London, 1 April 2011

First it was New York City. Now, surprisingly, it’s Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. It emerged yesterday that BarCap is looking at moving some elements of its London-based commodities trading business to Botswana, possibly as soon as the next six months.

The move is understood to have been inspired both by concerns about increased capital requirements in the UK and by the growing restictions on trading commodity futures in the US.

Botswana is seen as a viable alternative to London and New York, both because of its location midway between the US and Europe and because of Africa’s growing importance as a commodity market.

The move is expected to impact around 250 jobs in London, with both sales, trading and support positions expected to move. A site for the new BarCap venture has already been identified in Gaborone’s old town.

It’s not clear how keen BarCap’s London-based staff are on the prospective move. One headhunter told us many of them appear to have doubts. “The thing about Botswana is that it’s a long way away,” he said. “It’s also a bit hot.”

More significantly, it’s not clear whether BarCap’s London-based staff will indeed be invited to relocate. In a move reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we understand from another London headhunter that Bob Diamond plans to replace current commodities trading staff with others who are willing to live on the premises and sing rousing corporate songs, several of which have already been written by BarCap's corporate communications team.

Boris Johnson has expressed his deep dismay.

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