Weathering the storm

We can only guess at the weather conditions outside Edward Lloyd's coffee house 315 years ago, as some of the first insurance arrangements for marine merchants and sea captains were organised and he began the business that would cement a place in financial folklore. What we can be fairly sure of, however, is that it was infinitely less stormy than it has been for the institution over the past decade and a half.

For years, Lloyd's was perceived with envy as a gravy train for the Names - the