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Opinion
Elisa Martinuzzi

The City of London Finally Tackles Its Drink Problem

Lloyd’s of London and the London Metal Exchange are bastions of sexism and boorishness. It’s great that they’ve banned alcohol, but it’s only a start.

Pockets of the City of London have done things the same way for hundreds of years, especially the heavy boozing. It's time to end this unhappy ritual.

Pockets of the City of London have done things the same way for hundreds of years, especially the heavy boozing. It's time to end this unhappy ritual.

Photographer: Richard Baker/In Pictures

For most of the traders, bankers, lawyers and accountants who populate the City of London, the era of excessive daytime boozing is long gone. Pubs and pints have been replaced by coffee shops and lattes. Dealmaking hasn’t suffered for it.

There are, though, pockets of the world’s pre-eminent finance hub where business is carried out much as it was hundreds of years ago. In commodities trading and insurance underwriting – which rely still on shouting across the trading floor, actual rubber stamps, and leather-bound ledgers – heavy drinking remains part of the old rituals.