The Capitalist: Chelsea Flower Show shuns celeb, a female billionaire boom and Reform vs Reform
Celeb downgrades at the Chelsea Flower show, the female billionaire boom and Reform think tank’s name surrender; catch up on the latest gossip in The Capitalist
THE CHELSEA FIRED SHOW
The Chelsea Flower Show has a savage habit of striking VIPs off their lists. On a meander past the floral displays this week, The Capitalist noticed an A-Lister walking among the plebs, miles away from the hospitality suites where invited guests were quaffing free-flowing fizz. How come they were left to their own devices? The individual in question, one of the most glamorous pin-ups of the ’80s and ’90s, had refused to pose for the media in recent years after being invited in on a freebie, and thus, struck off invite lists. “We are a charity,” reminded one Show insider. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you want the VIP treatment at Chelsea, help their PR effort by posing by the petunias, for goodness sake. Or risk hanging out with the commoners.
REFORM RENAME
In a sign of how seriously Westminster is taking the turquoise threat, Reform think tank has abandoned the name its had for 24 years to avoid confusion with the insurgent political party. “Turns out imitation isn’t always the sincerest form of flattery. But I guess we can thank Nigel Farage for forcing us to find an even better name – we just hope he can keep his hands off this one,” says Charlotte Pickles, director of newly rebranded Re:State.
QUIZNESS WITH PERSONALITY
We’re grateful to the Alphaville team at the FT, who successfully put on another of their brilliant annual quizzes last week. We’re less grateful for the choice of venue, at which the cheapest (and only) draught pint of lager was just shy of £9, ranking it among the priciest in the Square Mile. The evening saw teams try and guess the titles of a series of mysterious whipsawing financial charts. One particularly steep line graph they might have included was the state of The Capitalist’s bank balance by the end of the night.
ASSET MANAGERS BREAK A SWEAT
To Surrey, where over 50 financiers donned their running shoes to take part in the alternative asset investment industry’s half marathon in aid of Help for Children (HFC) which sets the desk-bound set a welcome physical challenge every year. This year, 45 different firms for the industry were able to find at least one athlete to sacrifice for the challenge, with more than £70,000 raised for the charity, which funds essential programmes to prevent and treat child abuse. The HFC team itself had two of their group coming in second and third, as well as the first woman over the line after the hilly course. Luckily, with the event hosted at Denbies Wine Estate, there was some in-built motivation to get over the finish line quickly and grab a well-deserved glass. Supporters can continue to donate to the cause via the Just Giving page.
GIRL POWER
The Sunday Times Rich List may have revealed a dwindling number of UK billionaires, but there is at least one subset of the ultra-wealthy that is ultra-wealthier than ever: women. According to analysis by Trading Pedia, there are now more women billionaires than ever before, with 390 across the world sharing a combined net worth of £1,996bn. Once again though it’s commiserations for the Brits, with only three on the list (Bet365 founder Denise Coates, property tycoon Maritsa Lazari and Arcadia owner Christina Green) hailing from the UK, putting it well in the shadows of both world leader the US (120 women billionaires) and European champions Germany (46).
POP THE FIZZ
She was a top theatre producer before becoming Morning Wire‘s much-loved wine columnist, and now The Capitalist is incredibly proud that Libby Brodie’s brilliance has been made official. She has been crowned in the Top 20 of Drinks Retailing Top 100 Most Influential in Drink List. “Sometimes you’re not sure if you’re just shouting into the void and nothing you’re doing, saying or writing is landing with anyone at all,” she wrote on Linkedin after the news was released. But she added: “Sometimes, the hard work pays off.” Congratulations, Libby!