The Capitalist: Brewdog’s Linkedin love-in; Stormzy’s house party; a new City landmark
Hair dyeing disasters, Brewdog’s Linkedin engagement and a celeb Christmas visit for the City: catch up on the latest City gossip in this week’s edition of The Capitalist
Reeves’s hairy Budget
It’s a sore point in the Labour party that the Tories have blazed more trails in the name of progress. When it comes to female PMs it’s still 3-0 to the Tories, and in recent years we’ve had Tory PMs, Chancellors and senior secretaries of state from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds. Nevertheless, Keir Starmer was right to highlight that the first Budget delivered by a female Chancellor is a moment of celebration. The policies are chewed over elsewhere in CityAM but the Capitalist thought it worth noting that, according to The Sun, the sudden burst of red hair sported by Rachel Reeves in the run up to the Budget was, in fact, down to a mistake at the hairdressers and not, as some suggested, an indication of hard-left leanings. That’s a relief. Although, no mistake has been made in selecting a new portrait for the Chancellor’s office – that of Ellen Wilkinson – co-founder of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
And certainly, wealth proved the enemy. Douglas Scott, investment manager at Aegon Asset Management, remained glass-half-full nonetheless: “It might not have been all good news for a chain-smoking private equity fund manager who will be flying to their soon-to-be -purchased third home by private jet to catch up with the four kids on a break from boarding school. But a penny off a pint, every little helps!”
In defence of subeditors
Haircuts and office furnishings aside, managing the comms around a Budget is a complicated business these days involving an army of social media managers keen to shape the online message. Unfortunately, an official video of the Chancellor explaining her fiscal approach included the caption “difficult descisions [sic]” – which eagle-eyed Capitalists might consider rather makes the case for an uptick in the education Budget.
Partying at Stormzy’s
Gamers are not typically famed for write-home-about parties, but some in the community were trying to change that last week, with a blowout industry bash hosted at Stormzy’s House Party. Revellers went all-out with the fancy dress but a rather restrained open bar policy (closed at 9pm) meant debauchery was a little lacking, though The Capitalist spotted some buzz around the jenga.
The venue is the rapper’s newest business venture: a Soho club styled like an American frat-house and marketed as an answer to the much-mourned death of the house party. The Capitalist swung on by and can confirm that, with £7 beers, it’s not doing much to fix the main cause of the house party shortage – that no one can afford a house. If anything, the design proved a little too realistic for one reporter in attendance who, on mistaking the prop bathroom for the real one, was chased out mid-trouser unbuckling by a costumed Halloween actor leaping out of the bath.
Linkedin love-in
Brewdog founder James Watt will be breathing a sigh of relief this week for making headlines for more romantic reasons than he’s used to: his engagement to Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo. Announcing the happy news on the internet’s premier site for love, Linkedin, Watt confirmed the proposal with a “deal” announcement post, saying he had entered into “a very long term, contractual arrangement which looks poised for future growth (business and personal)” and that there had been “lots of mutual investment” into this one. With the ring estimated to be worth around £200,000, we’d say so.
An unexpected visit for the City
Forget the rather crudely-named One Undershaft building that’s currently in development, the City has a new record-breaking skyscraper: its Christmas tree. Yes, that’s right, the Square Mile’s arboreal homage to the drunken season will – for the first time – be taller than the Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden attempts. Part of the Eastern City Business Improvement District’s Festival of Light campaign to “bring joy to some of the darker months of the year,” the tree will be installed outside Pan Pacific London on 80 Houndsditch. Which grandee got the honours with the big switch-on? They’re keeping tight-lipped, though reps have teased a “global superstar”…
Paddington steps up
There’s big Paddington news this week. No, not the launch of the much-awaited third instalment of the film franchise, but from the voice of the bear himself, British acting legend Ben Whishaw, who is stepping into the exciting role of Visit London’s first ever ‘welcome ambassador’. When asked what exactly the august-sounding job of welcome ambassador consisted of, The Capitalist was told: “Ben’s role will be to accept the new title”.
Virtual surreality
To private members’ club Home Grown, where the founders of tech company Anunnaki Technologies were throwing a slap-up virtual reality dinner promoted as “the first ever gastronomic escapade in a private members’ club”. The idea of dining with a virtual reality headset on intrigued us, but we wonder whether the Anunnaki team might be running for the real hills rather than the virtual ones this morning, after the headsets failed to load the visuals for our main course twice. After a few choice verbal expressions, one founder decided to let us eat our mains without the headset on. At least the steak was nice.