Remember all those predictions that the City of London would see an exodus of the likes of Goldman Sachs after Brexit? Well Goldman Sachs has announced that it is moving hundreds of jobs out of London – to a new office in Birmingham by the end of the year, creating “several hundred” new jobs in what will be the company’s biggest UK office outside London. Speaking today, chief executive of Goldman Sachs International Richard Gnodde said:
“Establishing a new office in Birmingham will diversify our UK footprint and give us access to a broad and deep talent pool in the local area. We see tremendous opportunity to enhance our UK presence and continue delivering for our global clients.”
Despite wild scaremongering from Remainers, Brexit still hasn’t produced the job losses in the financial services sector as they’d so eagerly predicted. The UK’s new tech boom isn’t likely to change that any time soon…
Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein has admitted he was wrong on Brexit. The arch-Remainer said at a Politico event earlier today:
“I am wrong because I would have thought there would have been a worse outcome by now… We are building a big building [in London] for more than £1 billion… I thought there would have been a more dramatic effect by now. As of now the effect hasn’t been dramatic, but you couldn’t tell from the way our building is going up – but three years from now – decisions are being made today that might result in less economic activity so there may be a lag – but at this point it hasn’t been as dramatic a fall off… the UK should remain and be encouraged to remain not the exclusive financial centre but a dominant financial centre for Europe.”
The Goldman chief previously proposed a second referendum and infamously tweeted: “Just left Frankfurt. Great meetings, great weather, really enjoyed it. Good, because I’ll be spending a lot more time there. #Brexit”. Now it seems he’ll not be spending that much time in Frankfurt after all…
Remainers have been trumpeting the letter from eight former U.S. Treasury secretaries arguing that Brexit would leave the UK poorer, more inward looking and threaten the City. But Guido couldn’t help but find some of the signatories’ names familiar, so he decided to take a glance at a few of their CVs:
Henry Paulson: worked at Goldman for twenty years, eventually becoming CEO.
Lawrence Summers: Former Hedge fund partner, and worked as a freelance speaker. Gave six-figure speeches at Goldman and a range of other investment banks.
Robert Rubin:Spent 26 years at Goldman, eventually serving as a member of the board and co-chairman from 1990 to 1992.
Goldman Sachs may have breathed credibility into the digital crypto-currency Bitcoin after it co-lead a $50 million financing round in Circle Internet Financial, a Bitcoin wallet company. Despite widespread exposure, helped in no small part by its integral role in the online drug market SilkRoad, Bitcoin has failed to capture the public imagination. Not to mention the currency’s reputation for wild volatility..
Before Bitcoin’s rabid army of fans get too excited, it’s not the first time that Bitcoin companies have attracted venture capital. Earlier this year DFJ Growth led a $100m investment in Coinbase, another Bitcoin wallet. And we’re still paying for fags with bits of paper…
