coronavirus lowered the threshold for falling demand and hygiene fears in The Financial Times reported that pandemic, and decide whether to go ahead with the games this summer. reporting shortselling — a bet that response to the Covid-19 outbreak. Volkswagen was considering cur- a company’s share price will fall — Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot, Re- tailing production at several to regulators for the next three nault and Volkswagen will of its plants, including at its months. It warned that current all close facilities amid headquarters in Wolfs- trading conditions posed a the economic chaos burg, due to severe sup- Stobart lands £700m offer for “serious” threat to “fragile caused by coronavirus, markets”, which plunged again with some employees Fiat Chrysler produces yesterday amid fears the pandemic refusing to work over around 25 per cent of its Southend airport quarter stake will tip economies into recession. fear of infection. vehicles in Europe Esma said the move was a Peugeot owner PSA POPPY WOOD a proposal to acquire a 25 per cent “precautionary action” that was has taken the decision to ply chain disruption. stake in the UK airport, Sky News essential for authorities to monitor shut factories until 27 Seat, the firm’s Spanish @poppyeh reported last night. developments in markets “under March, including its Vaux- subsidiary, also announced INFRASTRUCTURE conglomerate The offer follows weeks of turmoil the exceptional circumstances hall plants at Ellesmere Port that it would lay off 14,800 work- Stobart Group has landed a £700m for airlines, after Flybe — in which linked to the ongoing Covid-19 and Luton in the UK. ers for an unspecified period of time stake offer in Southend airport Stobart held a 30 per cent stake — pandemic”. Fiat Chrysler will shut several of its as it halts production at all of its depsite the gloom surrounding the collapsed in early March. Easyjet and It came as Italy and Spain plants for the same period of time, operations in Spain. aviation industry. Ryanair yesterday announced they yesterday extended short bans on shuttering facilities across Italy as A spokesman said that workers German-based firm Avialliance, were grounding most of their fleet, more than 100 stocks after record well as factories in Poland and Serbia. would keep 80 per cent of their salary, which runs airports in Greece, while Virgin Atlantic staff were told selloffs last Friday, prompting a Italy has been the European country with other benefits. Hungary and Puerto Rico, has tabled to take eight weeks unpaid leave. temporary suspension on the FTSE. Oil spirals further as virus impact and Chinese economy plunges price war rattle international markets as outbreak hits factories JAMES WARRINGTON Industrial output fell 13.5 per cent JACK RICHARDSON As last week progressed, prices had month, Opec and Russia — known as in January and February from the shown a modest recovery to $36 a Opec Plus — were unable to agree on @j_a_warrington same period last year, according to @JackRich93 barrel. However oil had been trading an oil supply strategy going forward. CHINA’s factory production slumped figures released yesterday by the BRENT crude fell yesterday to $29.78 a at more than $50 a barrel at the end Last week, the UAE followed Saudi to its lowest level on record in the first National Bureau of Statistics. This barrel as emergency bank rate cuts in of February. Some analysts have Arabia’s lead by announcing plans to two months of the year as the coron- was worse than expected and marked the US and around the world failed to warned it could soon fall below increase supply. At the same time, avirus outbreak wreaked havoc for the weakest reading since records halt market troubles. $20 a barrel. coronavirus has led to doubts over the world’s second-largest economy. began in 1990. The 9.6 per cent drop marks a The decline is being fuelled by a demand for oil in the world economy Analysts yesterday said the shock “Judging by the data, the shock to decline to the low levels seen at the price war between Russia and Saudi over the coming months as travel was worse than the financial crisis a China’s economic activity from the start of last week. These were the Arabia in addition to the coronavirus around the world is disrupted. decade ago and reinforced fears coronavirus epidemic is greater than lowest prices seen since February outbreak disrupting worldwide BP’s shares fell 6.1 per cent to that the epidemic may have cut the global financial crisis,” said Zhang 2016 and marked the worst daily fall supply chains and consumer demand. 259.35p on the news, while Shell’s China’s economic growth in half in Yi, chief economist at Zhonghai Shen- since the 1991 Gulf War. At a meeting in Vienna earlier this shares fell 7.4 per cent to 1,003.4p. the first quarter. grong Capital Management. 10 NEWS TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM Digital banks in Revolut finance boss quits after major lockdown just five months ANNA MENIN @annafmenin DAVID MacLean is stepping down as coronavirus plan chief financial officer of Revolut after just five months in the role. City A.M. understands that MacLean is leaving the company, EXCLUSIVE from home for between one and two which recently tied with Klarna as EMILY NICOLLE weeks during alternate periods. Europe’s most valuable fintech However City A.M. understands that startup, for personal reasons. @emilyjnicolle full-scale rehearsals have not been Revolut has appointed an interim PREPARATIONS at the UK’s top three carried out. chief financial officer, but has not digital banks for an eventual shut- A spokesperson for Revolut said the yet appointed MacLean’s down due to the spread of coron- timings of the split system are being Blomfield hopes the Pro tier and income from interchange fees will be a cash cow replacement. It is thought that avirus are well underway, as most evaluated on a daily basis, while Star- MacLean will continue to support staff work from home and remote ling said all of its policies are under Revolut on key projects until rehearsals take place. daily review due to the outbreak. the summer. Most staff at both Monzo and Revo- At all three banks, staff can still opt Monzo pushes free and paid-for Revolut declined to comment on lut’s offices around the world are now to self-isolate outside of those trials. MacLean’s departure. The digital working from home, while at Starling At Revolut’s London office, this has banking startup, which last month Bank it is an approximate 50 per cent led to approximately 80 per cent of its business accounts to companies closed a $500m (£408m) funding split. Monzo has around 1,500 employ- staff now working from home. round at a $5.5bn valuation, has ees, while Revolut has more than Travel between Starling’s three UK EMILY NICOLLE which chief executive Tom Blomfield recently revamped its leadership to 2,000 and Starling has 800 staff. offices has been banned, while at Rev- told City A.M. was to help the bank get bring in a host of finance veterans Monzo chief executive Tom Blom- olut there is a ban on all business @emilyjnicolle the product to market faster. in a bid to overhaul its image. field told City A.M. yesterday that the travel globally. Additionally, any Rev- DIGITAL bank Monzo has today Last year Monzo failed in its bid for City veteran Martin Gilbert, a bank ran a full-scale shutdown olut staff member that goes abroad launched its business bank accounts a chunk of the £775m Banking former co-chief executive of rehearsal earlier this year to evaluate on holiday must then self-isolate for to the wider public, introducing a Competition Remedies fund, which Standard Life Aberdeen was if it could operate smoothly in the two weeks once they arrive back free-to-use Lite account and a £5 per utilised cash to improve competition appointed the fintech’s inaugural event of an entire staff quarantine. home. All three remain confident month Pro iteration. in the small business banking sector. chairman last year. Revolut has also Revolut and Starling are currently that should a full UK lockdown occur, Business owners will be required to Blomfield said the time to a full recruited former Goldman Sachs operating a split system trial, in the banks could be run remotely with have a Monzo personal account launch would have been shortened, executive Michael Sherwood as a which half of staff are asked to work no compromise to customer service. before signing up to Monzo Business, had it got its hands on the cash. non-executive chairman. William Hill suspends its dividend as sports cancellations hurt betting firms JAMES WARRINGTON than half its revenue from its sports with some of the UK’s biggest book business, said this could grow to bookmakers suffering a torrid day of @j_a_warrington a £35m hit if its UK shops were closed trading. Shares in GVC, which owns WILLIAM Hill yesterday said it has for several months. Ladbrokes Coral, dropped almost 21 suspended its dividend due to Football matches in the Premier per cent after it said earnings would widespread sports cancellations, League and Champions League, Six be reduced by as much as £150m. sending its shares down more than Nations rugby fixtures and the US Betfair and Paddy Power owner 25 per cent at the bell. Masters golf tournament are Flutter slumped 13 per cent after it The betting giant warned the among the sporting events that have warned of a profit impact of as much postponement of key sporting been shelved as a result of the as £100m. It will likely to have a huge fixtures would reduce its earnings by virus outbreak. impact on Flutter, which made 78 per up to £110m. The moves sent shockwaves cent of its revenue last year through The company, which makes more through the betting sector yesterday, bets placed on global sporting events. Premier and Champions League matches have been cancelled after the outbreak CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 NEWS 11 Halfords closes its cycling business ANGHARAD CARRICK Halfords said it was closing the low- customer in a more economic way returning and stock intensive business than we do today,” the group said in a @angharadcarrick next year, to improve returns as well statement yesterday. HALFORDS yesterday announced the as accelerate growth in its motoring The retailer said it would launch a closure of two of its cycling businesses business. The closure of Cycle Republic consultation process with its 226 em- as it focuses its attention on its online will leave Halfords with its predomi- ployees to mitigate redundancies. operations. nantly online cycling business Tredz. Chief executive Graham Stapleton The retailer is closing the operations “With investment in the Tredz busi- said: “The board has come to the of Cycle Republic and the Boardman ness, alongside our core Halfords Re- difficult, but necessary, decision to Performance Centre following a tail cycling business, we believe we propose the closure of Cycle Republic, strategic review of the group’s cycling will be uniquely placed to serve both our retail store-focused performance businesses. the enthusiast and the mainstream cycling brand.” Halfords will close its Cycle Republic and Boardman Performance Centre arms Sirius Minerals Glenhawk gets shares halted in £200m facility Anglo takeover from JP Morgan JAMES WARRINGTON JESS CLARK @j_a_warrington @jclarkjourno SHARES in Sirius Minerals were JP MORGAN yesterday said it had suspended yesterday ahead of the agreed a £200m facility with embattled mining firm’s takeover by challenger lender Glenhawk to grow Anglo American. its property loan size and enter the Shareholders earlier this month UK homeowner mortgage market. approved the controversial £405m The new senior funding line will acquisition by Anglo, which offered support Glenhawk’s ability to grow its 5.5p per Sirius share. maximum property bridging loan While most Sirius investors bought size from £3m to £5m to fund a in at roughly 25p, the bid was mixture of residential and accepted as the mining firm commercial borrowers. It hopes to desperately sought funding to save its grow its UK loan book to £200m by potash mine in Yorkshire. the end of 2021. The deal was given court approval The new capital will allow on Friday and shares in Sirius are set Glenhawk to enter the UK to be delisted from the London Stock homeowner mortgage market with Exchange when it completes today. its first regulated bridging product, It marks the end of a dramatic planned for the first half of this year. takeover proceeding as executives and Glenhawk, which is backed by shareholders wrangled over the terms Rightmove founder Harry Hill, was of the rescue plan. launched by Guy Harrington in Sirius boss Chris Fraser had January 2018. previously urged shareholders to Harrington said: “This is a support the Anglo deal, saying there significant milestone for us, a little was no obvious alternative. This over two years since we started out. JP view was shared by local conservative Morgan is one of the world’s MP Robert Goodwill, who is himself most prestigious financial an investor. institutions, and we are extremely Whilst Jupiter Fund Management, excited by this opportunity, whilst which owns a 7.8 per cent stake in also a little humbled. Sirius, pledged to back the deal, City “The new funds allow us to tycoon Crispin Odey’s fund opposed enhance our existing product range, it, arguing that the 5.5p offer was not whilst providing us with the platform the “best and final” offer that could to expand into markets where there is have been made. an opportunity for us to replicate our The deal was focused on Sirius’ success to date, as we look to polyhalite project in north Yorkshire, continue pushing the boundaries which is believed to be the biggest with what is possible in the non-bank high-grade site in the world. lending space.” The so-called Woodsmith project, Rob Tanna-Smith, executive which is the largest mine to be director at JP Morgan, added: “Guy developed in the UK for a generation, and Glenhawk marry institutional is expected to provide 1,200 jobs. style lending practices, governance, Speaking after the deal was agreed, and infrastructure with a customer- Sirius chairman Russell Scrimshaw centric approach. hailed a “positive outcome” for both “The quality of Glenhawk’s existing shareholders and employees. loan book and Guy’s vision to Shares remained at Friday’s values broaden the product offering give us of 5.49p yesterday after the huge encouragement that this will be suspension. a successful partnership.” Transferwise strikes partnership with Alipay ANNA MENIN able to send Chinese yuan from Kristo Kaarman said the partnership 17 currencies to users of Alipay, a between the pair had been one @annafmenin subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce of the most-requested features from TRANSFERWISE has teamed up with giant Alibaba. users since Transferwise expanded Chinese payment platform Alipay to Alipay and its local partners have into Asia. offer its users money transfers to over 1.2bn users globally, making the “Alipay functions as the primary China, as the London-based payments partnership a significant expansion payment method for more than 1bn company moves to expand into the for Transferwise, which says it people in China and we are excited to lucrative market. handles £4bn transactions every be bringing instant international Under the partnership, announced month for over 7m customers. transfers to the fingertips of Alipay’s Alipay is a major Chinese mobile payments provider used by billions globally today, Transferwise’s users will be Co-founder and chief executive users,” he added.

CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 NEWS 13 UK record label Takeover of TI Media receives revenue surges CMA green light ANGHARAD CARRICK @angharadcarrick THE COMPETITION and Markets Authority (CMA) yesterday to record £1.1bn approved Future’s acquisition of TI Media, saying it “does not raise competition concerns”, but added JAMES WARRINGTON vinyl continued to grow, with sales of that certain conditions must be the vintage format rising 16 per cent met in the deal. @j_a_warrington to £66.3m. In October 2019, the publisher REVENUE for UK record labels rose to The overall growth in revenue was said it planned to acquire magazine just under £1.1bn last year, driven by boosted by the success of established printer TI Media, which owns the continued growth of streaming British stars such as Ed Sheeran and popular titles Country Life and and investment in new music. Adele, as well as more recent break- Marie Claire, for £140m in cash. The figures mark the fourth consec- throughs including Lewis Capaldi, TV shows such as Antiques Roadshow will still be available for over-75s for free After completing its initial utive year of growth and is the high- Dave and Dua Lipa. investigation, the CMA found that est level of annual trade income “The music industry’s success is Future and TI Media compete in in more than a decade. powered by record labels’ up-front in- photography and football Streaming income — driven vestment and shouldering of BBC delays license fee changes magazines, as well as technology by popular subscription risk, so it is important to the websites. It said: “The two services such as Spotify — sustainable health of the businesses would, together, hold a jumped 22 per cent to music ecosystem that label for over-75s due to virus spread very strong position in these £629m in 2019. Within revenues grew on last year’s markets after the merger, with few streaming, ad-supported results,” said Geoff Taylor, CATHERINE NEILAN 1 June, but this will now be delayed alternatives for customers.” audio platforms saw chief executive of BPI, which until 1 August. Colin Raftery, CMA senior revenue rise 30 per published the figures. @CatNeilan Millions of over-75s will have to director of mergers, said: “There’s cent, while video However, he warned that THE BBC yesterday said it will push start paying the £157.50 fee after the a real risk that these readers... streaming revenue the music industry faces back plans to end the blanket free government withdrew funding. The could end up paying more for was up 19 per cent. pressure from “wide- licence fee scheme for over-75s amid BBC has said it will only cover the lower quality products because of Though most of the spread illegal sites”. concerns about the impact of the cost of those who receive pension the lack of choice in the market.” revenue is now earned coronavirus outbreak. credit. BBC chairman Sir David The CMA said the two firms have from digital formats, Artists like Lewis Capaldi Pensioners were due to face Clementi said the decision came in five days to address its concerns nostalgic demand for have boosted the industry changes to the licence fee from light of “exceptional circumstances”. before an in-depth investigation.

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CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 NEWS 15 TIME TO FIGHT THE POWER

service, the careers of individual civil Former MP Douglas Whitehall has faced servants should be tied up to success- criticism over its ful outcomes — for which they should Carswell and rigid hiring policies be accountable over the long term — instead of courting the patronage of author Radomir top mandarins. Over the past few decades many pub- Tylecote plot a new lic offices came to be presided over by people with a similar, soft left outlook. path for a reformed Think of them as the sort of people Civil Service that spent much of the past few

HE ARRIVAL of Covid-19 on these shores has, in the econ- omy at least, turned the ex- pected “Boris bounce” into a Government has crash of historic proportions. TThe pandemic is, rightly, the focus of to work better almost all government attention at the moment. The public expects nothing months dithering over the referen- less. But as we look to the future, it will dum result. We need to overhaul the be vital to look at what we have learnt way that the power of patronage is about how government operates both exercised to ensure that those who before and during the crisis. hold high office share the strategic It may feel as if Boris Johnson’s legacy objectives of those we elect. will be bound up only in the response Poor public administration holds our to this dreadful virus. But he has the country back and erodes faith in chance to turn his election in Decem- democracy. ber into a watershed moment, similar The Good Governance Project will be to Margaret Thatcher’s 1979 win, if he outlining ideas to ensure that public grasps the nettle of government Clegg — for his Big Society agenda. moment, he needs to make fundamen- to be a different way of doing things. administration is run by those prop- administration. Having a Commons Five years on, what did he have to show tal changes to the system of public Many of the most pressing public pol- erly answerable to the public, not to majority is not enough to ensure that for it? administration itself. icy challenges require cross-govern- other officials in Westminster. things are done differently. Converting a Commons majority into To help achieve this, we have ment collaboration to bring about Getting Brexit done means that Tony Blair won several massive a change of direction in public policy launched a new initiative. effective and innovative responses. Britain now has what you might call majorities. But did the start of his is difficult when ministers are encased The Good Governance Project is not A strategically coherent centre home rule. It is no longer up to supra- premiership mark a decisive break in an unresponsive bureaucracy. The about slashing the state, even if we should be able to commission ad hoc national institutions on the other side with the past? Within three years of buttons they jabbed at turn out not to believe that Britain needs less govern- teams, bringing together the capable of the channel to decide what we his 1997 win, he was complaining be wired up to anything. The levers ment. It’s about government working people, backed by financial firepower might do. At the Good Governance about the “scars on his back” in frus- they pulled had long since been better. and prime ministerial fiat, to improve Project, we believe we now need to re- tration with a system that wore down disconnected. Both administrations Improving the way Whitehall works outcomes. think the way we are ruled at home. his desire to do things differently. retreated into government by gesture. requires strategic coherence at the Current Whitehall rules preclude David Cameron might not have won Theresa May’s attempts to deliver centre. Instead of fragmentation people unless they happen to have sat £ Douglas Carswell and Radomir Tylecote a majority, but he too came to office Brexit were frustrated at every turn. between Downing Street, the Cabinet civil service exams many years ago. are joint founders of the Good Governance with one — in coalition with Nick If Boris’ election is to be a May 1979 Office and the Treasury, there needs This needs to change. Within the civil Project. www.goodgovernment.uk LEADINGLIGHTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH City Giving Day is good for business

Hear from Helen Bunker, Partner, Blake Morgan ity Giving Day is important for Blake Morgan in London as it Chelps us give something back to astounded by the commitment the the City, the place where our staff City has for giving back, its so inspir- work every day. As a firm we are ing to see. Last year we were also very Hear from Vicky proud to support our charities and proud to win the award for 'best col- communities and the fact so many of laboration' with DMH Stallard, a Bills, CSR Champion, our staff undertake fundraising for business also in New Street Square. charity, using their volunteering day City Giving Day also allows clients to Blake Morgan to make a difference. City Giving Day engage in our charity work, encour- Our City Giving Day consisted of us provides us the opportunity to en- aging them to be a part of our hosting a (very soggy) mini-golf gage with local businesses to host fundraising. It really helps create a fundraising initiatives that involve better place for our staff to work, plus course in collaboration with other our communities and our wider net- our clients and network sense it too companies in New Street Square. It works. It has a real social aspect – the feel good factor you get from a Dementia UK are pleased that was a great way to demonstrate to which is great on so many levels for very successful day of passionately their corporate partners are other firms the fundraising we do for our staff and the business. Since be- fundraising. The pressure is now on charity whilst meeting lots of new coming involved in the Lord Mayor's to come up with an idea for City Giv- taking part in this great initiative that showcases their support for @LMAPPEAL people to share fundraising ideas. Appeal a few years ago, we have been ing Day 2020 on 22 September. The day helps all of us to get involved us, creates awareness of our work #CGD with our charity partner and and helps engage colleagues in JOIN US AND REGISTER NOW AT #GoRed understand how to utilise our WWW.THELORDMAYORSAPPEAL.ORG/CGD fundraising in the City. volunteering day. We raised money Dementia UK for many great causes! 16 NEWS TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM O2 pairs up with Disney Plus to be its UK mobile network distributor ANGHARAD CARRICK demonstrating that there are more Telecoms analyst Paolo Pescatore reasons than ever to join the UK’s said the launch of the streaming @angharadcarrick number one network.” service has come at a good time amid O2 YESTERDAY agreed a deal with The deal still allows customers on the coronavirus outbreak. “I’m Disney to be the exclusive mobile other networks and devices to access expecting to see subscriptions to the network distributor for Disney Plus, a Disney Plus. Earlier this month, annual service surge in the run up to week ahead of its launch. Disney and O2 owner Telefonica launch,” he said. New and upgrading pay monthly struck a multi-year strategic alliance “Telcos will be bracing themselves customers will be able to get six that will see the service launch in for an explosion of traffic over their months of Disney Plus on O2. Spain, on its pay-TV SVOD service networks — both fixed and mobile.” Mark Evans, chief executive of O2, Movistar Plus. Disney Plus launches in the said: “We’re delighted to be working It also signed a deal with Sky to UK on 24 March, with more than 500 with Disney to bring these incredible make the streaming service available films, 350 series and a slate of 26 shows and movies to our customers, to its pay-TV customers. originals. Disney films such as The Lion King will be available for O2 customers to stream Met confiscates B&Q owner to suffer hit from just one electric virus outbreak JESS CLARK @jclarkjourno B&Q OWNER Kingfisher yesterday scooter a week announced that sales were expected to take a hit as stores closed across Europe due to the outbreak of coronavirus. EDWARD THICKNESSE easier and smarter”. The firm said it had been forced As part of the consultation the gov- Under the new legislation, all new-build homes will have gigabit-speed broadband to shutter 221 of its Castorama and @edthicknesse ernment will also look into the role Brico Depot stores across France THE MET Police confiscated just one e- that e-scooters could play in local until at least 14 April. scooter per week on average last year, transport, including making sure Government to reveal a gigabit It has also closed 28 stores in despite a crackdown on the illegal that they are safe for road use. Spain until 29 March after a two- public road use of the vehicles. The government will consider user week state of emergency was Of these, 25 confiscations came in requirements for the vehicles, such announced in the country. the two weeks following the death of as whether users will need to be over broadband plan for new homes The company’s 1,100 stores Emily Hartridge, who was hit by a a certain age, hold a license, or wear across the UK, Ireland, Poland, lorry while riding an e-scooter in Lon- a helmet. EDWARD THICKNESSE legislation will ensure developers Romania, Portugal and Russia are don in July 2019. Despite the ban on the vehicles, are legally required to install digital still open, however as the virus In the City of London, only 12 sales of e-scooters actually jumped @edthicknesse infrastructure with internet speeds continues to spread across Europe e-scooters were confiscated during over last year’s festive period, rising DIGITAL secretary Oliver Dowden will of over 1,000 megabits per second there could be more site closures. 2019, according to data obtained by a 96 per cent year on year in the three today announce that the government (Mbps) in new-build homes. Shares plunged 19 per cent on Freedom of Information request by months to the start of January 2020, will bring legislation to ensure all In order to incentivise developers the announcement, before e-scooter support group Scootered. according to data collated by Swedish new homes are built with gigabit- to follow the plans, the government recovering to close up 0.4 per cent. The figures came as the Department e-scooter startup Voi. speed broadband. has worked with broadband It said 25 per cent of its goods for Transport yesterday commenced E-scooters are prohibited for use on Currently, about one in five new operators to ensure they will are sourced in Asia, and that more a new consultation on how to make roads and pavements in the UK, but homes is still built without gigabit- contribute to the costs of installing than 95 per cent of its suppliers’ the UK’s transport laws “greener, are permitted on private land. speed connections, but the new the broadband in new homes. factories in China have reopened.

ANNOUNCEMENTS LEGAL AND PUBLIC NOTICES

CITY OF LONDON Lockheed Martin’s chief executive THE PLANNING ACTS AND THE ORDERS AND REGULATIONS MADE THEREUNDER This notice gives details of applications registered by the Department of The Built Environment Code: FULL/FULMAJ/FULEIA/FULLR3 – Planning Permission; LBC – Listed Building Consent; TPO – Tree Preservation Order; OUTL – Outline Planning Permission Marillyn Hewson set to step down 10 - 15 Newgate Street, London, EC1A 7HD WRWKHIDFDGHDQGIHQHVWUDWLRQDWJURXQGDQGÀUVW 20/00179/FULL ÁRRUVDVVRFLDWHGZLWKWKHRIÀFHHQWUDQFHRQ5RVH JACK RICHARDSON Hewson’s recommendation. “But with Marillyn sticking 6WUHHW 'HPROLWLRQRIH[LVWLQJURRIWRSSODQWDQG Since Hewson has been in around as chairman, and a very   ,QÀOO H[WHQVLRQ WR UHWDLO XQLW DW JURXQG ÁRRU FUHDWLRQRIQHZVHYHQWKÁRRULQFRUSRUDWLQJHLWKHU @JackRich93 for either Class A3 or Class A4 use (125sq.m), Class A3 or Class B1 uses, associated creation charge, Lockheed Martin’s stock experienced cohort of senior   $OWHUDWLRQV DW JURXQG ÁRRU OHYHO WR FUHDWH RI JURXQG ÁRRU HQWUDQFH IURP 1HZJDWH 6WUHHW THE BOSS of Lockheed Martin, has grown more than three-fold. Lockheed managers, we are not DQ H[WHQVLRQ WR WKH H[LVWLQJ RIÀFH HQWUDQFH (1,332sq.m), 9) Creation of new terrace at roof the world’s largest defence This has been due to increased US expecting there to be any (119sq.m), 3) Change of use of part ground and OHYHODQGUHODQGVFDSLQJH[LVWLQJWHUUDFHV contractor, is set to step down defence spending under revolutionary change,” Stallard ORZHUJURXQGÁRRUVIURPRIÀFH &ODVV% XVHWR after seven years at the helm. US President Trump, told . D ÁH[LEOH XVH IRU HLWKHU RIÀFH &ODVV %  RU ' 22 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4BQ medical uses with new entrance off Warwick Lane 20/00200/FULL Marillyn Hewson announced the F35 and greater The company, which is (181sq.m), 4) Change of use of part of the ground, ,QVHUWLRQRIORXYUHVIRUNLWFKHQH[KDXVWDWOHYHO the decision on Linkedin global demand. headquartered near ORZHU JURXQG DQG EDVHPHQW ÁRRUV IURP RIÀFH on the south elevation yesterday, saying: “The time is not “Taiclet has an Washington DC, achieved (Class B1) use to Class D2 gym use with a new only right for our company, but impressive pedigree $59.9bn (£48.9bn) entrance off Warwick Lane (604sq.m), 5) Creation 2 Wardrobe Place, London, EC4V 5AH 20/00228/FULL & 20/00229/LBC for me personally.” based on his sales in 2019 and has an of a new cycle entrance off Warwick Lane for new She stated a wish to spend resume, but from an order book of $144bn. cycle parking at basement level, 6) New lighting Installation of 1.1m metal safety balustrade to the design to Newgate Street colonnade, 7) Works rooftop parapet and chimney. more time with her family. aerospace and It has a cash flow of Hewson, who has worked for defence perspective $7.3bn (excluding $1bn of $SSOLFDWLRQV FDQ EH YLHZHG DW ZZZSODQQLQJFLW\RÁRQGRQJRYXN RU DW WKH Lockheed Martin since 1983, will he is an unknown pension contributions) and Department of the Built Environment, North Wing, Guildhall, Basinghall become executive chairman of quantity,” said Robert employs 110,000 people Street, London EC2, between 09.30 and 16.30. Representations must be the firm’s board in June. Stallard an analyst at internationally. made within 21 days of the date of this newspaper online or in writing to She will be succeeded by Jim Vertical Lockheed Martin 3/1&RPPHQWV#FLW\RÁRQGRQJRYXNRUWKH&KLHI3ODQQLQJ2IÀFHU32%R[ Guildhall, London, EC2P 2EJ. In the event that an appeal against a decision of the Taiclet, boss of real estate firm Research. shares fell 12.37 &RXQFLO SURFHHGV E\ ZD\ RI WKH H[SHGLWHG SURFHGXUH DQ\ UHSUHVHQWDWLRQV PDGH American Tower Corporation and per cent to about the application will be passed to the Secretary of State and there will be no a former military pilot. Currently Hewson will $284.94 on opportunity to make further representations. a member of Lockheed Martin’s become chair the news board, he was appointed on at Lockheed yesterday. CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 MARKETS 17

CITYDASHBOARD YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR BROKER VIEWS AND MARKET REPORTS LONDON REPORT BEST OF THE BROKERS NEW YORK To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to [email protected] REPORT London shares CERES POWER 380 P Wall St widens 360 340 historic slump 16 Mar sink as airlines 320 307 300 as virus spirals 280 ALL Street suffered its biggest Wdrop since 1987 yesterday, 10 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 16 Mar with the S&P 500 closing at its lowest level since December 2018, as gasp to survive Ceres Power saw revenue and other income rise 34 per cent year to year to £11m in investors fear the coronavirus its first-half 2020 results, with similar growth expected in the second half of the year. pandemic is proving a tougher The fuel cell and electrochemical technology company recieved an equity injection opponent than central banks, of £49m from Bosch and Weichai in the period, which “further indicates their politicians or the White House are K SHARES plunged yester- investment director Russ Mould. commitment”, according to Liberum. Further, the analyst believes that Ceres currently capable of battling. day as airlines announced London’s travel and leisure index Power is “one of the best placed fuel cell companies for the energy transition”. It The S&P 500 tumbled 12 per cent, its flight cuts and stepped up was down for the ninth consecutive maintains a “buy” rating, with a target price of 540p. biggest drop since Black Monday Ucalls for emergency aid to session. It fell 13.1 per cent while the three decades ago, despite the US get through the coron- domestically focused FTSE 250 Federal Reserve’s surprise move late avirus outbreak. dropped 7.8 per cent. J D WETHERSPOON on Sunday to cut interest rates to near Inter- zero, its second emergency interest London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index Shares in Holiday Inn-owner 1,400 P dropped four per cent to its lowest continental have plunged 43 per cent rate cut in less than two weeks and since October 2011, adding to a 17 per this year, while those in fellow Lon- ahead of its scheduled policy meeting cent slide last week, while the broader don-listed operator, Premier Inn- 1,200 today and tomorrow. European Stoxx 600 index was owner Whitbread, are down more That added to alarm about the down 4.9 per cent. than 50 per cent. 1,000 16 Mar rapid spread of the pandemic and Britain’s airline stocks Feeling the heat from 710 how it has paralyzed parts of the took the biggest hit after lower rates, shares in 800 global economy and squeezed two of the largest air- major lenders including company revenue. lines in Europe, British 600 Stocks fell further late in the session Airways and Easyjet, Tui slumped 19.3 per as US President Donald Trump urged warned of aircraft cent as it announced 10 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 16 Mar Americans to halt most social groundings on an flight groundings activities for 15 days and not unprecedented scale as Peel Hunt expects JD Wetherspoon’s profit before tax to increase when the pub congregate in groups larger than 10 the coronavirus pan- Barclays and Lloyds fell 13 chain releases its first-half 2020 results on 20 March, after a five per cent increase in people, in a newly aggressive effort to demic took a heavy toll on per cent and 7.3 per cent. like-for-like sales in the years’ first 25 weeks. The analyst said that the company’s reduce the spread of the coronavirus operations. Insurers such as Admiral, expectation of an a slowdown in sales in the second half of the year was unlikely in the United States. Trump also IAG, the owner of British Air- Aviva, Direct Line and Prudential “due to extensive promotional activity”. However this guidance was written before warned that a recession was possible. ways, slid 27 per cent after saying it slumped on a sharp rise in claims be- the government’s advice for people to avoid pubs. Peel Hunt retained its “hold” Trading on Wall Street’s three main would cut its flying capacity by at cause of the economic fallout from rating for the chain, with a target price of 1,550p. stock indexes was halted for 15 least 75 per cent in April and May. the coronavirus pandemic. minutes shortly after the open as the Shares of Easyjet and Tui slumped 19.3 Among other virus casualties, lux- S&P 500 index plunged eight per cent per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively ury carmaker Aston Martin tumbled KIER GROUP crossing the seven per cent threshold “The sector has a reputation for 30.2 per cent to an all-time low after 120 P that triggers an automatic cutout. being heavily indebted and a poor it said it was increasing a £500m cap- The real estate sector was the track record for seeing through crises. ital-raising plan by £36m. 110 weakest out of the S&P 500’s 11 major We’ve already seen Flybe go into Payments group Finablr fell 9.9 per sectors with a 16.5 per cent dive, administration and we will no doubt cent after it said its chief would step 100 which was its deepest one-day see more airlines fail,” said AJ Bell down, before being suspended. percentage drop since 2009. The 90 16 Mar 73.50 smallest loser was consumer staples 80 which sank seen per cent on the day. TOP RISERS FTSE The technology sector fell 13.9 70 per cent, which was a record 6,500 P 1. Evraz Up 6.34 per cent one-day decline for the sector that 2. Sage Up 5.29 per cent 6,000 10 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 16 Mar was the biggest driver of the bull 3. Intertek Up 5.16 per cent market. 5,500 Earnings increased by three per cent on a like-for-like basis for construction for Kier The Dow Jones Industrial Average TOP FALLERS 16 Mar Group in the first half of 2020. The construction company’s net debt was also £20m fell 2,997.1 points, or 12.93 per cent, to 5,000 5,151.08 lower than analyst Liberum expected and came in at £395m. The analyst expects 20,188.52, the S&P 500 lost 324.89 1. IAG Down 27.01 per cent that “management actions should generate cost savings of at least £65m” by the points, or 11.98 per cent, to 2,386.13 2. M&G Down 25.17 per cent 4,500 end of 2021, but it still increases its net debt estimate to £400m. Liberum adds that and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3. Easyjet Down 19.32 per cent the government’s Budget is “very positive” and that it will also benefit from HS2. The 970.28 points, or 12.32 per cent, to 10 Mar11 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 16 Mar analyst retains its “buy” rating and has dropped its target price to 115p. 6,904.59. CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

DOCUSIGN DMH STALLARD said: “Joining such a renowned private client team at the RBC, Alex set and directed strategy for FX clients Agreement cloud company City law firm DMH Stallard appointed Olga Powell as a DMH Stallard, at a time of dynamic growth across the and products. He brings a great wealth of experience Docusign has announced the senior associate. Olga and brings significant firm, is really exciting for me.” and knowledge of FX in emerging markets, managing appointment of Rob Giglio as experience in UK tax and estate planning for derivatives and global payments. During his career, he its new chief marketing individuals and trustees. She joins from Legalmatters, MONEYCORP has also led successful sales teams at Deutsche Bank operator (CMO). Rob where she was head of estate planning. She has Foreign exchange and international payments and HSBC. Lee McDarby, managing director of previously spent 10 years with previously worked as an associate at UK law firm Irwin specialist Moneycorp has announced Alex Price as the corporate foreign exchange and international Adobe, where he helped Mitchell. Olga specialises in helping clients plan for the new head of London outbound corporate sales. payments at Moneycorp, said: “We’re delighted to architect the growth strategy future, protect and preserve their wealth in a tax Formerly managing director and head of FX sales for welcome Alex to Moneycorp to drive growth in our for Adobe’s self-service cloud efficient way and support generational planning, often Europe, the Middle East and Africa at the Royal Bank of corporate foreign exchange and payments team. In business and oversaw making use of trusts for greater protection. Lorna Canada (RBC), Alex will deliver Moneycorp’s state of these uncertain times, businesses that trade significant international Fairbairn, partner and head of private client, said: “I the art international payments platform and extensive internationally are increasingly seeking out specialist expansion in his role as senior vice president of sale. As am delighted to welcome Olga to DMH Stallard. It is a product expertise in global payments, online FX services and support to navigate fluctuating CMO, Rob will own all demand generation, self-service superb appointment and one of a number of payments and derivatives to moneycorp’s broad range currencies, and changing market conditions. Alex’s sales, digital and creative for Docusign. outstanding additions to the private client team. Olga of corporate and institutional clients. At his role with extensive experience will be an invaluable asset.”

To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career updates and pictures to [email protected] 18 MARKETS TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM

FTSE 100 FTSE 250 FTSE ALL SHARE DOW JONES NASDAQ S&P 500 /€ 1.1001 Ä 0.0161 €/$ 1.1140 à 0.0078 5151.08 14349.75 2848.87 20188.52 6904.59 2386.13 /$ 1.2255 Ä 0.0093 €/£ 0.9091 à 0.0132 215.03 1212.25 145.53 2997.10 970.28 324.89 £ /¥ 129.71 3.3590 €/¥ 117.92 1.3060 ÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low GILTS ELECTRICITY Templeton Em Mkts .....627.0 -37.0 876.0 627.0 JD Sports Fashion ...... 417.2 -95.4 881.4 417.2 LEISURE GOODS OIL & GAS PRODUCERS SUPPORT SERVICES AIM 50 Vietnam Enterprise ...... 315.0 -41.0 509.0 315.0 Kingfisher...... 137.1 0.6 266.2 136.5 Tsy 8.000 21...... 109.59 0.00 116.2 109.5 Contour Global...... 136.6 -20.0 222.5 136.6 Games Workshp ...... 4740.0 -540.0 7350.0 2800.0 BP ...... 259.4 -16.9 582.5 259.4 Aggreko ...... 421.3 -28.2 869.2 421.3 Abcam ...... 1016.0 -63.0 1500.0 1016.0 VinaCapital Vietna ...... 238.0 -13.0 357.5 238.0 Tsy 2.500 24 ...... 360.53 0.00 377.9 358.8 Drax Gp ...... 186.0 -1.2 386.8 186.0 Marks & Spencer ...... 96.9 -0.5 290.1 96.9 LIFE INSURANCE Cairn Energy...... 67.5 -1.5 207.8 61.3 Ashtead Gp ...... 1778.0 -53.5 2774.0 1701.5 Witan Invest ...... 154.4 -11.0 235.0 154.4 Advanced Medical ...... 222.0 -18.0 354.5 222.0 Tsy 5.000 25 ...... 123.74 0.00 126.0 122.1 SSE ...... 1246.5 -51.5 1686.5 1008.0 Next ...... 4157.0 -324.0 7340.0 4157.0 Energean Oil & Gas ...... 331.0 -28.5 1082.0 331.0 Babcock Intl Grp...... 332.2 -1.3 646.6 332.2 Aviva ...... 251.1 -20.5 438.4 251.1 Alliance Pharma ...... 68.7 -0.9 87.5 63.4 Tsy 4.250 27 ...... 131.10 0.00 132.8 125.8 Wwide Healthcare ....2595.0 -70.0 3330.0 2495.0 Pets at Home Gp ...... 195.0 -28.0 314.6 140.0 Premier Oil ...... 16.3 0.3 118.7 12.6 ELECTRONIC & ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT Legal & General ...... 174.2 -18.8 318.4 174.2 Bunzl ...... 1526.5 -156.0 2551.0 1526.5 Tsy 6.000 28 ...... 150.20 0.00 152.1 143.6 FIXED LINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Vivo Energy ...... 88.0 -1.2 139.0 88.0 Royal Dutch Shell A...1050.6 -80.0 2612.0 1050.6 ASOS...... 1608.5 -327.0 4066.0 1608.5 Halma ...... 1826.5 -20.5 2244.0 1655.0 Phoenix Gp ...... 545.5 -40.8 803.0 545.5 Capita ...... 28.0 -7.6 183.0 28.0 Watches of Switz ...... 225.2 -8.0 392.8 225.2 Royal Dutch Shell B ....1003.4 -80.4 2622.0 1003.4 Blue Prism ...... 1160.0 -54.0 1841.0 788.0 Tsy 4.125 30 ...... 384.62 0.00 404.2 367.4 Morgan Advanced ...... 229.0 -7.0 324.8 229.0 BT Gp ...... 112.9 0.6 230.7 107.3 Prudential ...... 758.8 -108.0 1790.0 758.8 DCC ...... 3878.0 -361.0 7496.0 3878.0 WH Smith...... 1033.0 -86.0 2654.0 1033.0 Tullow Oil ...... 9.2 -1.8 250.0 9.2 Tsy 4.250 32...... 146.09 0.00 148.1 133.6 Oxford Instruments .... 955.0 -45.0 1654.0 955.0 Talktalk Telecom ...... 81.0 -4.0 126.5 81.0 St James Place ...... 750.6 -34.4 1199.5 750.6 Diploma ...... 1400.0 -54.0 2134.0 1342.0 Camellia ...... 6800.0 -725.0 11050.0 6800.0 HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT & SERVICES OIL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES Tsy 4.250 36 ...... 157.15 0.00 160.4 139.2 Renishaw ...... 3054.0 2.0 4638.0 2922.0 Telecom Plus ...... 981.0 -137.0 1552.0 981.0 Std Life Aberdeen ...... 198.0 -12.4 336.9 198.0 Electrocomp ...... 449.6 -24.7 729.8 449.6 Caretech Holdings ...... 330.0 -56.0 502.0 325.0 Tsy 4.750 38...... 174.18 0.00 178.4 152.0 FOOD & DRUG RETAILERS Spectris ...... 2312.0 -52.0 3005.0 2234.0 Convatec ...... 158.2 -2.5 220.4 132.6 MEDIA Hunting ...... 180.5 1.5 657.0 179.0 Equiniti ...... 165.9 -6.1 236.2 165.9 Central Asia Metals ...... 131.0 -13.0 266.5 131.0 Tsy 4.250 46 ...... 187.06 0.00 193.1 1.0 EQUITY INVESTMENT INSTRUMENTS Greggs ...... 1470.0 -190.0 2476.0 1470.0 Mediclinic Intl ...... 291.4 -13.4 415.3 291.4 Petrofac ...... 173.6 -9.6 527.2 173.6 Essentra ...... 283.6 -20.2 449.0 283.6 4imprint ...... 1840.0 -490.0 3500.0 1840.0 Clinigen Group ...... 552.5 -29.0 1069.0 552.5 AEROSPACE & DEFENCE Morrison (WM) ...... 164.2 -6.8 230.0 164.2 NMC Health ...... 1000.0 0.0 2942.0 700.0 Wood Gp(J) ...... 210.0 -20.2 571.4 210.0 Experian ...... 2055.0 -90.0 2898.0 2003.0 3i Infrastructure ...... 266.5 -10.0 317.5 266.5 Ascential ...... 265.2 -14.8 421.2 264.2 CVS Group ...... 778.0 -132.0 1250.0 503.0 Ocado Gp ...... 1233.0 50.0 1435.0 1064.0 Smith & Neph...... 1230.0 -78.5 1990.0 1230.0 PERSONAL GOODS Avon Rubber...... 2050.0 -75.0 2780.0 1230.0 Aberforth Smlr Cos ....844.0 -136.0 1546.0 844.0 Auto Trader Gp ...... 411.9 -35.7 607.6 411.9 Ferguson ...... 5180.0 -314.0 7602.0 4800.0 Sainsbury(J) ...... 180.0 0.9 240.6 174.9 UDG Hlthcare ...... 544.0 -34.5 832.5 544.0 Dart Group ...... 525.5 -345.5 1943.0 525.5 BAE Systems ...... 497.0 -25.8 669.0 443.9 Alliance Trust ...... 619.0 -19.0 876.0 619.0 Euromny Inst Inv...... 708.0 -64.0 1498.0 708.0 Burberry Gp...... 1242.0 -144.5 2345.0 1242.0 G4S ...... 97.4 4.6 234.3 92.9 SSP Group ...... 315.5 -15.5 721.0 315.5 HOUSEHOLD GOODS Diversified Gas & Oil ...... 60.4 -2.8 116.5 60.0 Meggitt ...... 382.5 -27.5 697.4 382.5 AVI Global Trust...... 541.0 -42.0 802.0 541.0 Future ...... 865.0 -65.0 1572.0 736.0 PZ Cussons ...... 162.0 -2.0 227.0 161.0 Hays ...... 109.2 -6.1 183.5 109.2 Tesco ...... 216.5 -3.6 258.9 211.2 QinetiQ ...... 282.8 -18.6 387.8 267.0 Baillie Gifford Japan ....543.0 -37.0 848.0 543.0 Barratt Devel ...... 453.5 -73.1 878.4 453.5 Informa ...... 454.1 -52.7 892.0 454.1 PHARMACEUTICALS & BIOTECHNOLOGY Homeserve ...... 888.0 -60.5 1340.0 888.0 Draper Esprit ...... 363.0 -76.0 602.0 363.0 Rolls-Royce ...... 430.0 -50.0 941.2 430.0 FOOD PRODUCERS Intertek Gp ...... 4770.0 234.0 6170.0 4387.0 EMIS Group ...... 870.0 -70.0 1242.0 870.0 Bankers InvTst ...... 775.0 -42.0 1032.0 775.0 Bellway ...... 2444.0 -265.0 4310.0 2444.0 ITV ...... 74.8 -9.6 156.5 74.8 AstraZeneca ...... 6221.0 -95.0 7878.0 5644.0 Senior ...... 99.3 -17.8 235.0 99.3 IWG...... 146.2 -76.5 469.0 146.2 BlackRock Smaller ....1070.0 -158.0 1794.0 1070.0 Assoc British Foods....1739.5 -95.0 2708.0 1739.5 Berkeley Grp Hldgs ...3464.0 -155.0 5474.0 3437.0 Moneysupermkt.com ...253.0 -25.1 417.7 253.0 Dechra Pharma ...... 2168.0 -64.0 3068.0 2168.0 Fevertree Drinks ...... 1049.0 -70.5 2475.0 1049.0 Ultra Electronics ...... 1637.0 -185.0 2292.0 1525.0 BMO Global Smaller ...... 95.3 -9.8 150.0 95.3 Bakkavor ...... 58.6 -19.2 149.6 58.6 Countryside Prop ...... 347.0 -40.8 540.5 277.6 Pearson ...... 500.0 -28.0 927.0 500.0 Genus ...... 2840.0 -116.0 3644.0 2178.0 Network Int...... 398.0 -35.0 650.0 398.0 First Derivatives ...... 1960.0 -16.0 3555.0 1960.0 AUTOMOBILES & PARTS Caledonia Inv ...... 2480.0 -125.0 3180.0 2480.0 Cranswick ...... 3068.0 -104.0 3852.0 2488.0 Crest Nicholson ...... 320.0 -13.8 519.0 320.0 RELX ...... 1534.5 11.0 2099.0 1503.0 Pagegroup ...... 337.2 -0.6 539.0 332.4 GlaxoSmithKline ...... 1401.4 -1.4 1846.0 1401.4 Frontier Devs ...... 1044.0 -42.0 1444.0 866.0 Aston Martin...... 143.8 -62.1 1115.0 143.8 City of London IT ...... 298.5 -20.5 448.5 298.5 Greencore Gp ...... 104.5 -36.0 281.8 104.5 McCarthy & Stone...... 98.7 -9.3 158.8 98.7 Rightmove Group ...... 515.0 -22.4 701.2 500.4 Hikma Pharma ...... 1735.5 7.5 2200.0 1580.0 Paypoint...... 584.0 -63.0 1118.0 584.0 Gamma Comms ...... 970.0 -155.0 1460.0 956.0 TI Fluid Systems ...... 130.0 -20.4 273.0 130.0 Edin Inv Trust ...... 409.5 -25.0 652.0 409.5 Hilton Food Gp ...... 800.0 -106.0 1118.0 800.0 Persimmon ...... 1826.0 -216.0 3298.0 1826.0 WPP ...... 501.6 -56.0 1077.5 501.6 REAL ESTATE Rentokil Initial ...... 398.7 -35.1 525.4 345.2 European Opp ...... 592.0 -65.0 926.0 592.0 Tate & Lyle ...... 581.6 -26.4 801.4 581.6 Sanne Group ...... 480.0 1.5 752.0 478.5 GB Group ...... 553.0 -40.0 800.0 470.0 BANKS Assura ...... 65.2 -4.8 83.5 56.7 F&C Investment ...... 556.0 -22.0 786.0 556.0 Unilever ...... 3726.0 -128.5 5324.0 3726.0 MAIN CHANGES UK 350 Serco ...... 110.2 -7.2 167.7 110.2 Gooch & Housego ...... 930.0 -130.0 1527.5 930.0 Bank of Georgia...... 1513.0 0.0 1755.0 1252.0 Big Yellow Gp ...... 896.0 -88.5 1240.0 896.0 Fidelity China SPE ...... 198.2 -16.8 253.0 198.2 FORESTRY & PAPER SIG ...... 25.0 -5.9 153.0 25.0 Hurricane Energy ...... 8.2 -1.2 53.6 8.2 Barclays ...... 89.1 -13.3 192.5 89.1 Fidelity Euro Values .....196.2 -11.3 272.0 196.2 % % BMO Comm Prop ...... 75.8 -7.2 124.2 75.8 Mondi ...... 1278.0 -76.5 1846.0 1278.0 Risers à Fallers Ä Travis Perkins...... 902.6 -146.9 1720.0 902.6 BGEO Group ...... 1130.0 -100.0 1818.0 1130.0 Royal Mail...... 143.25 6.4 FirstGroup ...... 40.00 -47.8 British Land ...... 375.6 -14.3 638.8 375.6 Impax Asset Mgmt .....254.5 -40.5 405.0 216.0 Fidelity Spec Val ...... 172.6 -19.4 280.5 172.6 GENERAL FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT HSBC Hldgs...... 464.4 -1.4 680.6 444.6 Finsbury G&I Tst ...... 660.0 -42.0 958.0 660.0 Evraz ...... 243.30 6.3 Restaurant Grp ...... 26.58 -46.5 Captl & Count Prop ...... 166.5 -10.8 270.5 166.5 Iomart Group ...... 280.0 -40.0 405.0 280.0 Lloyds Banking ...... 35.1 -2.8 67.2 35.1 GCP Infra Inv ...... 111.0 -4.8 134.0 111.0 3i Group ...... 682.8 -47.8 1184.5 682.8 Sage Group ...... 612.80 5.3 Marstons ...... 28.42 -45.2 CLS Hldgs ...... 186.0 -35.0 312.5 186.0 Spirent Comms ...... 182.0 -21.5 256.0 140.4 IQE...... 30.4 -2.8 94.2 30.4 Ashmore Gp ...... 325.4 -12.0 570.0 325.4 Intertek Gp ...... 4770.00 5.2 Investec ...... 186.55 -38.6 Daejan Hldgs ...... 7820.0 -150.0 8040.0 4715.0 Royal Bank of Scot ...... 126.5 -4.2 270.4 125.7 Genesis Emerging ...... 592.0 -43.0 818.0 592.0 TOBACCO James Halstead ...... 460.0 -20.0 570.0 440.0 G4S ...... 97.44 4.9 Rank Gp...... 109.00 -36.0 Standard Chartered ....442.0 5.1 738.6 418.2 Greencoat UK ...... 126.0 -6.2 152.8 126.0 Brewin Dolphin ...... 193.4 -24.2 375.2 193.4 Derwent London ...... 3100.0 -192.0 4282.0 2884.0 Ocado Gp ...... 1233.00 4.2 IWG...... 146.25 -34.3 Br Am Tob ...... 2627.5 -51.0 3507.0 2585.0 Johnson Service Gp .....125.0 -15.0 223.0 125.0 TBC Bank Group...... 1056.0 -50.0 1706.0 1056.0 Harbourvest Glb ...... 1234.0 -216.0 1868.0 1234.0 Close Brothers ...... 1031.0 -33.0 1663.0 1031.0 Grainger ...... 244.6 -15.0 338.0 217.4 Hargreaves Lans ...... 1358.00 2.8 Mitchells & Butlers ...... 153.00 -32.5 Imperial Brands ...... 1363.0 -15.6 2648.5 1351.0 Virgin Money UK ...... 85.0 -20.9 220.1 85.0 Coats Group ...... 51.2 -4.1 86.8 51.2 Grt Portland Est ...... 673.0 -37.6 966.0 649.4 Keywords Studios .....1340.0 1.0 1838.0 1068.0 Herald Inv Trust ...... 1046.0 -114.0 1530.0 1046.0 Rio Tinto ...... 3357.50 2.6 Go-Ahead Gp ...... 709.00 -30.2 Finablr ...... 11.0 -0.6 215.0 4.5 Hammerson ...... 132.4 -19.2 377.5 132.4 TRAVEL & LEISURE Learning Tech Gp ...... 120.2 -14.6 172.2 63.7 BEVERAGES HICL Infr ...... 149.0 -11.0 183.0 149.0 Spirax-Sarco...... 8430.00 2.5 Aston Martin ...... 143.85 -30.2 JPM American ...... 379.5 -4.5 524.0 379.5 Hargreaves Lans...... 1358.0 37.5 2433.0 1211.0 Land Securities...... 646.6 -47.2 1001.5 646.6 Carnival ...... 1120.0 -41.0 4237.0 1120.0 M&C Saatchi ...... 60.0 0.0 392.0 60.0 Barr (AG) ...... 456.5 -18.0 975.0 456.5 Centamin ...... 100.40 2.3 Intl Cons Airl ...... 255.70 -27.0 JPM Emerg Mkt ...... 824.0 -53.0 1088.0 818.0 IG Gp...... 601.4 6.4 725.2 474.8 LondonMetric Prop ...... 153.1 -20.7 241.2 153.1 Cineworld Group ...... 37.5 -6.7 321.0 37.5 Britvic ...... 686.0 -56.0 1068.0 686.0 M.P. Evans ...... 540.0 -36.0 750.0 512.0 JPM Indian IT ...... 559.0 -46.0 790.0 559.0 Integrafin Holdings ...... 375.0 -20.0 529.0 337.0 Reckitt Benckiser ...... 5300.0 -74.0 6688.0 5150.0 MINING NewRiver Retail ...... 96.8 -28.6 246.0 96.8 Compass Gp ...... 1121.5 -68.0 2138.0 1121.5 Coca-Cola HBC AG ...... 1574.0 -277.5 3074.0 1574.0 Primary Hlth Prop ...... 134.8 -7.2 162.8 126.6 Majestic Wine ...... 204.5 -8.5 318.0 204.5 JPM Japan IT ...... 340.0 -13.0 477.5 340.0 Intermediate Capital ...857.0 -193.0 1877.0 857.0 Redrow...... 473.0 -53.0 848.0 473.0 Anglo American ...... 1290.0 -45.6 2266.0 1234.4 Dominos Pizza ...... 274.9 -16.8 326.4 221.2 Diageo ...... 2353.5 -88.5 3625.5 2353.5 Intl Public Prtnshps .....146.8 -8.6 171.2 146.8 Safestore Hldgs ...... 678.5 -24.0 867.0 586.0 Midwich Group ...... 478.0 -12.0 633.0 460.0 Jupiter Fund Mngt ...... 191.3 -22.4 432.0 191.3 Taylor Wimpey ...... 130.4 -18.1 236.2 130.4 Antofagasta ...... 620.6 -27.0 1022.5 612.0 easyJet ...... 634.8 -152.0 1552.0 634.8 CHEMICALS Investec ...... 186.6 -117.2 518.6 186.6 Savills ...... 745.0 -66.0 1258.0 745.0 Mortgage Advice B .....495.0 -65.0 800.0 495.0 Law Debenture ...... 490.0 -44.0 654.0 490.0 Vistry Group ...... 823.0 -89.0 1478.0 823.0 BHP Group ...... 1041.2 -12.8 2049.0 939.8 FirstGroup ...... 40.0 -36.6 137.5 40.0 Croda International ..4070.0 -76.0 5375.0 4070.0 IP Group ...... 50.8 -5.9 100.4 50.8 SEGRO ...... 695.4 -52.6 935.0 660.8 Mercantile IT ...... 169.6 -18.6 278.5 169.6 INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING Centamin ...... 100.4 2.2 153.2 79.8 Flutter Ent...... 5710.0 -766.0 9456.0 5592.0 Next Fifteen Comm ...... 297.5 -47.5 658.0 297.5 Elementis...... 44.6 -8.5 184.5 44.6 Monks Inv Tst ...... 760.0 -36.0 1026.0 760.0 John Laing Gp ...... 303.8 -26.8 402.0 303.8 Shaftesbury ...... 655.5 -63.5 979.5 655.5 Bodycote ...... 529.0 -1.0 971.0 529.0 Fresnillo ...... 527.0 -16.8 921.2 527.0 Go-Ahead Gp ...... 709.0 -307.0 2278.0 709.0 Nichols...... 1097.5 -202.5 1880.0 1097.5 Johnson Matt...... 2037.0 -20.0 3454.0 2005.0 Murray Intl Tst ...... 899.0 -49.0 1286.0 899.0 London Stock Exch .....6312.0 -482.0 8542.0 4538.0 St Modwen Props ...... 356.5 -55.5 530.0 356.5 Hill & Smith ...... 1314.0 -1.0 1510.0 1049.0 Glencore ...... 130.7 -5.0 340.3 127.1 GVC Hldgs ...... 370.0 -102.3 939.0 370.0 Numis Corporation ...... 184.0 -22.0 306.0 184.0 Synthomer ...... 225.6 -12.6 420.8 225.6 Next Energy Solar ...... 101.0 -8.0 126.5 101.0 Man Group ...... 96.4 -4.4 175.2 96.4 TR Property IT ...... 319.0 -52.5 497.5 319.0 IMI ...... 797.6 -5.0 1206.0 770.4 Hochschild Mining ...... 106.2 -19.1 227.0 106.2 Intercontl Htls ...... 2999.0 -352.0 5738.0 2999.0 Polar Capital Hdgs ...... 340.0 -70.0 604.0 340.0 Victrex ...... 1847.0 9.0 2540.0 1786.0 Pantheon Intl Partn ..1690.0 -226.0 2620.0 1690.0 Onesavings ...... 264.2 -46.8 452.0 264.2 Tritax Big Box ...... 99.2 -11.8 159.7 99.2 Melrose Ind ...... 130.2 -9.8 248.5 130.2 Kaz Minerals ...... 289.0 -10.8 738.4 269.1 Intl Cons Airl...... 255.7 -94.6 671.0 255.7 CONSTRUCTION & MATERIALS Perpetual Inc & Grth ...199.6 -21.4 342.0 199.6 Paragon...... 332.0 -31.2 553.5 332.0 UK Commercial Prop .....64.6 -5.4 92.7 64.6 Purplebricks Gp ...... 35.2 -16.4 132.0 35.2 RHI Magnesita ...... 1890.0 -210.0 5000.0 1890.0 Polymet Int...... 1109.5 -113.0 1345.0 772.6 Unite Group ...... 827.5 -112.5 1339.0 827.5 Just Eat Takeaway.com..5935.0 35.0 8255.0 5505.0 Pershing Square ...... 1318.0 -12.0 1578.0 1218.0 Plus500 ...... 731.2 -43.8 957.0 495.0 Renew Holdings...... 365.0 -87.0 568.0 360.0 Balfour Beatty ...... 236.2 -2.6 293.4 194.2 Rio Tinto ...... 3357.5 83.5 4976.5 2968.0 Workspace Gp ...... 743.0 -91.0 1307.0 743.0 Marstons ...... 28.4 -23.4 131.4 28.4 Personal Assets Tst ...40050 150 44050 39900 Provident Fin ...... 237.5 -29.3 552.4 237.5 Rotork ...... 220.8 -7.0 341.2 220.8 CRH ...... 1909.5 -173.5 3100.0 1909.5 Mitchells & Butlers ...... 153.0 -73.5 470.5 153.0 RWS Holdings ...... 472.5 -33.5 670.0 472.5 Polar Cap Tech Tst ...... 1272.0 -78.0 1746.0 1228.0 Quilter ...... 109.0 -12.1 174.7 109.0 Spirax-Sarco...... 8430.0 205.0 9415.0 6990.0 MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE & COMPUTER SERVICES Galliford Try...... 117.5 -5.2 190.4 102.4 Rathbone Brothers ....1300.0 -60.0 2540.0 1300.0 National Express ...... 197.8 -43.2 476.0 197.8 Scapa Group ...... 120.2 12.6 403.0 107.6 Pollen Street ...... 640.0 -92.0 884.0 640.0 Weir Gp ...... 806.4 -83.4 1814.0 806.4 Vodafone Gp ...... 98.0 -7.0 165.2 98.0 Avast...... 309.8 -16.0 551.0 282.0 Grafton Group...... 552.0 -133.0 990.0 552.0 Schroders ...... 2130.0 -97.0 3443.0 2098.0 PPHE Hotel Gp ...... 1000.0 -100.0 2140.0 1000.0 Secure Income REIT ...330.0 -48.0 473.0 330.0 Renewables Infra Gp ....115.2 -8.4 139.2 115.2 INDUSTRIAL METALS Aveva Gp...... 2846.0 -236.0 5315.0 2846.0 Ibstock ...... 167.2 -21.4 322.2 167.2 TP ICAP ...... 255.0 -43.5 417.5 255.0 NONLIFE INSURANCE RIT Cap Partners ...... 1674.0 -144.0 2180.0 1674.0 Computacenter...... 1386.0 -11.0 1920.0 1049.0 Rank Gp ...... 109.0 -61.4 326.0 109.0 Serica Energy...... 69.3 -5.2 143.4 69.3 Marshalls ...... 631.0 -43.5 876.0 591.5 Evraz ...... 243.3 14.5 709.4 203.4 Schroder Asia ...... 380.0 -21.0 485.5 380.0 GENERAL RETAILERS Admiral Gp ...... 2027.0 16.0 2330.0 1887.0 FDM Group...... 677.0 -111.0 1100.0 647.0 Restaurant Grp ...... 26.6 -23.1 166.4 26.6 Smart Metering Sys.... 570.0 -21.5 627.0 310.0 Polypipe Group ...... 466.4 -10.0 619.0 372.8 Ferrexpo ...... 107.9 0.8 301.3 101.7 Scottish Inv Tst ...... 604.0 -22.0 843.0 604.0 B&M ...... 270.6 -9.8 420.9 270.6 Beazley ...... 398.4 -16.0 628.0 398.4 Kainos Gp ...... 532.0 -42.0 880.0 430.0 Stagecoach Gp...... 70.0 -18.7 165.2 70.0 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIALS INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORTATION Telford Homes ...... 349.5 0.0 358.0 267.0 Scottish Mortgage ...... 511.5 -25.5 659.0 472.0 Direct Line Ins ...... 258.3 -18.4 366.5 258.3 TUI AG ...... 314.2 -45.8 1081.5 314.2 Dixons Carphone ...... 62.5 -7.4 152.4 62.5 Micro Focus Intl ...... 413.2 -10.7 2160.0 413.2 Thorpe (F.W.) ...... 249.0 -23.0 359.0 249.0 Smith (DS) ...... 272.9 -3.0 394.8 267.9 Sequoia Econ Infra ...... 95.5 -9.5 118.6 95.5 Dunelm Gp...... 785.5 -144.5 1404.0 730.5 Clarkson ...... 2110.0 -190.0 3110.0 2110.0 Hastings Gp Hldgs ...... 152.2 3.3 231.6 148.9 Playtech ...... 157.1 -19.4 457.7 157.1 Wetherspoon (JD) ...... 710.0 -211.0 1734.0 710.0 Watkin Jones ...... 176.2 -33.8 286.0 176.2 Smiths Gp...... 961.4 -75.6 1769.5 961.4 Smithson Inv ...... 1008.0 -96.0 1388.0 1008.0 Frasers Group ...... 215.6 -35.0 518.0 214.0 Fisher (James) ...... 1406.0 -188.0 2170.0 1406.0 Hiscox ...... 1049.0 -34.0 1777.0 1046.0 Sage Group ...... 612.8 30.8 820.4 560.0 Whitbread ...... 2479.0 -100.0 5152.0 2479.0 Smurfit Kappa Gp...... 2062.0 -170.0 3010.0 2062.0 Syncona ...... 193.2 -19.3 267.0 193.2 Howden Joinery Gp...... 479.0 -44.8 732.6 478.8 Royal Mail ...... 143.2 8.6 265.3 134.7 Lancashire Hldgs ...... 617.5 -27.0 807.0 617.5 Softcat ...... 941.0 -37.0 1260.0 804.0 William Hill ...... 65.9 -22.6 205.2 65.9 Young’s Brew NV ...... 885.0 -160.0 1310.0 885.0 Vesuvius...... 350.0 -22.8 642.0 341.0 Temple Bar IT ...... 765.0 -77.0 1486.0 765.0 Inchcape...... 480.4 -55.6 720.0 480.4 Signature Avi ...... 291.2 0.0 406.0 291.2 RSA Ins Gp ...... 400.0 -32.5 597.0 400.0 Sophos ...... 580.4 0.0 580.4 298.2 Wizz Air Holdings ...... 2196.0 -539.0 4496.0 2196.0 Young’s Brew-A...... 910.0 -315.0 1885.0 910.0 EU SHARES US SHARES Price Chg High Low Price Chg High Low ADIDAS...... 176.12 3.52 316.05 172.60 3M ...... 130.91 -10.77 219.50 133.58 AIR LIQUIDE ...... 99.22 -6.13 140.30 100.30 ABBOTT LABORATORIES ...... 73.66 -7.99 91.86 72.88 ALLIANZ AG ...... 133.00 -16.90 232.20 149.90 ADOBE INC ...... 286.03 -49.47 383.28 259.03 AMADEUS IT GROUP ...... 44.20 -3.55 78.60 42.30 ALPHABET NON VTG-C ...... 1084.33 -135.40 1526.69 1036.23 ANHEUSER BUSCH INBEV ...... 34.55 -4.36 92.71 36.93 ALPHABET-A ...... 1073.00 -141.27 1524.87 1111.55 AMAZON.COM ...... 1689.15 -95.85 2170.22 1676.61 ASML HOLDING NV ...... 218.75 2.65 292.95 163.28 AMERICAN EXPRESS ...... 85.87 -13.73 136.93 83.53 AXA ...... 13.44 -1.89 25.50 14.99 APPLE INC ...... 242.21 -35.76 327.20 173.30 BANCO SANTANDER ...... 2.02 -0.24 4.10 2.26 AT&T ...... 31.81 -2.66 39.63 30.30 BASF...... 38.50 -3.90 74.49 42.01 BANK OF AMERICA ...... 20.44 -3.72 35.64 20.51 BAYER AG...... 48.35 -0.82 78.06 49.17 BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY...... 177.77 -18.63 230.20 175.97 BBVA ...... 2.64 -0.41 5.69 3.01 BOEING CO ...... 129.61 -40.59 395.86 154.84 BMW ...... 40.59 -6.41 77.75 45.81 CATERPILLAR INC ...... 93.41 -6.23 150.53 92.26 BNP PARIBAS ...... 27.44 -4.29 54.18 31.00 CHEVRON ...... 69.70 -13.72 126.54 76.26 CRH ...... 20.25 -2.78 36.50 23.03 CISCO SYSTEMS ...... 33.71 -3.93 58.05 33.20 DAIMLER ...... 22.86 -3.54 59.31 26.30 CITIGROUP ...... 41.19 -9.85 81.91 43.26 DANONE ...... 53.96 0.20 82.00 52.90 COCA-COLA CO ...... 45.26 -3.21 60.13 45.51 DEUTSCHE POST AG ...... 20.70 -1.54 34.91 21.58 COMCAST ...... 36.04 -3.29 47.50 34.94 DOW ...... 22.00 -3.69 66.65 23.67 DEUTSCHE TELEKOM ...... 10.85 -0.86 16.61 11.71 EBAY INC ...... 32.24 -1.75 41.57 33.03 ENEL ...... 5.49 -0.13 8.57 5.23 EXXON MOBIL ...... 34.49 -3.63 83.38 37.18 ENGIE...... 9.98 -0.51 16.64 10.48 FACEBOOK ...... 146.01 -24.27 223.23 154.47 ENI ...... 6.49 -0.42 15.94 6.59 GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP ...... 154.66 -22.51 249.72 150.68 ESSILORLUXOTTICA ...... 128.75 0.00 128.75 128.75 HOME DEPOT INC ...... 164.96 -40.71 247.02 184.13 FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE ...... 57.50 -1.38 77.66 57.92 HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL ...... 135.27 -14.14 183.23 134.85 IBERDROLA ...... 8.23 -0.33 11.22 6.02 IBM ...... 99.08 -8.87 156.76 102.81 INDITEX ...... 20.17 -1.13 32.37 2.55 INTEL ...... 44.61 -9.82 68.47 43.46 ING GROEP NV...... 4.67 -0.49 12.05 5.16 JOHNSON & JOHNSON ...... 127.13 -7.16 153.99 125.41 INTESA SANPAOLO...... 1.40 -0.15 2.60 1.46 JPMORGAN CHASE & CO ...... 88.36 -15.55 141.09 88.05 KERING ...... 377.60 -27.40 610.20 384.50 MASTERCARD INC ...... 235.65 -34.36 344.56 229.89 MCDONALD’S ...... 149.01 -28.12 221.15 170.13 KON KPN NV ...... 1.77 -0.08 2.96 1.85 MEDTRONIC ...... 77.43 -11.39 121.30 84.15 L’OREAL ...... 207.60 -8.40 275.30 213.00 MERCK & CO ...... 69.92 -6.83 92.04 73.19 LVMH MOET HENNESSY ...... 297.60 -17.30 439.05 301.50 COMMODITIES TOURIST RATES MICROSOFT ...... 135.42 -23.41 188.70 116.77 MUENCHENER RUECKVE ...... 161.50 -11.60 282.50 173.10 NETFLIX ...... 298.84 -37.45 387.78 254.59 NOKIA ...... 21.88 0.00 21.88 21.88 Gold ...... 1497.51 -65.75 Copper Cash Official...... 5530.25 +144.00 Canada ...... 1.6227 New Zealand ...... 1.9004 NIKE INC ...... 66.79 -8.79 104.58 74.20 ORANGE ...... 9.40 -0.21 15.01 9.61 Silver (Pence) ...... 1577.00 -75.50 Aluminium Cash Official ...... 1676.75 +34.25 Croatia ...... 7.5314 Norway...... 11.99 ORACLE ...... 42.72 -5.21 60.15 39.80 ROYAL PHILIPS ...... 29.56 -0.73 45.61 30.30 Silver (Cents) ...... 1260.00 -38.00 Nickel Cash Official ...... 12562.50 +710.00 Czech Republic ...... 26.64 Poland ...... 4.242 PAYPAL HOLDINGS ...... 92.72 -17.43 123.91 96.64 SAFRAN ...... 74.54 -9.74 150.25 84.28 Krugerrand ...... 1469.87 -108.14 Aluminium Alloy Cash Official ...... 1345.00 -5.00 Denmark ...... 7.8132 Singapore ...... 1.6275 PEPSICO ...... 113.09 -14.36 146.99 115.34 SANOFI ...... 76.60 3.19 94.00 72.24 Brent Crude ...... 33.85 +0.65 Natural Gas ...... 23.98 -0.05 Hong Kong ...... 9.0496 Sweden ...... 11.40 PFIZER INC ...... 30.18 -2.53 44.40 30.02 SAP SE ...... 89.26 -3.91 129.36 92.80 Platinum ...... 782.00 -27.00 Tin Cash Official ...... 16387.50 +155.00 Iceland ...... 145.90 Switzerland ...... 1.1051 PROCTER & GAMBLE ...... 108.50 -5.57 127.14 101.66 SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC ...... 70.42 -1.54 102.90 67.74 British Sovereign ...... 343.56 -24.75 Zinc Cash Official ...... 1986.25 +59.75 India ...... 80.39 Turkey ...... 7.4358 TRAVELERS COMPANIES ...... 85.10 -22.35 154.83 102.18 SIEMENS AG ...... 65.20 -5.70 119.90 70.90 Lead Cash Official ...... 1780.00 +31.50 White Sugar ...... 355.00 +0.90 Israel ...... 4.1147 United States ...... 1.1726 TWITTER ...... 24.04 -5.25 45.42 26.78 UNITED HEALTH GROUP ...... 225.04 -47.00 305.31 215.26 SOCIETE GENERALE...... 14.52 -2.63 31.93 15.55 UNITED TECHNOLOGIES ...... 90.93 -14.47 156.83 102.50 TELEFONICA SA ...... 3.68 -0.20 9.18 3.80 WORLD INDICIES VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS ...... 50.99 -3.18 62.07 51.20 TOTAL ...... 24.34 -1.69 51.54 26.02 Price Chg %Chg Price Chg %Chg Price Chg %Chg Price Chg %Chg VISA ...... 152.01 -23.82 213.31 160.08 UNILEVER NV ...... 40.29 -1.93 57.56 42.22 FTSE 100...... 5151.08 -215.03 -4.01 S&P 500...... 2386.13 -94.51 -3.81 CAC 40 ...... 3881.46 -236.90 -5.75 Hang Seng ...... 23063.57 -969.34 -4.03 WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE...... 45.08 -1.11 76.05 41.02 VINCI ...... 59.04 -8.34 106.75 63.72 FTSE 250 ...... 14349.75 -1212.25 -7.79 Dow Jones I.A ...... 20188.52 -2997.10 -12.93 Swiss Market Index ...... 8227.08 -140.48 -1.68 Nikkei ...... 17002.04 -429.01 -2.46 WALMART ...... 106.76 -7.34 121.28 96.94 VIVENDI ...... 17.57 -1.37 26.42 18.15 FTSE All-Share ...... 2848.87 -145.53 -4.86 Nasdaq Composite ...... 6904.59 -970.28 -12.32 ISEQ Overall Index ...... 4740.39 -408.43 -7.93 STI Index ...... 2495.77 -138.23 -5.25 WALT DISNEY CO ...... 95.01 -7.51 151.64 91.81 VOLKSWAGEN AG ...... 98.49 -14.91 185.52 113.40 FTSE AIM All-Share ...... 663.40 -77.88 -10.51 Xetra DAX...... 8742.25 -489.83 -5.31 FTSEurofirst 300 ...... 1114.61 -53.33 -4.57 ASX All Ordinaries...... 5058.20 -532.50 -9.52 WELLS FARGO & CO ...... 26.50 -4.39 54.46 27.20 CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 FEATURE 19 TRADING & INVESTMENT IT’S TIME TO CLOSE THE STOCK MARKET

AST week was marked by a se- CNBC down a forecast in that Given the universal and biological markets altogether. ries of trading halts as stock circumstance didn’t seem to be nature of this crisis, efforts to be Trading also ceased following the markets swung from “limit COMMENT useful and in fact could have been opportunistic, take advantage of the terror attacks on 9/11, with markets Ldown” to “limit up,” and the more of an obstacle to clear volatility or shop for bargains in the shut until 17 September 2001. Dow Jones Industrial Average Julianna communications than a help”. market are likely to prove futile Before Black Monday in 1987, posted its worst single-day loss since Tatelbaum At a micro level, companies are until more is known. people likely thought that the Black Monday in 1987. Uncertainty busy devising and implementing The pushback to closing markets concept of circuit breakers was abounds, but one thing is for sure — contingency plans, which means is that companies need access to ridiculous. Now they are part of the no one knows what is going to hap- less frequent and less meaningful capital. Further, if investors fabric of financial markets and kick pen next. dialogue with investors. anticipate a halt to trading, there in temporarily whenever a market It’s time that stock markets were detect the difference between would likely be panic selling. moves too far in one direction. shut for two weeks to allow the salespeople and traders who are US Treasury secretary Steve Italian and Spanish securities business community to adjust to working from the bank’s Mnuchin argued on CNBC last week regulators issued short-selling bans the new reality brought on by this headquarters versus their that markets are working in an on more than 100 stocks last week unprecedented global back-up sites. orderly way. He called rumors that after a brutal sell-off. Bans on short health emergency. But what if the situation escalates markets could shut “ridiculous”. selling were also applied in some The Covid-19 outbreak poses a and those employees have to work But is it ridiculous? It’s Asian markets. major logistical challenge for the from home? That’s uncharted, A two-week happened before. Markets were How many times will the financial industry. Global banks and untested territory. trading holiday closed for two days after circuit breakers need to be investment funds have been Beyond the logistics, the high Superstorm Sandy hit in October triggered for governments and scrambling to test and implement level of uncertainty is preventing might give 2012. Initially, trading at the New policymakers to seriously consider contingency plans involving use of financial markets from functioning York Stock Exchange was set to go shutting markets? satellite offices outside central efficiently. everyone a chance fully electronic after lower Two weeks might give everyone London and New York. At the macro level, Federal to focus on the Manhattan was deemed unsafe. a chance to focus on the So far, things are going smoothly. Reserve chair Jerome Powell ditched But with much of Wall Street underlying problem. Jim Casey, co-head of global quarterly forecasts, remarking in an underlying grappling with logistics challenges investment banking at JP Morgan, emergency press conference on of its own, regulators felt uneasy £ Julianna Tatelbaum is a reporter and told CNBC that clients cannot even Sunday night that “actually writing problem going ahead with the plan so shut anchor for CNBC’s Street Signs. 20 OPINION TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM FORUM EDITED BY RACHEL CUNLIFFE LETTERS Our obsession with Orwell has TO THE EDITOR EU and AI’s love- robbed his name of meaning hate relationship

HE VERY first rule for and its chronic overuse means that precise and clear descriptions if [Re: Is the EU’s approach to regulating writing set out in George Harry it is unlikely to produce in the their faults are to be held up to the artificial intelligence misguided?] Orwell’s 1949 essay “Poli- Readhead reader any stronger reaction than a light, understood and, with any The technology industry is still debating Ttics and the English Lan- raised eyebrow or a sigh. In Orwell’s luck, addressed. over the definitions of artificial intelligence guage” is: “Never use a time, the equivalent word was likely Lazy political language is harm- (AI), machine learning and data analytics. metaphor, simile, or other figure “fascist”, which he wrote had “no ful, as Orwell tells us, and vulnera- And this underpins why the EU’s approach of speech which you are used to meaning except in so far as it signi- ble to manipulation. His own to regulating AI is misguided — because seeing in print”. fies ‘something not desirable’”. almost neurotic interest in clear how do you legislate to control something It’s therefore amusing that “Or- This is not to say that there is prose as a prerequisite for clear that can’t be defined? wellian” has become one of the nothing going on in the world today thought and an instrument for its Rather than trying to legislate the most widely used figures of speech that is intrusive, restrictive, or dehu- expression is plain to see through- technology itself, we should be governing in English-language political - tions. But — and I have asked manising. Far from it. But the archi- out this work, which makes the how it is implemented. For example, we ing, social criticism, and wider jour- around — it no longer makes any- tects of such situations, ideas and overuse of his name as a nebulous might challenge the police for introducing nalism. And to make matters worse one think of 1984’s Winston Smith, conditions get off lightly if all any- synonym for “a bit disturbing” facial recognition technology in public for Orwell, it is often meant to de- scribbling anxiously in his diary or one can throw at them is the charge today especially ironic. spaces over the privacy concerns, while scribe something that he himself scratching at his varicose ulcer, of “Orwellian”, rather than subject The New York Times pointed out supporting its use by banks for identify would have loathed, just as fearing always the all-seeing eye of their thoughts and creations to the some years ago that the word to verification to help prevent fraud. “Kafkaesque” describes something Big Brother and the horrors of proper level of scrutiny. which Orwell gives his name “even We will never be able to stop the Kafka would have hated. Room 101. Nor does it evoke the de- Not only has the word “Orwellian” noses out the rival political re- progress of technology, just as you can’t In his essay, Orwell was attacking liberate erosion of language for the been mostly stripped of its mean- proach ‘Machiavellian’, which had stop the development of new weapons. political euphemism and vague- purposes of the destruction of inde- ing, but it has lost all its nuance. a 500-year head start”. Similarly, we should be looking at the ness, and its role in what he saw as pendent thought. The Washington Post reported a It is, the report went on, “the ownership and use of technologies within the wider decline of language. Rather, it has come to mean few years ago that the Centers for most widely used adjective derived specific circumstances to determine But the reasoning behind that something like “a bit controlling”, Disease Control and Prevention had from the name of a modern whether or not the implementation is first little rule of his is sound in all struck words including “transgen- writer”. Even the briefest Google ethical — or indeed legal. contexts: a word or phrase which der” and “diversity” from the search seems to bear this out. Only Joe Baguley, vice president and chief once might have struck a reader as budget reports it made for the today, I learned that “Orwellian” technology officer EMEA, VMware inventive and illuminating be- Trump administration. This year, it has been applied to the music comes less and less evocative with was revealed that facial recognition video for a new single by Coldplay, its every use until, finally, it retains technology — which is both invasive to the media’s reporting on the only its simplest possible connota- and imprecise, especially so in the coronavirus outbreak, and to the tions — or none at all. cases of women and people of banning of cash transactions over BEST OF Orwell gives among his examples colour — was to be rolled out across $10,000 in Australia. TWITTER the phrase “swan song” — used The overuse of the UK. Then there is the continued Apparently, then, everything is often enough, but not (I imagine) existence of autocratic states like now “Orwellian”. And that should Tesco: good, busy later. putting many in mind of the ‘Orwellian’ means North Korea, which Christopher make it plain to anyone who had Sainsburys: moderate to good, sale on Ancient Greek idea that a swan Hitchens once argued was worse any doubt that the word had been corn flakes. sings a single beautiful song before that it is unlikely than Orwell’s Airstrip One. robbed of all meaning that it might Asda: slight to moderate, heavy crowd its death. to produce any All of these examples might be — just be time to come up with a suit- by evening. Now the word “Orwellian” itself and, in fact, have been — called “Or- able substitute. Marks & Spencer, Co-Op: fair. ensnares writers in a similar trap. It stronger reaction wellian”. But they differ strikingly Waitrose: fair to moderate, spillage in has, or rather should have, rather from one another. If you follow Or- £ Harry Readhead is a writer and aisle 7. specific and depressing connota- than a sigh well’s reasoning, each demands member of the advocacy group Liberty. Lidl: rough at first, moderate later. That’s today’s Shopping Forecast. @SparksyOnRadio

– HE is “panic buying” – YOU are “over-reacting” – I am “popping out to buy a few bits The success of ‘levelling up’ is as important and bobs just in case” @PickardJE

Imagine Twitter during WWII. Christ, for London as it is for the rest of the country it'd be all: what idiot didn’t look at the weather forecast before giving D day the go ahead? Why are there a bunch OR MANY years there have pledged to increase funding for all sizes, across the country. of people doing cross words in been calls to bridge the UK’s Koen R&D by 15 per cent, investing Our approach has had a signifi- Bletchley Park? stark north-south divide. Lamberts £22bn by 2024–25. cant impact in levelling up, not @andyjey FThese have come under But there is a danger that this only in our own corner of south many badges, from “rebal- will exacerbate current regional in- Yorkshire — attracting investment Whereas Twitter during WWI would be ancing the economy” to “building equalities. Last year, 57 universities from global powerhouses such as 800 blue ticks all saying “ohhhh I see a Northern Powerhouse”. in the south east were receiving Boeing and McLaren — but also in we're all suddenly military strategists, Now, “levelling up” is the choice more than half of the UK’s entire other parts of the country through have you considered that maybe Field term for a government ambitious research funding, with a smaller our satellite centres in Broughton, Marshal Haig understands a *little* bit to deliver for voters who tore down share going to 77 institutions in Preston, Derby and Birkenhead. more about the Somme than twitter Labour’s so-called “red wall” in De- Those in the north should re- the north and Midlands. We stand ready to roll this model user canonfodder12415” cember’s election. It was a major member that London is no “land There is sometimes a misconcep- out across the UK, and hope to @Lafargue theme of last week’s Budget. of milk and honey” — Londoners tion that it is necessary to create an work with public and private part- While the devolution of powers face a trifecta of high living costs, innovation ecosystem from scratch ners to drive more economic bright side of washing my hands so to city mayors and the redevelop- rising house prices and growing outside the radius of London. But growth to communities with tradi- often is that they’re so rough and dry ment of areas such as Salford show wealth inequality. in fact, the north and Midlands tionally low levels of productivity. and horrible now that I no longer have some progress, the UK remains the Investment into levelling up have their own world-class univer- A government committed to lev- any interest in putting them on my “most geographically unequal de- could help to relieve some of this sities, with pioneering innovation elling up must be committed to face veloped economy in the world” ac- pressure. According to Centre for structures already in place. world-class R&D, in all parts of the @youngvulgarian cording to the Centre for Cities Cities, if the largest eight under- At the University of Sheffield Ad- country. This will unleash the op- think tank. performing cities closed their out- vanced Manufacturing Research portunity to relieve the burden on In Germany, the youth organisations of The economy of the UK is over- put gap, the UK economy would be Centre (AMRC) and Nuclear AMRC, high production areas such as Lon- the Christian Democrats, Social whelmingly reliant on London and £47.4bn larger. we bring together industry, acade- don, Oxford and Cambridge, and Democrats, Greens, Liberals and the the south east. The capital alone is So how do we do it? mia and government to develop re- rebalance our economy so that Left Party have started a joint initiative: responsible for almost a quarter of Now, more than ever, policymak- search and innovation across a cities and towns across the country young people help the elderly and the country’s economy, despite ers are recognising the impor- range of sectors — including aero- — including London — can realise vulnerable with their shopping making up just 13 per cent of its tance of research and space, nuclear and construction. We their true potential. &errands. Really impressive to see this population, placing unsustainable development in solving our most also educate and train apprentices cross-party effort. pressure on a city facing its own pressing productivity challenges. to address the skills gap that acts as £ Koen Lamberts is president and vice- @HeleneBismarck post-Brexit challenges. Last week, chancellor Rishi Sunak a barrier to growth in businesses of chancellor at the University of Sheffield. CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 OPINION 21

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS › E: [email protected] COMMENT AT: cityam.com/forum :@cityam We need a carbon border DEBATE With prices tumbling in the broad tax to get Britain to net zero market selloff, is now a good time ATER this year, the eyes of the its respective carbon intensity. For a to invest in gold? world will be on the UK as it Eamonn country like France, which generates hosts COP26. While delegates Ives much of its electricity from nuclear Lwon’t convene at the UN’s an- power, the tax would be relatively Now is a good time to buy gold if you nual climate change confer- low. For one like the Netherlands, believe that we are in the early stages ence until mid-November, the which won’t phase out coal until of an economic crisis or in a prolonged government needs to consider now 2030, it would be higher. period of low economic growth. YES how it can showcase leadership on cli- The Centre for Policy Studies sel- In a risk-off environment and with mate action. dom advocates for higher taxes, but ultra-low interest rates, demand for MONICA TEPES The UK starts from a position of there is good reason to support this gold can rise dramatically, as many strength. In 2019, it became the first one. First, British electricity is al- investors turn to it as a store of value or and now, in the initial liquidity squeeze major economy to legislate for a net- Alas, impressive as the run was, ready taxed through the carbon price portfolio hedge. of the crisis. zero target for greenhouse gas emis- Britain still depended on coal — albeit floor, which levies an £18.08 charge Gold performed extremely well Adding to the bull argument for gold sions, and can also boast the fastest indirectly — for energy. for every tonne of carbon dioxide cre- during the last financial crisis, tripling is the constrained supply for the metal. rate of decarbonisation among G20 This statistical sleight of hand is a se- ated in the process of generating in value between 2008 and 2011 while Reserves in the ground have been nations this century. rious problem. It allows the govern- electricity. Introducing a carbon bor- equity markets were still in recovery. declining after exploration, and Much of that success has been down ment to pat itself on the back, while der tax would simply level the play- And, just like gold was weak over the development of new projects have to cleaning up its energy sector. hiding emissions off the balance ing field between domestic and last couple of weeks, the precious been cut back in recent years. Britain now has a flourishing wind sheet. If the UK is sincere about gen- imported electricity. metal was also weak in the initial power industry, which generates a uinely getting to net zero, it must Second, carbon taxes of all sorts are stages of the last financial crisis — £ Monica Tepes is investment sizeable portion of its electricity think of how to square this circle. The — rightly — hailed by economists as possibly because it got caught, then companies research director at finnCap. needs. Indeed, owing partly to this, fact that eight new interconnectors the easiest and most efficient way to the grid went without coal-generated are due to come online by 2027 — sup- tackle global warming. Climate power for more than 18 continuous plying perhaps a fifth of our electric- change is, fundamentally, a market days between May and June last year. ity — only underlines this. failure, in that more carbon dioxide is Or so it would seem. In fact, a new The solution we propose is a produced than is socially optimal. Gold is an inherently difficult asset to paper from the Centre for Policy Stud- carbon border tax. Applied to elec- Even hard-nosed free-marketeers can value as the marginal demand comes ies explains how, even then, the UK tricity imports, the tax would be be sympathetic to taxes in order to from investors rather than an outside was reliant on electricity produced by levied on the basis of the exporting price in negative externalities. A car- factor that conforms to traditional NO burning coal. state’s electricity generation mix and bon border tax could also prevent the economic models. As a result, investors Undersea cables, known as intercon- ill-advised “solutions” of the left from look at two alternative models. EDWARD PARK nectors, provide Britain with power gaining traction. Some look to bonds, as investors generated elsewhere. As ministers COP26 is a critical moment, both for could buy bonds instead of gold for the chance of corporate defaults. At the cannot trace exactly how each unit of the environment and for Britain to defensive part of their portfolio. As same time, inflation expectations have imported electricity is produced, stand tall on the international stage. more debt has negative yields, the fallen sharply as markets price in a power from interconnectors are The government must be bold, and attractiveness of gold, which has no recession risk. largely omitted from official statistics. The government there are scarcely few better places to yield, increases. The second group says Both of these factors have weighed But modelling of energy flows dur- start than by introducing a carbon that gold is the ultimate inflation hedge on gold recently, and with the markets ing the so-called “coal-free fortnight” needs to consider border tax on our electricity imports. and therefore should be bought to still struggling to find a fair level, we shows how the largest share of inter- protect against prices rising. expect gold to remain under pressure. connector electricity would have how it can show £ Eamonn Ives is a researcher on Despite the aggressive action by come from the Netherlands, which leadership on environmental policy for the Centre for central bank to cut interest rates, the £ Edward Park is deputy chief produced 535.8 gigawatt hours of Policy Studies, which published The Great yield on global debt has actually risen investment officer at coal-fired power over that period. climate action Carbon Swindle this week. as investors price in an increased Brooks Macdonald.

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Our series on AI, Blockchain, Cryptoassets, DLT and Tokenisation PARTNER CONTENT

CITY A.M.’S entral Banks are excited by Bit- coin's dramatic innovation, its CRYPTO INSIDER blockchain technology and Cthe potential for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). JAMES BOWATER However, they are also cautious as Bit- coin has a reputation as the badlands efore I address the obviously serious issues of financial services, used by drug deal- Bfacing us all today I want to take the time ers and money launderers not upright to once again thank the judges, the citizens and certainly not central nominees and winners of last weeks’ inaugural bankers. Crypto AM Awards. I’d also like to thank both So after the Bitcoin innovation what Boisdale for the amazing food and wine for have been the catalysts for Central lunch and also Smith & Wollensky for the terrific Banks to act? One word. Libra. Face- after party. Finally I’d like to say a special thank you to Bridie Wilson, book’s Libra caused Central Banks to Madelaine Crisp and Harry Owen as well as the entire City AM team panic around the world by announcing without whose help and support nothing would have been possible. it would launch its own digital cur- Please note for full transparency in this edition in lieu of Crypto AM rency. Libra could become the global Industry Voices the City AM judging results for the Awards are default crypto with two billion people published (see opposite) including opt-outs where judges had a having instant access to it just by hav- conflict of interest or knowledge gap. ing a Facebook account. Governments The Coronavirus COVID-19 has finally been officially designated as a around the world threw their arms up Global Pandemic which saw the global markets tumbling as has been in horror. France and India immedi- widely reported and in last week’s edition we saw the beginnings of ately banned it. Libra doubled govern- CENTRAL BANK the crypto market correlating to main markets, especially the S&P 500 ments’ efforts to respond to protect and that trend continued throughout the week. their interests. China reacted to the However, when Thursday and Friday hit, Bitcoin (BTC) flashed Libra launch quickly. crashed to as low as US$3,700 which was largely due to margin call “Libra has introduced a concept that DIGITAL CURRENCIES. trading when sadly a significantly large number of positions were will impact the traditional cross-border wiped out. BTC recovered quite quickly and, at the time of writing, business and payment system,” Former was trading down circa 35% from last week at US$5,079.14 / People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Gover- GB£4,188.32; Ethereum (ETH) is at US$113.64 / GB£93.69; Ripple nor Zhou Xiaochuan. STATE OF PLAY AND (XRP) is at US$0.1425 / GB£0.1153; Binance (BNB) is at US$9.61 / China saw Libra as an American Im- GB£7.93 and Cardano (ADA) is at US$0.02435 / GB£0.01994. Overall perial economic invasion and re- Market Cap is at US$142.88bn / GB£116.20bn (data source: sponded by fast tracking its own digital www.CryptoCompare.com) WHO WILL WIN? currency known as People’s Bank of SARS was devastating to HK and China back in 2003 and that had China (PBOC) Coin. In the early days of the interesting side effects of accelerating the use of online services digital currencies, the PBOC did not and e-commerce. With COVID-19’s ability to survive on surfaces, it outlaw assets such as Bitcoin, but ram- has drawn focus to the issue of physical cash and its carrying of pant speculation and wild price swings Designed by stimulus and accountability. This is resulted in a classic superpower slug- germs. A very plausible side effect will be the acceleration of Central led China to implement a blanket ban Phill Snelling, highly compelling. ging match with CBDCs. Bank Digital Cash (see today’s Guest Main Feature). on trading and new initial offerings of Bowater Media Just like the Portuguese Escudo, Where is the rest of the world? In fact, A bit of positive news landed with me yesterday when I caught up digital currencies. PBOC created a ded- Dutch Gulder, English Pound and US some of the world’s major central banks with Brian Elders of SORS Digital Assets and recently joined Black icated institute to explore a CBDC. dollar became global reserve currencies are already teaming up to assess poten- Manta Capital Partners (“BMCP”) He explained that BMCP had China is well suited to a CBDC as most in their time, in paper terms, it’s now tially developing their own digital cur- received BaFin’s green light (BaFin is the German Federal Financial payments are now digital through apps the turn of a digital currency to take the rencies. A group has been formed in Supervisory Authority) to proceed with the first regulated like Alipay or Tencent. crown. This is the reason CBDCs are a order to “share experience as they assess crossborder security token fundraise. This first deal is for mezz The prize to get a functioning CBDC hot topic. Whoever wins, wins big the potential cases for central bank dig- equity in a residential real estate development in Berlin and will be in a nation's economy is huge. The Bank therefore justifying their Central Bank’s ital currency in their home jurisdic- available to the public in Austria & Germany. Originally to launch of England’s own research suggests a move to launch these currencies. While tion'”. The body will be made up of the today it has been delayed till the COVID-19 crisis has abated. 3% bump to GDP if you run a Central the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Bank of England, Bank of Canada, the However, the platform is open and visible for investors from all over Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), roughly was up in front of Congress explaining Bank of Japan, the European Central the world to participate in future property, fund and other security the same boost to the economy as a big himself and being blocked, the Chinese Bank, the Riksbank and the Swiss Na- token deals (see https://blackmanta.capital/tigris-s17a/) and if you tax cut. The Bank of England’s recent were quietly rifling through the tional Bank, along with the Bank for In- are significant investor then send an email to whitepaper states there are plenty of whitepaper and making plans. This ten- ternational Settlements. Noticeably [email protected] for personal treatment. benefits of CBDCs around interest rates, sion between America and China has absent from the group is the People’s

Ultan Miller, techniques to uncover the risks associated Crypto A.M. shines Managing with investing in crypto businesses and to Partner of establish how and where value accrues Saxon Advisers and can be captured. its Spotlight on The emergence of new analytical standards and the continued maturity of the sector is drawing more and more traditional ‘tech’ venture capitalists into Saxon Advisors the crypto industry. This is growing the number of funding t’s with pleasure that Saxon Advisors forms of finance.” options available to crypto businesses, Iannounces the launch of its new online Unsurprisingly, he sees many parallels giving entrepreneurs greater choice to deal-making platform that connects with today’s market… “Following the decide what’s right for their business and fast-growing crypto businesses with collapse of January’s DeFi-driven boom, offers some grounds for optimism at a industry-leading investors. we are seeing many projects again having time when market sentiment is low. ‘Quality not quantity’ is the mantra to ask tough questions, make salary cuts In a bid to foster even more deal-making, professed by Saxon Advisors, the London- and in some cases even let go of staff.” Saxon Advisors is now announcing the based, crypto research and advisory firm. For entrepreneurs that have raised launch of its new online platform that Each year, its analysts review hundreds capital through a public, crypto asset provides investors with digital access to of opportunities from around the globe, offering, the prospect of approaching deals curated and reviewed by its analysts. only to select a handful to raise capital for. institutional investors can be daunting. The platform includes many features Since the company’s formation in July Thanks to the ever-evolving regulatory that one would expect, such as the ability 2018, it has been the lead advisor on deals to access documents necessary for due with a cumulative value in excess of $50m, diligence or book a meeting with the from late seed stage through to growth. project’s CEO, but also includes some Ultan Miller, Managing Partner at Saxon more innovative and unique features too, Advisors says… “Starting the company in such as providing access to real-time July 2018, just as the bull market was The prospect of company performance data and an array starting to collapse may sound like bad of deal-specific insights and analysis timing, but in retrospect, it was spot-on. As approaching landscape, crypto businesses require whether it is best for crypto businesses to produced by Saxon Advisors. crypto prices cascaded, not only were the institutional greater legal and financial due diligence by offer equity, digital assets or a Both businesses and investors are scams and chancers shaken out of the investors; something that many privacy- combination of both to investors. encouraged to apply to Saxon Advisors’ market, many higher quality projects investors can be minded blockchain entrepreneurs have In response, Saxon Advisors, as part of new online deal-making platform via the started to consider the sustainability of daunting. little enthusiasm for. an international movement of crypto company’s website their operations and seek alternative Furthermore, it’s not always clear investment researchers, is pioneering new (www.saxonadvisors.com). CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 FEATURE 23

E: [email protected] @CityAm_Crypto In association with

currency. Carney felt fully justified to explore the possibilities. In Europe the CRYPTOCOMPARE MARKET VIEW ECB policymakers have already dis- cussed the idea of issuing their own CBDC. Christine Lagarde, the ECB’s Bitcoin Drops 40% As Pandemic head, has long argued that central banks should consider the merits, which she believes include public goals Crashes Crypto Market such as financial inclusion, consumer protection and payment privacy. In Sweden they are moving quickly to his week the price of Bitcoin The Facebook-led Libra Association adopt a CBDC Sveriges Riksbank, the Tdropped from $7,900 to a low has seen some of its members, central bank of Sweden, which recently around the $4,000 mark before including Coinbase Ventures, Bison announced a pilot for a digital krona, recovering for a brief period after the Trails, Anchorage, and Andreessen or e-krona and the main reason is “to U.S. Federal Reserve announced an Horowitz, back a rival project with the be ready for a cashless future”. emergency rate cut of 100 bps. While goal to “deliver humanitarian aid, But where does this leave Bitcoin and initially the crypto market recovered on facilitate payments and enable other non CBDC cryptocurrencies in re- the news, it soon started sliding again, microlending.” The project, called the lation to several functioning CBDCs? with bitcoin trading at the time of Celo Alliance for Prosperity, aims to Firstly, it’s a great endorsement for all writing at $4,900. reach its goal via a cryptocurrency of crypto, rubber stamping their bene- Ethereum, the largest altcoin by pegged to the U.S. dollar, the Celo fits, although the paradox is that this market capitalization, is trading at $110 Dollar, and has a 50-member strong endorses decentralisation and control after falling 10.2% in the last 24 hours, organization. away from Central banks. Secondly, while other top cryptocurrencies are Last week it emerged that hackers fully functioning CBDCs are a tide that down between 5% and 20%. The have been attempting to deploy will lift all crypto boats, many sceptics massive drops saw liquidations on ransomware to people’s mobile will get off the fence and invest time leading cryptocurrency derivatives devices, via a coronavirus tracking and money into crypto. CBDCs will cre- exchange BitMEX surpass $1.6 billion. application. Once infected, victims are ate a new boom for Decentralised Fi- Overall, the crypto market lost nearly forced to pay $100 in bitcoin to regain nance (DeFi) services as these new $100 billion. access to their devices. CBDCs are digital and will interoperate To American whistleblower Edward Finally, the Bank of England, as a with DeFi services, greatly increasing Snowden, the price drop was a result of response to declining cash usage, has volumes. Bitcoin and other major cryp- an irrational response to the COVID-19 reportedly started looking into tocurrencies are decentralised and not pandemic and global economic unrest. launching a digital currency equivalent owned by a central organisation and On social media, Snowden revealed he to the GBP. Officials have discussed the therefore inherently more trustworthy. “felt like buying bitcoin” after the sell- move after seeing a steep decline in the Bitcoin was a response to the 2008 off. use of physical cash. banking crisis and no casino bankers operate in Bitcoin. But the ultimate Bank of China and yes you guessed it … Netherlands “The essence of the DLT question is - who would you trust, incor- America. The body forming is a great infrastructure is that no single party ruptible decentralised currencies like move. The reality is the group will move should be trusted enough, but don’t Bitcoin, or centrally controlled and po- even slower than PBOC and Libra and we just trust a central bank to main- tentially co-opted Central Bank Digital CRYPTO A.M. AWARDS RESULTS these Central Banks may get left be- tain the integrity of the global ledger?” Currencies? hind, and lose first mover advantage. said Harro Boven, policy advisor in the The US’s Federal Reserve has so far payments policy department of the Keld van Schreven, Managing Director and In the interest of transparency, please see the below result largely distanced itself from the con- Dutch central bank. Satoshi Nakamoto, Co-Founder at KR1 plc (www.kr1.io) in breakdown of the Crypto A.M. Awards 2020. cept of a CBDC. In December, Treasury legendary mysterious inventor of Bit- conversation with James Bowater. Secretary Steven Munchin said he and coin would say not. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell see ‘no In England the debate around CBDCs Keld is a notable first investor in many key COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT AWARD £Tap.Global 0% need’ for the US to create a digital cur- intensified last year when the outgoing projects that will power the decentralised £Chiliz 12.5% £Bitstamp 50% rency in the near future. Yet Powell has Bank of England Governor Mark Car- platforms and protocols that form the £Craft Coin 12.5% £Opt out 37.5% said the Fed is monitoring the activi- ney laid out a radical proposal for an emerging Web3 infrastructure. KR1 has £CryptoCompare 50% ties of other central banks to identify overhaul of the global financial system been a publicly listed investment £Opt out 25% DIGITAL ASSET CUSTODIAN AWARD potential benefits. There is further that would eventually replace the dol- company on the London-based NEX £Koine 12.5% scepticism from Canada and the lar as a reserve with a Libra like CBDC exchange since early 2016. SERVICE PROVIDER AWARD £Anchorage 12.5% £Isolas LLP 20% £Gemini Trust 50% £Eversheds Sutherland 12.5% £Opt out 25% £CMS Law 30% Opt out 37.5% INCUBATOR / VC AWARD £KPI plc 0% ENTERPRISE BLOCKCHAIN AWARD £Coinsilium 25% £dacs 12.5% £Outlier Ventures 62.5% PANDEMIC SUPPORT £Pegasys 12.5% £Opt out 12.5% £Cygnetise 25% Troy Norcross, Co-Founder Blockchain Rookies £Opt out 50% CRYPTO EXCHANGE PLATFORM AWARD UX/UI AWARD £Coinfloor 25% he first case of COVID-19 occurred in worked across national boundaries. countries - and even data from specific £Mode Banking 12.5% £Archax 12.5% China on November 17, 2019. By the Such a platform could give groups like health monitoring equipment such as £Plutus DeFi £Coinpass 50% T £ £ end of 2019, there were 266 cases. the world health organisation (WHO) and respirators, thermometers and scans - Zerion 37.5% Opt out 12.5% As we now know, COVID-19 has spread GISAID the most recent up to date without ever putting any identifiable £Opt out 50% throughout the world, affecting not just information at any time and which would patient data onto the blockchain. DEPLOYMENT IN FINTECH AWARD those who contract the virus, but also the be available for audit in the future to A global consortium of healthcare EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM AWARD £AIX 25% fabric that holds societies together and ensure that reporting was accurate - and innovators can create such a system £Coinscrum 12.5% £Mode Banking 12.5% the global economy. not influenced by political agendas? And today, without paying billions of dollars £Amazix 12.5% £ConsenSys Codefi 37.5% Information regarding the spread and also allowed the public to confirm what to consulting firms to develop it and big- £Cointelligence 50% £Opt out 25% impacts of the disease has been a the media was saying. tech firms to run it. The system could be £Opt out 25% combination of sparse, sporadic, The platform could provide access to decentralised and distributed around the OUTSTANDING INDUSTRY misleading and blatantly false. Media high-level aggregate data, as well as act world, providing global access to SOCIAL IMPACT & CONTRIBUTION AWARD outlets have worked to inform the public, as a registry for patients who have agreed confirmed data for both decision-makers SUSTAINABILITY AWARD £Charles Hayter, CrytoCompare and some have worked to inflame public to share their data to help stem the and the public. £World Mobile 12.5% 12.5% fear to capitalise on the situation and sell spread of the disease and work towards £DustAid 0% £Joey Garcia, Isolas LLP 12.5% more advertising. treatment, cure and vaccines. Using new Get in touch with us £Zero Carbon Project 12.5% £Charles Hoskinson, IOHK 12.5% What if there was a single source of approaches to identity, records could be [email protected] / Twitter £Cudo Ventures 0% £Florian Krueger & Florian Bollen, truth for pandemic information that associated with individuals, hospitals, @igetblockchain £Pollo Pollo 0% Craftcoin 12.5% £Electroneum 25% £Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar, IOV Labs £Opt out 50% 12.5% £Marta Piekarska-Geater, PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDER AWARD Hyperledger 25% £Xapo 12.5% £Opt out 12.5%

It is important to emphasise all of our winners have been chosen by an expert and independent panel of judges from the UK Crypto community, all of whom voted blind and opted out if a conflict of interest occurred in any of the categories. 24 LIFE&STYLE TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM MOTORING BY MOTORINGRESEARCH.COM FOR CITY A.M. Meet the hot hatchback that’s faster than a Ferrari. HOCUS FOCUS Tim Pitt drives the Ford Focus RS M520

e don’t usually cover boost for the Focus RS is somewhat FORD FOCUS RS M520 practical terms, that means a full en- The tyres struggle a bit, too. The RS modified cars in City pricier... gine rebuild with forged innards. may be four-wheel drive, but most of A.M., but this one’s a bit Before I drive the M520, though, it’s PRICE: £37,000 Reckon on £15,000 for the package its 516lb ft of torque is directed for- Wspecial. It’s a Ford Focus time for a tour of Mountune’s inner 0-62MPH: 3.9 SECS and necessary upgrades. wards, spinning the front wheels and with more power than a sanctum. Engines for all Formula 3 TOP SPEED: 175MPH The Focus RS has never been for corrupting the steering. Ferrari F40. Let that percolate for a racers are hand-built here, as were – MPG COMBINED: 25MPG shrinking violets (remember the sear- Be brutal and it feels like a bucking moment. This four-cylinder hatch- until recently – those for the BTCC- ing Ultimate Green Mk2 version?), but bronco ride: a case of hang on and back musters 520 horsepower, versus winning Subaru Levorg. Other proj- WEIGHT: 1,599KG this one is Q-car subtle. Vented carbon hope for the best. Thankfully, a button 478 for the prancing horse. And while ects include modified Ford motors for fibre wheelarches, a loftier rear on the steering wheel dials down the Mountune doesn’t quote a 0-62mph the BAC Mono supercar. And speak- spoiler and Mountune M52 alloys are power for damp roads – and you soon time for its M520 conversion, I’m cer- ing of supercars, I also spy a Ford GT THE VERDICT the only clues to its added oomph. In- learn how to drive smoothly, rather tain it starts with a three. That F40 lurking in the workshop. Apparently, side, the race-style Recaro buckets and than smoking rubber like Ken Block. alongside you at the lights? A near-as- even 558hp isn’t sufficient for some. DESIGN hhhhi dated dashboard are unchanged from No car in recent memory has made dammit 3.9 seconds. How lucky do Still, whether it’s the GT-besting Fer- PERFORMANCE hhhhh the standard car. It’s a classic case of me laugh out loud like the M520. you feel? rari at Le Mans or a Focus blitzing an PRACTICALITY hhhii ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’. Even at nearly £40,000 – including a Mountune has been making Fords F40 on the road, hot Fords often have VALUE hhhhi The size of that stick becomes appar- donor RS – you’ll struggle to get more go faster since the late 1980s. The ideas above their station. And the ent when the rev counter passes bang for your buck. Personally, I’d opt Brentwood company started with rac- Mk3 Focus RS is no slouch to start 3,000rpm. The violence of accelera- for one of Mountune’s milder conver- ing versions of the Sierra RS Cos- with. ‘A five-star hot hatch that takes tion pummels the air from my lungs sions, which strikes a better balance worth, and now offers kits for its place alongside the Fiesta ST, Es- train, spikier camshafts and heavy- and makes me giggle like a schoolboy. between power and poise. But if you everything from the Fiesta 1.0 to the cort Cosworth and other notable fast duty fuel pump boost the 350hp Focus It feels preposterously, hilariously want the ultimate hot hatch, look no Mustang V8 – all of which can be fit- Fords in the pantheon of greats,’ to 520hp. The kit costs £5,975, al- quick, the blunderbuss of boost tele- further. ted at Ford dealers. gushed my review back in 2016. Can though Mountune says it requires ‘in- porting the car from one corner to the Its best-seller is the M235 conver- Mountune really top that? ternal hardware modifications to next. Like trying to watch a film on All Focus RS performance figures are sion, which gives the Fiesta ST an It’s willing to try. A massive ceramic ensure the RS achieves the desired fast-forward, my brain struggles to estimated. Tim Pitt works for extra 35hp for £575. A near-200hp ball bearing turbocharger, new valve- performance safely and reliably’. In keep up. motoringresearch.com NOT CONVINCED? CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES...

FORD ESCORT RS COSWORTH HONDA CIVIC TYPE R MERCEDES-AMG A45 S PRICE: £50,000 THE VERDICT: PRICE: £31,550 THE VERDICT: PRICE: £50,570 THE VERDICT: 0-62MPH: 6.1 SECS DESIGN hhhhh 0-62MPH: 5.8 SECS DESIGN hhhii 0-62MPH: 3.9 SECS DESIGN hhhhi TOP SPEED: 140MPH PERFORMANCE hhhii TOP SPEED: 169MPH PERFORMANCE hhhhi TOP SPEED: 168MPH PERFORMANCE hhhhh MPG COMBINED: 28.0MPG PRACTICALITY hhhii MPG COMBINED: 36.2MPG PRACTICALITY hhhhi MPG COMBINED: 33.6MPG PRACTICALITY hhhhi WEIGHT: 1,275KG VALUE hhhii WEIGHT: 1,380KG VALUE hhhhi WEIGHT: 1,635KG VALUE hhhii CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 FEATURE 25 OFFICE POLITICS A new port to make Britain Brexit ready

bon intensive than alternatives, by Tilbury2, on London’s outskirts, will inject a removing lorry-based road miles, transformational amount of ferry capacity avoiding large tracts of the congested road network, and taking goods closer to the heart of the biggest con- ORONAVIRUS has slowed Charles sumer market in Europe. down world trade and inter- Hammond The path to greater low carbon- fered with this week’s EU-UK based productivity gains is clearly Ctrade talks, and the ripples KEEPING FIT mapped out — from supporting the continue to be felt through electrification of vessels in order to the world economy. Aaptiv switch to low carbon alternative en- But while global leaders are preoc- Free to download ergy sources, to the extension of our cupied, now is a good time to focus / £13 monthly sub on-site rail facilities to accommodate attention on the progress that is the longest freight trains and barge being made elsewhere, and specifi- Facing the loading services to ship goods to the cally on a development that will be Tilbury2 is the latest chapter in this prospect of heart of the capital. crucial to London’s future. UK success story. And this shot in the being stuck But there is more to do. The Thames In less than a month’s time, a new arm for the British economy could inside over the has enormous potential to continue port will come to market. The new not come at a better time. coming weeks? to grow as a low carbon highway terminal on the outskirts of London, Tilbury’s owners, the Forth Ports You may have from the ports in Thurrock to the Tilbury2, will inject a transforma- group, are investing £250m in a new more time to population in the west. tional amount of ferry capacity into 160-acre site to create the UK’s largest work up a sweat. Take the Corporation of London’s the south east of England. unaccompanied freight ferry port This home proposed consolidation of the mar- Even as far back as Roman times, and the biggest construction process- An increasing through Tilbury. workout app kets in Dagenham, connected to the “Londinium” has been a hive of com- ing hub to feed the burgeoning do- range of the Harnessing the best-in-class border doesn’t make global terminals and onto consumers merce and a centre for international mestic housing market. consumable processes, Tilbury2 will be Brexit you look at a using the sustainable distribution of trade. And while the City remains Occupying the old Tilbury Power goods that match fit when the first ship docks screen. Instead, the Thames. preeminent for law, accountancy, Station site just outside the M25, London’s at the start of April. Alongside other it has voice-over The Tilbury2 project concludes our brokerage and other maritime busi- P&O Ferries will start operating the supermarkets internationally-oriented port opera- instructions for £1bn investment programme that we ness services, the docks have moved new terminal with significant head- need will be fed tors, we have extensive experience of each exercise started eight years ago. As London down river to Thurrock. room to grow their network of ferry through Tilbury non-EU trade, and look forward to and tailored grows, Tilbury will continue to grow. Since privatisation in the 1990s connections to northern Europe. embracing the market opportunities workout plans. The investment we are making under the government of John Major, They expect the Tilbury-Zeebrugge on the horizon. Who knew today will stand the UK in good stead the Port of Tilbury has expanded its route to rival -Dover as a gate- Tilbury2 is a high-quality addition working from for the coming decade, as we recast footprint four times — allowing the way to Britain within 10 years. From to Britain’s infrastructure capability home could be our economic relationships. 130-strong business cluster to triple wines and dairy, an increasing range — and sustainability is hardwired so productive? its workforce to 10,000, while dou- of the consumable goods that Lon- throughout. Its unaccompanied £ Charles Hammond is chief executive of bling in economic value. don’s supermarkets need will be fed freight ferry traffic model is less car- Forth Ports, owner of the Port of Tilbury. 26 SPORT TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM SPORT HOW TO FILL

OU DON’T know what you’ve got until it’s gone. For many, sport is a steady, reassuring Yconstant – something around which life revolves. SPORT VOID Plans are made to accommodate it, socialising takes place alongside it, vast amounts of money is spent facil- itating it, almost every hobby is con- Felix Keith nected to it, weekends are often Live action is gone but there are other ways to entertain, says entirely consumed by it. But now it’s gone. When faced with a pandemic of the seriousness of coronavirus, sport nat- urally fades into insignificance, but its absence is felt nonetheless. Some will feel the loss more than others – Liverpool fans waiting on, and worrying over, the confirmation of a first top-flight title in 30 years are likely to have different feelings to someone whose side are comfortably in mid-table, for example. But no mat- ter what, there is still a hole to fill. For the foreseeable future there will be no Premier League to get swept up in, no Test cricket to follow intermit- tently, no Six Nations to shout at in the pub, and no tennis or golf to settle down on the sofa to watch. Fortu- nately, there are always alternatives. PREMIER LEAGUE YEARS The first and most obvious fix is what- ever the sports broadcasters are show- ing instead of the postponed live sport. Sky Sports and BT Sport have not an- nounced any plans to refund cus- tomers for the lost live content but are pumping out some nostalgia-wor- thy programming to try and sate ap- petites. As anyone who has ever browsed Sky Sports during the hours not popu- lated by live football will attest, Pre- mier League Years can easily hook in a viewer at a loose end. The pro- gramme covers whole campaigns with broad brush strokes, showing the most memorable goals, games and moments, hopefully stirring memories or throwing up unseen or forgotten classics along the way. In place of live games, broadcasters have also taken to showing old matches in full. While the outcome may be inconsequential and the view- ing experience slightly odd, there is plenty of satisfaction to be had from watching Alan Shearer wheel away with his right arm aloft. NOSTALGIA If nostalgia is your bag then needless to say YouTube is a treasure trove. From quickfire favourites like “Matt onships, a hot dog eating contest, or If there was ever a game made to Fiver, or head to a streaming service Le Tissier – Magical Goals”, even niche YouTube sensation Sand TOP FIVE SPORTS take your mind off the outside world for more mainstream options. “Wilkinson’s breathtaking Marble Rally, could make their and chew up time it is Football Man- For football fans, Amazon Prime has drop goal – RWC final way into your weekly enter- FILMS TO WATCH ager. Once you’ve delved deep, every Manchester City series All Or Nothing 2003” and “England Win tainment schedule. player becomes all too familiar and and The Class of 92 about rivals CWC After Super Over!” to 1. THE TWO ESCOBARS every detail all-consuming. United’s fabled generation, as well as full-length classics like MANAGEMENT A must-see ESPN documentary on Whether you rekindle an old save on poignant cricket film The Edge and “Matchday Live – 1986 Ar- We are only at the start of Colombian footballer Andres and its predecessor Championship Man- new series The Test, which provides a gentina v England” or what looks likely to be ei- his namesake, drug lord Pablo. ager, or join the masses on the latest behind-the-scenes look at Australia’s “The Ashes 2005 Com- ther a sport-less, or a sport- version, Football Manager is a sure- attempts to come back from the ball- plete”, the internet has got light, period and one 2. HILLSBOROUGH fire way to keep football front and tampering scandal in 2018. you covered. option has already Harrowing but essential viewing centre in your life. Be warned, Netflix, meanwhile, is predictably YouTube’s back catalogue emerged as a fan- on English football’s darkest hour. though: it is highly addictive. stacked with options, from first-hand is extensive, but if you favourite. Not your thing? You could follow doping film Icarus to documentaries want to level up there are On Sunday, with Tot- 3. THE EDGE Leyton Orient’s example and turn in- about Sir Alex Ferguson and Bobby also resources like Foot- tenham v Manchester A mixture of archive footage and stead to Fifa’s Ultimate Team. Using Robson. Channel 4 also have a well- ballia.net, a video library United not on, thou- fresh interviews tell the story of the hashtag #UltimateQuaranTeam timed release in the pipeline, with bi- which allows you to sands of people England’s Test team (2009-14). the east London side have set up a 64- ographical film Diego Maradona, watch historic matches turned elsewhere for team knockout tournament between about his time at Napoli, due to be in full. their football. Accord- 3. MIKE BASSETT: ENGLAND football clubs in a move to entertain broadcast at 9pm on Saturday. You may not feel the ing to its makers, MANAGER followers on social media. Once you’ve worked your way need for such an alterna- Football Manager 20 A classic mockumentary, starring through all of the above you can test tive yet, but the longer saw nearly 90,000 Ricky Tomlinson as a hapless boss. SPORT ON FILM your sports knowledge using the end- the postponement contin- people simultane- There are other ways to consume less depths of quiz website Sporcle, ues the more appeal- ously logged on via 5. SENNA sport. Thanks to user Adrian5156 you which range from satisfyingly easy to ing it may become. online platform The gold standard of spots biopics, can choose between 100 free football impossibly obscure. Before you know it Steam, setting a on Brazilian F1 great Ayrton Senna. documentaries on Reddit, including You may be stuck inside, but at least the 2019 Classic new record for the ESPN’s 30 for 30 series and the John sport has not completely abandoned Tetris World Champi- popular game. Still swear-a-thon Orient: Club For a you in these testing times. CITYAM.COM TUESDAY 17 MARCH 2020 SPORT 27

MORE SPORT SHUT DOWN MOUNT WARNED Chelsea midfielder disobeys self-isolation advice ON GOVERNMENT ADVICE SPORT DIGEST £ Sport moved into lockdown CHELSEA have yesterday after the government THE FATE OF EURO 2020 TO reminded their advised against mass gatherings in the BE DISCUSSED TODAY players of the UK to try and slow the spread of £ European football’s power brokers importance of self- coronavirus. The Grand National, will meet by video conference today to isolation after Mason which was scheduled to take place on discuss the fallout from the Mount was spotted 4 April, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis. The Champions taking part in a public pandemic. The Jockey Club said League and Europa League are kickabout on Sunday. staging the race at Aintree behind currently suspended, while Euro 2020, Mount and his Blues closed doors was “no longer a viable which is scheduled to start on 12 June, team-mates are consideration” following Prime is a serious doubt and is expected to supposed to be Minister Boris Johnson’s be postponed until a later date. following government announcement on Monday. All levels guidelines around of rugby union have been called off SIX SURREY PLAYERS IN coronavirus after until at least 14 April by the Rugby ISOLATION OVER COVID-19 winger Callum Football Union, while rugby league £ Surrey announced yesterday that Hudson-Odoi tested made the same commitment until 3 six of their men’s squad are self- positive for the virus. April. Football’s National League, isolating as a precaution against But the 21-year-old which bucked the trend by going coronavirus. The county did not name midfielder was ahead on the weekend, has now the players, but said not all of them instead seen playing suspended all fixtures until 3 April, were displaying symptoms of the with West Ham’s while the Football Association has also virus. The County Championship Declan Rice at Trent advised against all grassroots football remains scheduled to start on 12 April. Park Football centre, taking place in England. The Boat Race near Barnet. Chelsea’s between Cambridge and Oxford ‘COMPLETING THE LEAGUES Cobham training Universities, which was due to take IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO’ ground has been deep place on 29 March, has been £ Leeds United chief executive Angus cleaned as a cancelled. The Olympic European Kinnear says the EFL and Premier precaution and boxing qualifying event in London is League seasons must be completed. remains restricted to now suspended after last night’s “For the integrity of the football any non-essential session at the Copper Box Arena, while pyramid and the financial security of visitors. WTA tennis tournaments will not be the clubs, finishing the league is the played until at least 2 May. right thing to do,” he told Sky Sports. Seve’s words transformed everything for me In the absence of any live sport, this week our columnists are discussing the highlight of their careers

HAVE been fortunate enough to legend to say that to me meant a lot. He didn’t speak much English but, de- European Tour for almost a decade, accummulate many great memo- GOLF It was life-changing. fending the smell, he replied: “I eat winning twice, when he was named ries in my career. Obvious high- COMMENT food, not flowers.” one of Seve’s vice-captains for the lights include winning the FOOD, NOT FLOWERS After that 1980 victory in Australia, 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama. Pro-Am at the Dunhil Links Cham- I’d known Seve for a few years I started to win more regularly Ipionship alongside my son Daniel in Sam by this point. He joined and I made my Ryder Cup SELF-BELIEF 2003 and the Ryder Cup triumphs of Torrance the tour in 1974 and debut for Europe the fol- His career really took off after that 1985, as a player, and 2002, as captain. knew everyone. One of lowing year. and he won 19 more times on the But without doubt the most the first times I spoke Two decades later and tour in the following 17 years. Did poignant moment of my playing days to him was memo- something Seve said to his fellow came in 1980, when I won the Aus- commentator says: “That’s it, they rable for different Seve congratulated Sam Spaniard help Jimenez? tralian PGA Championship – and it’s won’t catch him now.” And they reasons and showed after losing to him in In any walk of life, self-belief is one that changed my career. didn’t. his sense of humour. Australia in 1980 everything. There is no point starting I remember playing my third round We came off the 18th green and I We were on the something that you don’t think you alongside Greg Norman and I man- shook hands with Seve. “San,” he said range in Italy when I had 21 European Tour can do, but if you believe you can do aged to stay ahead going into the last – he always pronounced it “San” Seve passed wind. It wins and eight Ryder Cup it then you can. day. I was then paired with Seve rather than “Sam” – “you’re very was the vilest smell you appearances under my belt. Seve’s words gave me the belief to do Ballesteros, who had won The Open tough to beat, eh?” can imagine and people I put a lot of that down to Seve. what I did next. the previous year, for my final round. I had already been on the European were running for cover, their I look at Miguel Angel Jimenez On 17 I had a birdie putt from about Tour for nine years and had won a few eyes streaming. and wonder whether he went Sam Torrance OBE is a multiple Ryder Cup- eight or 10 feet to go two shots ahead. times. But I wasn’t prolific and hadn’t I said something to him along the through a similar experience. winning golfer and media commentator. I’ve got a video of it. As I hole it, the made a Ryder Cup team yet. So for a lines of: “Hey, Seve, what was that?”. Jimenez was 33 and had been on the Follow him @torrancesam I WANT A PRIVATE BANK THAT IS WITH ME EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. AND EVERY STUMBLE.

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