Al Wood
10:58 Tue Mar 1
Re: The City in the 90's
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Great thread with some great stories. Sad how much it’s all changed although in some cases it was needed.
Very little debauchery happens these days with I think the only industry still active is Insurance. They still actively encourage underwriters and brokers to go out in the ‘market’ on expenses, but all very tame really.
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Northern Sold
6:44 Tue Mar 1
Re: The City in the 90's
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One of my best MATES was at ICAP... left to start his own gutter cleaning business about 5 years or so ago... he left as it was shit... graduates that didn't understand the score etc... used to love his photo's of their charity day with the celebs
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Tanglefoot
3:55 Tue Mar 1
Re: The City in the 90's
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Jim, what years were you at ICAP? I was there 96-2014 and re-joined last year (as well as being back there on a short contact 2017/18)...
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Jim79
5:43 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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Charoo, the high jinx were some of the most enjoyable parts of the job, just a bunch of blokes mucking about like a playground.
On the slow days the various eating challenges were always good fun. Watching some desk junior getting paid a grand to eat a tin of dog food, or 5 Big Macs within 10mins, etc.
As a junior I was paid £500 to put on a wetsuit that one of the seniors had ordered and had delivered to the office. It had been intercepted and hidden for a month by some of the other brokers. He'd been on the phone to the company everyday shouting and screaming at them for failing to deliver his item only for me to emerge from the toilets and sit at my desk in it. Took him 15mins to look over and notice and then call me a cheeky cunt and the entire trading floor erupting in laughter and cackling. Brilliant days that will never be repeated and im so glad I got to live them. The world really is shit now.
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Charoo
4:57 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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This thread is brilliant bringing back so many memories.
I remember our desk going through a bad patch, so they sent me down to Bethnal Green to buy some goldfish, as they believed if we had fish and called them successful names it would get us firing again. We had Bill Gates, Sultan of Brunei and Richard Branson.
Came in the next morning and the fish had been taken and a ransom note in its place asking for 1000 cable points for their safe return.
I had to go a kidnap the trainee from the Dollar Yen desk, drag him in our room, tie him up hands feet and face to a chair and stick him in the coat cupboard.
Poor fucker was in there for 3 hours until the boys from his desk came looking for him. We did an exchange- him for the fish, as we untied him they chucked the fish, tank and water all over 2 of our brokers blowing up their boards in the process.
Every day something went on, cutting your arms out of new coats, soak In the kettle, taking a shit and putting in someone’s wallet, fucking animal behaviour and not once did anyone ever get had a word with.
The nights out were never just a couple and you were never allowed to eat as that was cheating.
To think that was only 25 years ago, go back 35 years and it was even more extreme.
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Side of Ham
4:29 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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8 grand for the wrong sort of sore head the next day!
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Far Cough
4:22 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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.poor cunt barely even saw a single tit and was out 8 bags!!!!
ag ag ag
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nychammer
4:13 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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few pints in the nags head on upper street and then pile in a cab down to browns. We didn't have the luxury of an employer to pick up those bills or clients to entertain so blew a fortune, but some fun times never the less.
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Jim79
2:46 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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yogi, we can't even send wine or hampers to clients at xmas anymore for fear of breaching gifts and hospitality protocols.
One of the senior brokers on the desk I was on at ICAP was a terrible drinker and used to fall asleep when on the piss with punters all the time. He took out a bunch of clients to Metropolis and proceeded to fall asleep in there. The clients racked up an £8k bill on strippers and booze while he sat there snoring away. The previous week ICAP had sent an internal memo saying that strip club receipts would no longer be accepted and reimbursed by finance. He'd missed the email and had to wear it himself.........poor cunt barely even saw a single tit and was out 8 bags!!!!
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yogib
2:24 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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Jim79 1:54 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
Didn't matter how fucked up you got on a work night you made it in to the office the next day.............If you're out, you're in
You could turn up if you’d been out with clients and do fuck all all day, but you were expected to be in!
I took out some Futures Traders for lunch who then asked for some “Afters” had to procure 1/2 oz of powder for them, spoke to my manager about how to put them on expenses and he told me to go to Waterloo station, buy a few taxi receipt books and get mates to write out receipts and put them through.
These days a bottle of decent wine would be a struggle to expense!
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Jim79
1:54 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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Didn't matter how fucked up you got on a work night you made it in to the office the next day.............If you're out, you're in
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nychammer
1:39 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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When worked in London in the late 90s Thursday nights were the work nights out. Used to work in Islington and there were some cracking boozers around there. Got in some right states and was often on the vomit comet train home.
If you survived and came in on Friday you did if all over again Friday lunchtime. The saying was “if it aint done by 12pm Friday it ain’t getting done” good times, no doubt that happens no longer, it certainly dosent over here!
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Jim79
1:24 Mon Feb 28
Re: The City in the 90's
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Im glad someone mentioned Mithras as I watched pretty much the whole 2002 World Cup in there. Due to being in Japan and the timezone used to get there for the early kick off around 7am and be on the piss before going in to the office around 9am. Fucking mental drinking most days before work for that 4 week period!!!
Also glad someone mentioned the clubs that were about then Leisure Lounge, Gardening Club, Gass, The Cross (my favourite), Bagleys all gone now but so glad I got to live that life and not the VIP lounge £200 bottle of vodka, look at me, take a selfie bollocks the kids have now.
House Music all life long!!!
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Cor Blimey
5:04 Sat Feb 26
Re: The City in the 90's
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Every friday was POETS day (piss off early tomorrow's saturday). In Old Street, The Old Blue Last and the Firehouse. In Soho The Crown and 2 Chairmen.
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Manuel
7:03 Sat Feb 26
Re: The City in the 90's
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The Pumphouse was a proper old spit & sawdust boozer. Had to enter via a fairly long flight of stairs.
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zebthecat
10:58 Fri Feb 25
Re: The City in the 90's
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Too Much Too Young 8:54 Fri Feb 25
That rings a bell.
The mid/late 80s was my heyday with clubs being an old git and they were late rock dives.
Was in a psych band that had a residency at Gossips in Soho (Monday nights). We usually came on about midnight as it close at 2am; speed and/or acid was the poisin of choice then.
Get home at four-ish back up at seven having barely slept and then into work.
Those Tuesdays were horrible.
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PwoperNaughtyButNot
10:30 Fri Feb 25
Re: The City in the 90's
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https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/13/what-happened-to-the-great-london-nightclubs
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m147wn
9:25 Fri Feb 25
Re: The City in the 90's
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we were awful
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Too Much Too Young
8:54 Fri Feb 25
Re: The City in the 90's
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Early 90's you also had to contend with coming in on a Monday morning after being off your nut on e's n trips all weekend.
House music all night long..
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wansteadman
8:31 Fri Feb 25
Re: The City in the 90's
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I used to work for a money brokers in Liverpool Street and the $mark desk used to use a pub where they would get bugle delivered and the pub would pay for it and put it on the bill. Bonkers
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mashed in maryland
8:16 Fri Feb 25
Re: The City in the 90's
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Worth mentioning the big clubs from back then too.
Fabric, Turnmills, Egg, the End, Ministry etc
Almost all shut down now.
Glad I caught the tail end of it all
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