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Indian industrials group Tata, wealth manager Baillie Gifford, the London School of Economics and banking giant Barclays are among the heavyweight sponsors of the Hay Literary Festival, which kicked off over the bank holiday weekend.
Alas for Barclays, there were multiple reminders of its troubled recent past. Former Bank of England Governor Lord King — the man who ordered Barclays to part ways with controversial chief executive Bob Diamond in the wake of the Libor fixing scandal — spoke about his new book comparing the financial crises of 1914, 1931 and 2008.
To make matters worse, the papers have been full of news about yet another scandal as Barclays has been fined £26 million over gold price fixing.
No wonder the bank did not sponsor a stage at Hay — unlike in previous years when it erected the Barclays Wealth Pavilion.
Direct Line’s Peter Wood finds avoiders taxing
What’s bugging Direct Line and esure millionaire Peter Wood? Tax, in a word.
Woods, pictured, tells City Spy: “I pay all my tax, absolutely everything. Amazon, Google, Starbucks irritate me to hell. I probably paid more tax than those three put together last year. There is nothing wrong with paying tax, but if everybody paid it with no avoidance, we could all pay less.”
Globe Trotter unpacks its bags in Mayfair
So is this how the other half live? Not only do the rich and famous embark on holidays in glamorous locations, they also travel with colourful and expensive luggage.
Well this is what British luggage brand Globe Trotter is betting on. The brand opened a giant shop at 35 Albemarle Street in Mayfair last week and model Daisy Lowe and her mother Pearl were overheard at the party planning a family holiday with cases from the Globe Trotter collection.
Other party-goers included Laura Bailey and Jack Guinness, and Globe Trotter will be hoping the stars will put their money where their mouths are and buy new luggage for the summer. Particularly as rents for a Mayfair shop are astronomical.
WPP chief is mad for Shard
WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell is taking his shareholders up the Shard. The Mad Man will be seeking approval for his dizzying £30 million pay package at the annual meeting in the giant tower on June 25.
It is thought to be the first time that a FTSE 100 company has held its annual meeting in the Shard — Europe’s tallest building at 310 metres. Sir Martin is a man who likes tradition. After WPP returned last year from Ireland, where it relocated for a couple of years for tax purposes, the ad group held its shareholder meeting in the (relatively) stuffy Savoy Hotel on the Strand — scene of past WPP gatherings.
Shard visitors check in
Moving to the Qatari-funded Shard, a glistening symbol of modern global wealth, sends out a different message.
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Could being based in the Shard be good for business? Intellectual property law firm Mathys & Squire moved into the tower in March and claims to have tripled new business in April against a year ago.
Martin MacLean, partner at Mathys & Squire, says: “We have been delighted by the level of interest our move to the Shard has generated, and the increased number of new business enquiries has been most pleasing.”
City Spy reckons potential clients just want to take a gander at the Shangri-La Hotel, which stands halfway up the Shard, where the view through the windows into other rooms is said to be so revealing that some people have got an eyeful of fellow guests.