Last time around, it cut base rate from 4.75 per cent to 4.5 per cent. The decision came as little surprise to financial markets, with the 0.25 basis point cut widely predicted by analysts.

I have never seen a show fill up so fast in my whole life," Adam Ridgway, director of the London Book Fair, told PW. "The thing that caught me out was that by 9:30 Tuesday morning we were full.