David Buik: The City needs a bit more fun
No one alive has worked in the City longer than David Buik. He tells Ali Lyon what’s changed since his first day in September 1962, and what, mercifully, has remained the same. It is 12:30 on a mild Tuesday afternoon, and as he takes to the blue leather stool and peruses his paper menu, David [...]
David Buik, a 82-year-old veteran of the City, has been working in the financial district since 1962. He is a fan of Sweetings restaurant, a historical eatery that has remained unchanged for nearly 140 years. Buik began his career straight out of school with no impressive A-Level results, working as a bank clerk. Over the years, he has witnessed the City's highs and lows, including the 1970s inflation, the abolition of exchange controls, and the 2008 financial crisis.
Buik also outlasted many of the institutions he once worked for, including City Index, Prebon Yamane, Cantor Index, and Panmure Gordon. He has chronicled his career in the book "Money Markets Mayhem." Buik believes the long City lunch is a valuable tradition that fosters serendipitous conversations and relationship-building, but he fears it is becoming endangered due to the increasing reliance on technology and the prevalence of fast food.
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