Bailey in the line of fire

Those who doubted Andrew Bailey was the right person to be Governor of the Bank of england cannot but have been impressed by his smart response to the Covid-19 emergency.

No sooner had Bailey entered the grand portals of the Bank than he was reaching into its bag of tricks to unleash an extra £200bn of quantitative easing, cutting interest rates to the bone at 0.1pc and launching the Bank’s own lending facility for companies with UK operations and a credit rating.

Bailey has not been shy about raising his eyebrows to ensure the big banks rose to the challenge in making loans to small and medium sized enterprises. he recognised early that existing schemes wouldn’t work for the smallest firms.

In crisis it is inevitable that central banks work with government. But there are concerns that Bailey’s ‘do what is necessary’ is compromising the Bank’s independence by blurring the lines between monetary policy and fiscal policy.

The Governor noted in a recent podcast that Whitehall might have struggled to fund itself through lockdown in the short run without the Bank. Indeed, with the Government about to splash more cash today with £2bn of support for young people, the arts, the green agenda, stamp duty and much more the Bank’s buying and holding giltedged stock will be even more critical.

Many of these issues would have been high on the agenda when Bailey made a rare appearance before the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers this evening.

It would have been the first such encounter since eddie George was Governor two decades ago. After indicating that the gathering would go ahead the Bank postponed, citing the clash with the Chancellor’s economic statement. A similar briefing apparently is planned with Labour MPs.

Former Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew sentance questions why a private meeting was agreed to, rather than an open forum for MPs of all stripes.

Both the decision to engage with the 1922 Committee and the cancellation could be construed as impinging on the Bank’s independent remit. A kinder interpretation is that Bailey is determined to keep politicians in the picture at a time of grave national peril.

Instant messengers

LOOK at the advisers’ fees in any merger or offer document and there is certain to be cash for communications advisers.

Such specialists can make a real difference in framing a public debate by successfully defending a company as when Finsbury helped Astrazeneca see off Pfizer in 2014.

Public relations specialists are the hidden hand in many corporate events.

In building WPP into a global advertising giant former chief executive Martin sorrell bought a network of unconnected communications firms around the world.

Successor Mark Read is tidying up. he is allowing three – Finsbury, founded and run by City sharpshooter Roland Rudd, Germany’s hering schuppener and the Us’s Glover Park Group – their freedom.

They are demerging from WPP in a deal which leaves the quoted group with a 50.1pc share in the combined enterprise. No financial data is provided but Refinitiv suggests the deal could put a value on the enterprise of as much as £250m.

The aim is to provide better incentives to the 700-strong workforce by offering equity. As with many mergers there is a carve-up of top jobs. Rudd becomes co-chairman alongside his American counterpart Carter eskew with whom he already works. hering schuppener’s managing partner Alexander Geiser becomes chief executive.

Such arrangements, as any good PR person would tell you, can end in tears.

Any bets on who will come out on top?

Tobacco road

GLAXOSMITHKLINE is stepping up its effort in the race for a Covid-19 vaccine.

Its latest partnership is with Medicago, the biopharma arm of the world’s biggest tobacco company, Philip Morris.

The plan is to use GsK’s vaccine technology, with Medicago’s plant-based vaccine candidate which neutralises antibodies. Testing is to begin shortly.

The goal is 100m doses by 2021 and 1bn by 2023. That seems a long way off.

But, by previous vaccine standards, progress on the coronavirus vaccine candidates is moving at Formula 1 speeds.