Teatime in London: More business than Tetley’s
Alumni , Areas of Study , Global , London , Stories Stories from Abroad | Sep 26, 2012 | Nicole Gesualdo
You’re thinking crumpets, Earl Grey and little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, right?
Well, it is indeed all of those things. But through a new program at the Gabelli School of Business campus in the U.K. capital, it’s also about serious business discussions. Through this series, British executives and Fordham alumni are spending a few afternoon hours with Gabelli School students to share their perspectives on doing business in the Eurozone.
Richard Greletski (GSB ’14) offers this account of (and some photographs from) the most recent teatime meeting:
“This past Sunday, we had high tea at Soho’s Secret Tea Room with James Leddy, a Fordham alumnus and the treasurer of NBC Universal. He spoke about NBC’s exclusive rights to broadcast the Olympics in the United States and described the logistics and financing of this past summer’s Games, a production whose scale was incredible. We found out that NBC paid about $1.1 billion for the rights to London 2012 alone!
As we drank lots of delicious tea and ate scones and sandwiches, Mr. Leddy explained how a multinational company accounts for ever-changing currency exchange rates, especially those that define the relationship among the dollar, pound and euro. He said that each company must take risks and plan for potential disasters or successes by analyzing the economy and trying to predict trends.
The teatime was very informative, and an excellent experience for everyone!”