Lehman Brothers Collapse

Something of a horrible morning. A member of my close family is (or, perhaps, was) an employee of Lehman Brothers. Obviously, so soon after losing Mum, another shock like this is not ideal for the family.

Robert Peston has been blogging about the Lehman Brothers situation on his BBC blog.

The Guardian‘s got a good landing page set up for Lehman’s demise.

But I rather like the detail in Chris Irvine’s story on Lehman’s Docklands offices (where my family member work) in the Telegraph:

The customary security presence surrounding the
buildings of Canary Wharf is also slightly larger than usual. But
rather than their usual task of keeping out unwanted outsiders, the
staff are primarily occupied today with moving on the credit crunch’s
most recent victims before they share their troubles with the waiting
media.

Nevertheless, a few of those passing out from the high-rise office’s
glass doors did stop to explain the mood inside the building.
Koen Thijsson was the first employee out the door. He was carrying his
belongings in a cardboard box and said: “This is it. I think it’s going
to be all of us”.
*

A good reminder of the personal cost behind this news.