Business as usual in the City

13 April 2012

In the City of London - the heart of the country's financial industry - the mood was sombre but resilient today

Traders and office workers made their way to work vowing it was business as usual.

Some people had to find alternative routes to get to their offices as the roads around Aldgate station, where the first blast tore through a Tube train, remained sealed off as a crime scene.

Emergency services vehicles stood 50 yards beyond police tape as a visual reminder of the tragedy of the day before.

But although some were inconvenienced, workers refused to be cowed by the atrocities.

Stockbroker Glen Howe, 32, said he normally travels to work on the Circle line, which he was unable to use today.

Instead he had to walk 25 minutes from Moorgate station to get to work.
"It's no big deal really. It's the people that got hurt that is of more concern. You have just got to get on with it."

Mr Howe said he was no more concerned about travelling to work by train today than any other day.

"I think everyone always had a feeling something was going to happen.

"I do not think we were that surprised. The more I have thought about it, the more I am not actually surprised but more annoyed with the people that did it."

Financial adviser Andy Jones, 38, said he considered staying away today but refused to be beaten by the terrorists.

"If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. My wife wasn't too happy about me coming into work but it's one of those things. If you don't come in today, when do you come in? Next week, next month? You just have to get on with it."

One man, who did not want to be named, stared bewildered beyond the police tape wondering how he was going to get to his office which was within the sealed-off area.

He said that he and his colleagues had been trapped in the building yesterday until 2pm.

"We had to get to the back of the building and stay there.

"People reacted very calmly. I just hope the people affected by it are all right.

"I saw one woman with a blackened face, she seemed to be very, very shaken. She seemed to be wandering around by herself.

"You just have to get on with life and not let it affect you.

"At the end of the day, what have they achieved?"

Most people appeared to have had little difficulty in getting to work today but faced severe delays or long walks home yesterday evening.

One stockbroker said he walked for two hours before getting to a place where his wife could pick him up, while another man said he had walked for four hours to his home in Ealing, west London.

While the offices began filling up as usual and the hustle and bustle of the financial district swung into gear, banker Mark Edwards, 34, said it could be months before the financial markets fully recovered.

"I think it will be a good month or two before it gets back on track.

"People are still worried about it happening again.

"I don't think it will have a major financial impact on the country as a whole but the markets will be a bit slow and people will remain a bit wary."

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