Barry Simpson
Eikon
Wednesday 24 August 2011
The problems with Eikon look like an all-too familiar story – the failure of Armstrong, which Barry Simpson and I chronicled in ● Breaking News. A controversial view, perhaps, but I increasingly see Reuters financial services as an “accidental” business. The company struck gold with the genius of Monitor and the FX markets and then tapped the same vein with Dealing, but, despite valiant efforts and huge investment, it never managed to replicate that success with another product. Bloomberg in particular (and others) proved to be more savvy; they came up with products which the market wanted, and which worked.
Brian Mooney
vbnbnbn
Brian Mooney
vbnbnbn
Bruce Cobb
Saturday 27 November 2010
About two years ago, I was having a pint outside my local, the Waterman's Arms, in Water Lane, Richmond upon Thames, with a friend of mine, Peter, a producer from the BBC.
A young man walked by, and it turned out he knew Peter. They both lived nearby.
The chap's name was Mike.
When we got to talking, somehow, surprise surprise, journalism came up.
I said I used to work for Reuters.
Hey, my dad worked for Reuters, said Mike.
He told me his name was Mike Cobb.
I said ... "Hey, I used to work with a guy called Bruce Cobb. Any relation?
"Bruce was my dad."
Turns out Mike was the son of Bruce Cobb, to whom I was very close in the baronial years.
I swear to God: I kissed that kid Mike – he must have been in his 50s – and I literally wept, because I knew his dad had passed on.
Bruce Cobb was a massive friend of mine, one of the finest subs and human beings I ever met.
Around the year of nineteen hundred and eighty-two, I was asked by the Baron to go to Bahrain ( I know where it is now – I wasn't so sure then) to set up a new Middle East desk. My buddy Barry Simpson had already gone out there and told me it was all good – sun, boats, jeeps, no tax and apparently the Baron would pay us ... well, let me just say a preferential rate as far as the local currency was concerned.
I think the deal was Barry would do the business stuff and I would do the war stuff.
And thus it was.
However, up showed a guy called Bruce Cobb. His job? To keep Simpson and me in line. To correct the f-ups we produced on a daily basis – to ensure that Reuters copy was spot-on.
Bruce Cobb was not only one of the finest editors I've ever worked with, but a delightful friend, and I shall never forget him.
That's why I wept when I met his son outside my local pub around two years ago.
Thereafter, Mike and I did not get close, although he lived perhaps 30 yards from where I do.
He was found dead in his flat there last week. I do not know the reason for his death, and, if I did, I would never mention it here.
To all of you who remember Bruce, or may even be related, my condolences.
Phil Davison
A young man walked by, and it turned out he knew Peter. They both lived nearby.
The chap's name was Mike.
When we got to talking, somehow, surprise surprise, journalism came up.
I said I used to work for Reuters.
Hey, my dad worked for Reuters, said Mike.
He told me his name was Mike Cobb.
I said ... "Hey, I used to work with a guy called Bruce Cobb. Any relation?
"Bruce was my dad."
Turns out Mike was the son of Bruce Cobb, to whom I was very close in the baronial years.
I swear to God: I kissed that kid Mike – he must have been in his 50s – and I literally wept, because I knew his dad had passed on.
Bruce Cobb was a massive friend of mine, one of the finest subs and human beings I ever met.
Around the year of nineteen hundred and eighty-two, I was asked by the Baron to go to Bahrain ( I know where it is now – I wasn't so sure then) to set up a new Middle East desk. My buddy Barry Simpson had already gone out there and told me it was all good – sun, boats, jeeps, no tax and apparently the Baron would pay us ... well, let me just say a preferential rate as far as the local currency was concerned.
I think the deal was Barry would do the business stuff and I would do the war stuff.
And thus it was.
However, up showed a guy called Bruce Cobb. His job? To keep Simpson and me in line. To correct the f-ups we produced on a daily basis – to ensure that Reuters copy was spot-on.
Bruce Cobb was not only one of the finest editors I've ever worked with, but a delightful friend, and I shall never forget him.
That's why I wept when I met his son outside my local pub around two years ago.
Thereafter, Mike and I did not get close, although he lived perhaps 30 yards from where I do.
He was found dead in his flat there last week. I do not know the reason for his death, and, if I did, I would never mention it here.
To all of you who remember Bruce, or may even be related, my condolences.
Phil Davison
