There are many places to gauge the mood of the City of London: the Stock Exchange perhaps, the Bank of England, even Monument Tube station.
But the most agreeable place to view its fortunes is from a bar stool in Sweetings Restaurant. The restaurant opened in 1889, 12 years after the Stock Exchange launched in Sweetings Alley. The money business had started in the area long before that; the word "sweeting" means "physical maker of money".
"Walking the other day in Cheapside I saw some turtles in Mr Sweeting's window, and was tempted to stay and look at them," wrote Samuel Butler in the 1890s. More than 100 years later the window is still there, although turtle is no longer on the menu.
You can chart the health and independence of the City by the length and quality of its lunches. When I first covered the Square Mile in the 1990s you could be assured of robust and hearty fare at Morgan Grenfell, then one of the finest merchant banks. The afternoon would disappear in a haze of roast beef, summer pudding, stilton, port and cigars, and you were lucky if you were back at your desk by four o'clock.
Then the Germans bought the bank and frankfurters and sauerkraut were on the menu. Soon afterwards Deutsche Morgan Grenfell became Deutsche Bank, and lunch was cancelled.
The Americans had already shown scant regard for the square meal: in my view, the entire financial collapse of the past year, the sub-prime crisis and much more besides, can be ascribed to the fact that bankers no longer stop for lunch.
If only everybody had followed the lead of the French, who after all, created the Statue of Liberty with an ice cream cone in her right hand, the crisis probably would never have happened.
Bad trading decisions are made when blood sugar levels are low, or artificially high. The French understand the importance of the lunch hour. The soul is replenished with a plate of oysters, the mind refreshed with a slice of fresh fish. It was Jeeves, the cleverest butler of all, who owed his acuity to regular and large doses of fish. (It makes no difference at all that he was only a character in PG Wodehouse's stories.)
As I settled into my stool at Sweetings, with old Spy cartoons hanging on the beige walls and a cricket bat signed by players whose fielding days are over and who no doubt view Twenty20 cricket as an appalling pyjama circus, I looked around at my fellow diners.
The place was heaving; their plan was clearly to eat their way out of the downturn: pinstriped, occasionally red-nosed, they looked pleasantly well fed, some as plump as a Whitstable oyster.
You cannot chalk up the bill on a slate; nor until very recently could you even pay by credit card. Cash was king, and if you wanted gull's eggs or asparagus you had to pay almost as soon as you had consumed them.
This is not a place for idling; it doesn't even serve coffee. You are hurried through and once you've eaten, expected to leave. It is a fast-food restaurant, the McDonald's of toffs and city slickers. It is open neither in the evening nor at weekends.
If I were running a bank I should insist that all my staff abandon their workstations at 12.30 and step outside for fresh air and fillets of fish. The recipe for success at Sweetings is clear: nothing fancy, no strange continental concoctions, no derivatives.
It is hardly surprising that the hedge fund boys have run into so much trouble in the past few months. They are all based in Mayfair and get used to Marco Pierre White's fine concoctions or Gordon Ramsay's fancy fare.
Mr Ramsay himself has picked up some of the practices of the financiers and now finds himself in a fine pickle. "We went over our overdraft limit and we did not hit revenue targets," he told The Daily Telegraph. He was forced to sell his flame-red Ferrari. I have long maintained that cooks should be in the kitchen, not on the television, charging around the streets in fast cars, nor dispensing financial advice.
They should be like George Walters, one of Sweetings' longest-serving waiters, sadly now retired, who was known for his polite inquiries - "Some more oysters while you are waiting?" or "A drop more brandy to liven your port?" - and was not averse to helping clients finish their jam roly-poly or their tankards.
Regulars were allowed by a previous owner to hold an account to be settled quarterly. This was a credit rating as prized as a "triple-A" from Moody's or Standard & Poor's, and probably more relevant. A City Liveryman who was afforded such a privilege told me, "I felt as if I had arrived".
My bankers would be charged with getting hold of that list. The City of London will be fine as long as it remembers what it is good at. Nothing fancy, and always insist on cash however creditworthy people may appear.
In John Buchan's Greenmantle, the hero is asked at the beginning of the novel to bring his friend "a barrel of oysters from Sweetings". Nearly 100 years later and the exhortation remains sound.
The only sour note was when the bill came and there was no friendly banker on hand to pay it. I shall just have to follow the lead of all those honourable British members of parliament and put it on expenses.
rwright@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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Mission%3A%20Impossible%20-%20Dead%20Reckoning%20Part%20One
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The specs: 2019 GMC Yukon Denali
Price, base: Dh306,500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 621Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.9L / 100km
Match info
Karnataka Tuskers 110-3
J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16
Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs
K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The biog
Favourite food: Tabbouleh, greek salad and sushi
Favourite TV show: That 70s Show
Favourite animal: Ferrets, they are smart, sensitive, playful and loving
Favourite holiday destination: Seychelles, my resolution for 2020 is to visit as many spiritual retreats and animal shelters across the world as I can
Name of first pet: Eddy, a Persian cat that showed up at our home
Favourite dog breed: I love them all - if I had to pick Yorkshire terrier for small dogs and St Bernard's for big
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
RACE CARD
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m
5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 1,000m
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Al Ain Mile Group 3 (PA) Dh350,000 1,600m
8pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Amith's selections:
5pm: AF Sail
5.30pm: Dahawi
6pm: Taajer
6.30pm: Pharitz Oubai
7pm: Winked
7.30pm: Shahm
8pm: Raniah
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5