Pound starts falling seconds after the decision is revealed

SECONDS after the Bank of England announces at noon its first rate rise in a decade, the phones start ringing on the trading floor at Barclays.

The vast room in Canary Wharf – the size of a football pitch – seats up to 750 people lined up behind banks of computer screens.

Staff have no time to digest the news before making multi-million-pound trades for clients. Many are rate-rise virgins, still at school when the Bank last did this. As they chat to customers, colleagues shout out key facts which are driving movements in the pound. In a minute it’s fallen around 1pc against the dollar and euro.

‘Markets have been through a huge amount in the past ten years. If you were to look at our office you’d see a young demographic that hasn’t experienced this before,’ says senior banker Tarun Mathur.

In one corner, a team of economists rushes to get its snap analysis out. There are smiles – they correctly called the vote. But as traders had thought the rate rise was already mostly priced in – after three warnings from Bank officials in the past month – the reaction in the currency markets has surprised them. After the flurry, large businesses which rely on Barclays for protection against currency movements prepare to make trades. The bank has already hosted a conference call with about 90 firms.

By the evening, the pound has slipped 2.18 cents to €1.1194 against the euro and 1.89 cents to $1.3067 against the dollar, after another jolt to Britain’s economy.