Even the receptionists had got in on the act and dressed up as as ‘trolley dollies’ (air stewardesses).
I shared the lift up with three grunting gorillas – in the old days, I would have sworn they were cable brokers. Once in the building, I spotted that all the brokers in one area were dressed as pirates. I say all, but two of the team stood out like sore thumbs, as they were in a different type of fancy dress.
Were they the bosses, I wondered? No, I was told. They had just come over from Icap’s Singapore office. They had tried to get in the spirit of things by wearing the same outfits as their London co-workers. Somehow, though, “come dressed as pirates”, got lost in translation, and the two pitched up as pilots. Of course, it may well have been a ruse to get into the cockpit with the trolley dollies.
Various celebrities were doing the rounds, not just in London, but in Icap’s offices around the world. All of them ventured out on to the broking floor, where they got robust but good-natured responses. By the end of the day, Icap had raised another £9.2