On Andrew Bailey’s first official day as Bank of England boss he was virtually alone in the palatial building. The footsteps of a skeleton security crew echoed as they hit the polished mosaic floors . In March 2020, the first Covid-19 lockdown had turned London’s financial district into a ghost town. Far below in the vaults, shelves of gold ingots rested on London clay beneath the fortress affectionately known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.
A trip to the deserted canteen failed to yield a sandwich. Bailey had to resort to rooting around in a fridge. It was slim pickings: a bottle of champagne, and half a loaf of sliced bread. He nabbed the bread and went back to his desk to call important figures in the short-term credit markets, which had become highly stressed. He was calm, reassuring, and “zero-bullshit”, said one City figure who received a call from Bailey, “far more impressive than he is at press conferences”.
