A new bank from a very old stable

Christopher Fildes

9 May 2009

The family firm of Weatherbys has been at the heart of British racing since the 18th century, says Christopher Fildes, and its recent venture into the troubled field of private banking looks like a safe bet

My racing correspondent, Captain Threadneedle, thought that banking and racing went together. He wanted Barclays to buy the Tote: perfect synergy, he thought, with matching systems, merged accounts, an overlapping customer base and a marketing slogan that would write itself: ‘You can bet on your overdraft with Barclays.’

He was, as we now know, before his time — and then the banks (Barclays included) took to betting on their own account, splashing out on doubles, trebles and accumulators, collecting piles of toxic betting slips and deservedly losing their boots. It has been left to Weatherbys, a very old name in racing, a new name in banking, to vindicate the Captain’s insight and to solve the equation.

It could be said that Weatherbys were looking after other people’s money before Diomed won the first official running of the Derby in 1780. Owners in those days would race their horses against one another in matches, and would trust a lawyer called James Weatherby to hold the stakes.

To this day, Weatherbys — now a seventh-generation family firm — is racing’s official stakeholder, collecting all the entry fees, distributing the prize money, and publishing the Racing Calendar and (since 1790) the General Stud Book. After a couple of centuries came a polite inquiry from the Bank of England: are you taking money on deposit? If so, don’t you need a banking licence? The family was not sure about the answer, but knew how to take a hint and an opening. This gave us Weatherbys Bank.

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