A terrible idea, coming your way. Big banks and fund managers have urged the London Stock Exchange to push back its opening by an hour and a half.
Some bunch of chancers called the Association for Financial Markets in Europe want the LSE to open at 9.30am, to make a shorter working day.
My self interest is that this would be bad for my employers, the Evening Standard, since it would make it tough to hit an 11am deadline. I dare say we’d figure it out, but it’s far from ideal.
I guess hacks and flaks might like the idea of a lie-in on results day, none of that 7am panic, but I still think it is a bad idea for both trades, and for London.
The complainers say an early start is bad for mental health and work-life balance. Well, no. Only if your employer thinks a 7am start should routinely be followed by a 7pm finish.
For some of us, including a lot of flaks and others in the City, an early start followed by a school pick up works just great.
A move to later trading would put us more in line with Europe. But we’ve just rather publicly demonstrated that we don’t want to align with Europe. We want to diverge.
I hope we stick with the way things are now. Thoughts?
