Watchdog staff drum up a storm

THE City watchdog has been attacked by its own workers after sending 400 of them on an African drumming workshop.

The session, at the QEii centre in London, saw Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) staff taught drumming to understand ‘the power of group energy’.

it is thought to have cost thousands of pounds and enraged staff who would rather have worked.

one employee said the session, part of the FCA’s annual meeting, was ‘an egregious waste of money’. Another told the Evening standard: ‘There are worse ways of earning a living, i grant you, but it is money just squandered, just p****d up the wall.

‘This is funding from money that has come from fees we charge banks – pensions, credit cards, insurance, bank accounts and mortgages have paid for [it].’

The FCA said: ‘We include short, motivational exercises to promote team building. The FCA will be closely reviewing all future events of this type.’