Bloomberg Talks
00:09:37 · Tiwa Adebayo, Ian Thomas, Caroline Hepker
[00:09:37] S1: And I do want to come back to the power list, of course, just to end. You have mentioned this idea of representation in the City of London, in boardrooms. Why do you think we are perhaps still seeing a lack of representation in in these key rooms and what can be done to address it? [00:09:57] S0: Yeah, if you look at what's happening with gender and with women, that's come a long way, but still nowhere near where it needs to be. And it's the same with race. And I mentor a lot of people, a lot of younger people, and can say there's no shortage of talent up and down the country What there is a shortage of, a paucity of, is fairness in selection processes, I would say. And I think that people like the City of London, who clearly have a chief executive who's a black man for the first time in 750 years or whatever it is, it's a signal that the city has resisted the kind of temptation to. Recruit in its own image in terms of some of those recruiters um or to replicate what's happened in the past without putting meritocracy first and my my my view on it is that if meritocracy was alive and well in this country then we wouldn't have a representation problem um all we all people like me want is fairness not favors so you know ensure processes are fair I appeal to recruiters to resist the temptation to recruit in their own image. [00:11:19] S2: Ian Thomas, thank you so much for being with us. Chief Executive of the City of London Corporation.