The coronation of King Charles III, taking place on Saturday 6 May, has sparked a flurry of insights from the financial technology community. In this Weekend Read, we take a look at some of the creative ways companies are marking the historic occasion.
Counting the cost of leasing the King’s coronation carriage
Leasing.com, the car leasing comparison website, has done the maths on the cost of leasing the King’s coronation carriage.
It has revealed that for £5,493,000, anyone could lease the entire royal fleet, including two Bentleys, three Rolls Royce limousines and two historic coaches.
Are you ready to take your royal transportation to the next level? Lease the Gold State Coach for just under £30,000 a month on a three-year term. But don’t forget to hire a few extra grooms, footmen, and Yeoman of the Guard to complete the regal look.
The royal procession will include the Diamond Jubilee State Coach and the traditional Gold State Coach, along with the Bentley Limousines. The armour-plated vehicles have an estimated worth of more than £10million each.
Dave Timmis, CEO of Leasing.com, suggests leasing a vehicle can significantly reduce the cost of ownership and make dream vehicles more attainable.
ii celebrates 70 years of ‘ordinary’ investing
The coronation of King Charles III marks the first time a British monarch will be crowned in 70 years. This has inspired investment platform interactive investor to look back at the history of investing over the last seven decades.
It turns out that investing is no longer just for the aristocracy.
Alice Guy, head of pensions and savings at interactive investor, stated that investing was once reserved for the very wealthy few, but thanks to the rise of investment platforms, anyone can purchase shares cheaply with just a click of a button.
“The amounts you need to invest are no longer a king’s ransom, and can fit a much broader range of budgets,” Guy said.
“Investors can invest monthly from just £25 per month, and for funds, investment trusts and popular UK shares, ii customers can invest monthly for free. Investment platforms first burst onto the scene in the 1980s and 1990s, getting an extra boost with the rise of the internet in the late nineties and early noughties.”
Charting the oldest companies in the UK
The coronation of King Charles III isn’t just a historic moment for the royal family – apparently, it’s also a chance for UK companies to flaunt their impressive legacies.
Freedom Finance Europe, the investment research firm, has released a list of the UK’s oldest and most prominent stocks.
Among the companies discussed is Lloyd’s of London, a business founded in 1686 providing specialist insurance and reinsurance services founded in 1686.
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), formed in 2007 by the merger of the London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana, is another prominent UK public company with a long and illustrious history. The London Stock Exchange established itself in 1801 and also remains one of the oldest stock exchanges in the world.
Sparing a thought for online retailers
As Brits gear up to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III, Adobe Digital Insights is predicting a royal-sized dip in online spending.
The coronation weekend is expected to see a decrease of 26.6 per cent in online shoppers’ spending year-over-year, which would result in a £128million hole in the digital economy.
This expected drop in online spending is the biggest year-over-year decrease since the Queen’s Jubilee, which saw a 34 per cent dip compared to the same three-day period in 2021.
Given that the extra bank holiday in May is expected to tempt people away from their screens, Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said that the drop in spending is not surprising.
Who wouldn’t rather sip Pimm’s at a coronation party than scroll through endless online deals?
Helping to curb coronation spending splurges
Budgeting app HyperJar is trying to make budgeting a little more fun than watching the coronation from your couch.
It has emphasised the importance of being ‘money street-smart’ during the King’s Coronation weekend, where prices are expected to skyrocket across the board.
One-in-five British households plans to buy extra groceries for the occasion, despite food prices soaring 15.7 per cent in April compared to last year.
Budgeting expert Mat Megens highlights the importance of clubbing together for costs, keeping on top of finances while also enjoying the long weekend. Of course, he also suggests using HyperJar’s digital wallet to visualise and track spending, segment spending into Jars and split costs over the long weekend with other users.
HyperJar also encourages people to plan ahead and cut out impulsive spending, with budgeting and saving a part of day-to-day life.
Predictions of a tourism boom
The coronation isn’t just an opportunity for the Royal Family to don their fanciest attire, but also a chance for businesses to cash in on tourism revenue.
PersonalFinanceGuru.com has suggested the UK will witness a significant surge in tourism during the coronation celebrations.
According to its study, the country is expected to generate millions of pounds in revenue from a 90 per cent increase in total tourism revenue, 73 per cent domestic visitors, and 57 per cent international visitors.
Cody Beecham, CEO and founder of PersonalFinanceGuru.com, shared his insights on the study’s findings, highlighting the potential economic benefits for the country, from increased hotel bookings to higher ticket sales for attractions and events.
The Evening Standard unveils an NFT artwork
The Evening Standard has unveiled an NFT artwork by digital artist Trevor Jones to mark the coronation. It captures the grand jewels of St Edward’s Crown — also worn by the late Queen Elizabeth II during her 1953 coronation — in brushstrokes.
The artwork is free to claim for a limited time until midnight on Sunday 7 May for anyone who registers on the Nifty Gateway Ethereum blockchain platform.
To claim the free NFT, download the Nifty Gateway app and scan the QR code in the Evening Standard to set up an account. The artwork is also available for download through the QR code on the billboards at the corner of Oxford Street and Poland Street that will be on display.
As we all know, nothing says “I was there” quite like a digital image on the Ethereum blockchain!
