The Sunday Times Catches Up with Karen Jones' Views


In an article last Sunday, journalist Sarah Baxter expressed some reassuring feelings about Frankfurt not being up to the task of taking over London’s top position as the new European financial centre in the post-Brexit future.

“I have just returned from Frankfurt feeling pretty chipper that the city is not about to take over from London.. There are up to 500,000 workers in the Square Mile alone, not far off the total population of Frankfurt (780,000)”

This is nothing new. Karen Jones, CEO of Citywealth, already pointed out these facts and many others, in an article in City A.M. published in January 2017.

“Frankfurt is a small city with a population of 700,000 that couldn’t possibly absorb a British financial services “ghetto” of 1m people” she said.

Baxter also ponders on the boredom factor of the German city.

“Frankfurt has many delights on a short visit, including the fact you can walk around the entire city centre in about half an hour. The thrill, I expect, would soon wear off” she states with some irony.

Karen pointed out some ten months earlier “Boring index 10 out of 10, but I was assured the city was more lively and fun on Thursdays”

It is nonetheless heart-warming to read in Sarah Baxter’s article that Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, who has just opened a £1bn European headquarters for his financial data company in the City, told the BBC “London is always going to be the financial centre of Europe for the foreseeable future. It has the things that the finance industry needs”

Read Karen’s full article with further observations about Frankfurt and Dublin in City A.M. 



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