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FREECITYAM.COM

WILLIAM TURVILL

@wturvillSOME of the City’s leading lightsyesterday delivered an upbeatassessment of London’s ability toremain a global centre forfinancial services in the face ofBrexit – so long as it fights for it.

Lloyds Banking Group chairmanLord Norman Blackwell wasjoined by the likes of AberdeenAsset Management boss MartinGilbert and Lloyd’s of London chiefexecutive Inga Beale at the CityWeek event in London’s Guildhallyesterday.

“I’m not complacent, but I dothink London and UK financialservices can weather a situationwhere there is no deal,” Blackwellsaid.

“In the months that have passedsince the referendum, all thefinancial firms in London have

been working through theircontingency plans, and most havefound ways that they canaccommodate continuing to serveclients within the EuropeanUnion.”

The banking boss seemed todismiss remarks made by HSBCchairman Douglas Flint, whocompared the City to a “Jengatower” when warning of thepotential effects of Brexit inJanuary. Blackwell told theconference yesterday: “I’d preferthe analogy [of the] Tower ofLondon, something withfoundations that are deep.”

He also suggested that whilefirms will move some jobs andoperations to the EU, no otherEuropean city will erode London’sdominance.

Insurance market Lloyd’s ofLondon has already announcedplans to create a new EU base in

Brussels, where a handful of staffwill be based. But chief executiveBeale admitted yesterday: “Webelieve London will still very, verymuch maintain its global positionas the... centre for insurers.”

Gilbert, co-founder of Aberdeen,was also relaxed about Brexit atthe event. “I think we’re probablythe most sanguine of the financialservices,” he said, explaining thatbig asset managers already haveoperations set up in the EU.

Helena Morrissey, head ofpersonal investing at Legal &General, also said the assetmanagement industry is “in arelatively good place”. But sheadded: “Countries like France,which is the second largest centrein the EU asset managementcentre... would take the businessif we do not stand up for it.”

Elsewhere, Santander UK bossNathan Bostock spoke of the need

for the UK to fight for and retainits dominance in fintech. He saidthe UK is the number one globalcentre for fintech, ahead of 20other hubs, due to favourableregulatory conditions, aninnovation culture, a closeproximity to expertise and accessto finance.

“It’s absolutely critical that wecontinue to support those keyenablers,” he said. “There areanother 20 fintech hubs out there,they’re growing all the time, theywill seize the opportunity if wedon’t help support those enablersgoing forward.”

Several figures at the City Weekevent yesterday condemnedprotectionist noises coming fromthe EU and warned the UKgovernment against any similarmoves.

£ LSE BOSS ON CLEARING P3

CITY CHIEFS SHRUG OFF BREXIT BLUES

HOTPROPERTY20 FRIDAY 26 MAY 2017

CITYAM.COM

WHAT TO BUY, WHERE TO INVEST, HOW TO DECORATE

Edited by Melissa York

How will Brexitaffect the cost ofhousebuilding?P32

OPINION

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Is it now asexpensive asMayfair?P22

Homes thatcome with achauffeur P30

LANDMARK PINNACLE, DOCKLANDSFrom £425,000

Live in some of the highest apartments in London,work out in the highest private gym and one luckypenthouse owner will have views from the top of thecity’s highest private terrace. Situated to the west ofCanary Wharf, this 75 storey tower has been designedinside and out by architects Squire and Partners.Thought it’s packed with 752 studio to three bedroomhomes, there’s a surprising amount of green space, notleast a ‘tilting’ park entrance and the entire 27th floor,designed as an indoor garden square.£Call 0203 905 6826 or visit landmarkpinnacle .co.uk

SIGNAL TOWNHOUSES, GREENWICHFrom £850,000

Buy a contemporary, urban townhouse less than a15 minute commute from work for under £1m. These16 three bedroom townhouses are within walkingdistance to North Greenwich station, with JubileeLine links to Canary Wharf, and Maze Hill, with linksto Cannon Street in 15 minutes. Residents will beable to walk to the 02, Greenwich itself and historicEnderby Wharf from the homes in Peninsula West.They’re also secured with video entry in a privategated mews with off-street parking. £Call 0207 519 5917 or visit cbreresidential.co.uk

ELM PARK GARDENS, BRIXTONFrom £880,000

Two more townhouses also went on sale this week at asmall development near buzzy Brixton and its laid-back cousin Herne Hill. Four bedrooms are spread outacross three storeys in these houses, which range from1,243 to 1,370sqft. The kitchen, dining and living roomare in the basement, the master bedroom suite andsecond bedroom on the ground floor and there aretwo further bedrooms on the third floor. They’re alsofitted out with parquet flooring, integrated appliancesand bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling porcelain tiling.£Call 0207 738 6839 or visit elmparkgardens.info

DOCKSIDE, TURNBERRY QUAYFrom £674,995

Allergic to estate agents? Developer Bellway isoffering liaise with the agents of your behalf to sellyour home as quickly as possible and will even paytheir fees. Its Express Mover scheme is available onmost homes at its Dockside development. Two andthree bedroom apartments, including duplexes, areon offer at this waterfront building that’s close toCrossharbour DLR station, three stops away fromCanary Wharf, where Crossrail is due to start runningfrom 2018.

£Call 0845 548 8032 or visit bellway.co.ukFOCUS ON MARYLEBONE

NEW HOMESNEW DEVELOPMENTS ON THE MARKET THIS WEEKROYAL ARSENAL RIVERSIDE, WOOLWICHFirst time buyers could buy a property next to a Crossrail station for 20per cent less than market value this weekend. A new show home isopening tomorrow in the Kinetic Building at Cannon Square, where 15one bed and 10 two bed flats are on sale. Buyers earning less than£90,000 who live or work in Greenwich will be eligible for developerBerkeley Homes’ Discount Market Scheme. Due to complete in 2018, thenew 5,000 strong community being built will have an eight minutecommute to work in Canary Wharf. £Call 020 8331 7130 or visit royalarsenalriverside.co.uk

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IT’S THE WEEKEND

OUR GUIDE TO GOING

OUTP34-35

FRIDAY 26 MAY 2017 ISSUE 2,883

BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY

OUR CITYINSIDERSEDITOR’S

NOTES P11 KLEINMAN’SCOLUMN P12

Worldpay invents payment methodfor virtual reality shopping sprees

CITYAM.COM14 FRIDAY 26 MAY 2017NEWS

NEWS

LYNSEY BARBER

@lynseybarberWORLDPAY, the company behindthe payments terminals used atreal-world bricks and mortar stores,has made a prototype that recreatesthat kind of experience whenshopping in the virtual world.

Shoppers using virtual reality(VR) to shop will be able to use oneof Worldpay’s virtual terminals, at

which users can swipe a virtualcard, even to having to enter a pinfor items with a higher price tag –like you would in real-life.

To protect their pin, users areasked to choose the numbers fromaround the virtual room so as notto give it away to anyone watchingfrom the real world.

“Although consumer appetite forVR is growing, there is a long way togo before the technology enters the

mainstream in the UK,” said NickTelford-Reed, director of technologyat Worldpay.

It comes as research by the firmfound just 35 per cent of shopperswould consider buying things in VR.

However, the majority – 58 percent – of the more than 2,000people surveyed said they would beinterested in using VR more broadlyfor shopping, such as trying itemson.

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THE CITY CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS LEE VALLEY VELODROME Yesterday afternoon saw the inaugural City Cycling Championships take place inLondon’s Olympic Velodrome with ten teams taking part. Double Olympic goldmedallist Philip Hindes MBE took them through their paces. Then the competitionstarted. At the back end, the MAMILs [Middle Aged Men in Lycra] pushed it to thelimit, but never once looking like Bradley Wiggins. At the front end the racing wasfierce with rivals Carnegie Smyth and Greg Malone [both of sponsors, Signia Wealth]competing for the top spot. Carnegie took the honours. The City CyclingChampionships are a new event in the City Championships calendar, raising money for Maggie’s, Future for Heroes and 21st Century Legacy.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY A.M.CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS

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CITY CYCLING CHAMPIONSTop five individuals

1. CARNEGIE SMYTH2. ANDY EGGLESTON

3. PAUL MOODY4. GREG MALONE

5. PAUL SAMMONS

Got A Story? Email thecapitalist@cityam.comTHECAPITALIST

QUOTE OF THE DAY

A 58-YEAR-OLD Belgian has taken uphis new post as the official hermit ofSaalfelden, living in a hut-sizedchapel built into a cliff in the moun-tains of western Austria.

Stan Vanuytrecht was one of about70 candidates from across the worldwho applied for the unpaid positionat one of Europe’s last hermitages inthe province of Salzburg. In his newlife, Vanuytrecht must climb down

Escaping the rat race in styleand than back up an elevation of 250metres (820 ft) to fetch water.

The 350-year-old Roman Catholichermitage, in the province ofSalzburg, also has no power and noheating. But it does have stunningviews of a glacier. Usually, theSaalfelden hermit lives in the chapelbut the most recent hermit unexpect-edly decided to leave after an eight-month season.

Designed byaward-winninggarden designerDarren Hawkesfor cancercharity Maggie’s,it is the firsthidden gardenever to be builtat the show.

BLOOMIN’ MARVELLOUS Linklaters garden for Maggie’s wins gold at Chelsea

A banker tellsan Irishjournalist whyhe won’t begoing toDublin

You don’t have Nobu

OSBORNE’S MIDAS TOUCH

GEORGE Osborne-watchers will beaware that the former chancellor-turned-editor is not short of a few bob.Indeed, he appears to have somethingof a Midas touch. He may have steppeddown as an MP, but, as far as we know,he is still an adviser to BlackRockwhere he will earn a tasty £650,000 ayear for four days work a month. Yes,you read that correctly.Now, it looks like bitcoin is the latestmoney-spinner for Osborne whobought £20-worth of the cryptocur-rency on 7 August 2014 at a price of$582.25 per coin. As of yesterday, theprice was $2,778, meaning his origi-nal stake is now worth £75, givinghim a £55 profit or a massive 375 percent gain. Lucky old BlackRock.

Left to right: Andy Eggleston, CarnegieSmyth, Paul Moody, Phil Hindes [Team GB]