City of London Chief Talks Board Diversity

City of London chief says the Square Mile keeps winning

The City of London Corporation runs the Square Mile and lobbies for UK financial and professional services, and its chief executive, Ian Thomas, has just been named the country's most influential black person. He makes the case that the district keeps growing and building even as attention fixes on departing bankers and listed companies. The harder fights are over money and access. Devolution brings London more control just as the funding behind the City's own police force and services comes under strain, and Thomas argues the barrier to the top is selection rather than talent.

Takeaways

• Fairness in selection limits who reaches the top. Progress on gender and race is nowhere near enough, Thomas says. The City has a black chief executive for the first time in 750 years, yet he says there is no shortage of talent, only a shortage of fairness in how people are selected.
• PowerList award matters for representation. Named the UK's most influential black person at the PowerList Awards, Thomas says he stands on the shoulders of giants and often does not see people like him in the boardrooms he occupies. He hopes the recognition helps young people see themselves in those rooms.
• City of London jobs up 25% since pandemic. Thomas says City employment has risen 25% since the pandemic and is expected to reach 900,000 jobs by 2050. The Square Mile produces £113bn of GVA and is the UK's most productive area.
• Devolved funding cliff threatens the City after 2030. Thomas welcomes devolution and the Mayor of London's growing spending power from locally raised income tax, and devolved budgets for 16 to 19 year olds. But he warns the transitional funding agreement secured with government looks very challenging to replace in 2030-31.
• City police protect a £6.8bn fraud risk. The City of London's own police force dates to 1839 and leads nationally on fraud, which Thomas calls a £6.8bn risk to the business community. He says police reform is broadly welcome but warns disinvestment and the fairer funding regime could weaken a safe district.
• Thomas says every jurisdiction has headwinds. Asked about high-profile departures such as Chris Rokos, he says there are always headwinds whatever the jurisdiction and points to State Street coming in and HSBC returning. Insurance makes up a third of the City's financial and professional services.

The Square Mile's growth pipeline

1. The local plan sets out 1.2m square metres of additional grade A office space.
2. It adds 4,000 hotel beds, against a grade A office vacancy rate of just 1%.
3. Footfall in the Square Mile is up 6% on last year and 15% on Sundays.