It was a delight to meet Marina Mulcair, now steering the levloan ship at Soc Gen, last week, even though it was sad to see the former leverage aficionado Nacho Blasco leave. He was always a friendly and enthusiastic contact of the Ranger’s and we particularly enjoyed his brilliant array of brightly coloured watches.
The Ranger also met the latest loans head at Lloyds for a quick drink. With 30 years of experience in the loan market, Ian Baggott has seen a few things.
In fact, the despairing reaction from many young City workers following the Brexit vote was mostly down to lack of experience, according to the Lloyds banker.
“Some of them have never seen a crisis before,” said Baggott. “You need a few old hands to steer the ship.”
The conversation then moved to the latest Bank of England decision and Mark Carney’s step to lower interest rates. Although, when talk of Carney arose, the Ranger was quickly distracted by the memory of a picture in the Sunday papers of the Bank of England governor at a festival. What a novelty, to see the stern-faced financier letting his hair down.
The Ranger began to wonder whether there were commentators following him around the music event predicting which band he would watch next. Would there be forward guidance as to whether Carney would choose cider or a microbrew IPA?
If anyone spots the governor at another festival over the summer, please get in touch to let us know what he was wearing — wellington boots and a Hawaiian shirt perhaps.