Time for the Government to start promoting the City again
10 August 2011
We have now had a year to watch the Coalition in action and take stock of their performance in government. What evidence have we seen of the Government's performance in support of the City and the many thousands who live and work within commuting distance of the City?
The posturing and bank-bashing that went on before the election was not only expected but was in several cases justifiable, with the result that the banks had little option other than to take their punishment like schoolboys in a Victorian Public School. I suspect that many of those taking the punishment did so in the expectation that much of the vitriol heading their way at the time, and whipped up by politicians at every opportunity, would abate once the widely predicted change in government had taken place.
However, following the election we have not even seen a measured defence of the City and its practices but an apparent lack of understanding of how the City works and what exactly the City means to UK PLC. It was somewhat galling for everyone from the Shadow Chancellor (at the time) downwards in the party that is supposed to be the party representing the interests of business to be expressing opinions on the City which demonstrated a clear lack of understanding of the City. It is one thing for the Labour party and even the Liberal Democrat party to treat all bankers as lepers and pariahs but for senior representatives of the Conservative party to do likewise without at the same time defending and promoting the enormous benefits the City brings to the UK as a whole seems like forgetting which side your bread is buttered on.
Risk and reward has been the basis of the operation of the City since Boswell and Johnson swapped stories in the coffee bars around the Royal Exchange. Over the centuries the City has at some risk financed the industrialisation of the world. We should be enormously proud of the City as a global leader and as a successful machine to which all parts of the world turn for their requirements.
We should be hearing this from our Government; we should have someone at the Treasury promoting and explaining the contribution the City makes because the country should know how valuable the City is to UK PLC. This should be a priority for this Government, but it seems to be one of the many compromises that the Conservative Party have had to make to placate their Coalition partners.
There is no doubt that the City has seen itself as the whipping boy and has taken its punishment without complaint and with a lot of humble pie. There is though much that is good and always has been good in the City and poor management and lack of thorough and proper risk analysis by some should not taint the overwhelming majority who simply do their job and do it well.
Let us hope that the current government remembers who its friends are and a rapprochement occurs which will see the Government extolling the benefits of the City to the wider UK economy and a framework created which allows the City to continue to attract the best talent from around the world - thus reinforcing the City's position as the leading provider of innovative finance and support to the world's economies.
Allemby Hunt is a specialist global financial markets search and selection agency, founded in 1999. Specialising in Corporate Governance, Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management and Middle East recruitment, they provide a tailored, professional and consultative approach to recruitment.
