Hello from the Bank of Englandpublished at 11:25 British Summer Time
Dearbail Jordan
Business reporter
Good morning from a roasting Threadneedle Street in the City of London. I’m at the Bank of England where I’m covering the interest rate decision.
We journalists see the announcement before the rest of the world and, because the information is so market sensitive, the Bank locks us in a basement so it doesn’t leak out before the official release at 12:00 BST.
That sounds a bit scary, but it really isn’t. An hour or so before the announcement, we’re led down into the bowels of the Bank of England – the decor is 1970s bunker chic – where we’re asked to put our phones in a locker. We’re allowed to keep our laptops but the wi-fi is switched off until midday.
We work from a guarded, secure room where there is enough tea and biscuits to keep our brains fuelled. At that point, we get the rate announcement and a bunch of pages on how the Bank reached its decision. We ruminate, translate and then get our story ready for midday when it will magically appear in front of your eyes.
There is sometimes a press conference afterwards, but not today. See you on the other side.