As only the third woman to hold this office, this year has taught me the importance of representation, writes Lady Mayor Susan Langley
When I walked through the doors of Mansion House almost a year ago, I knew I was taking on an extraordinary role. It’s been a year that has taken me around the globe and reinforced my belief in the fundamental strengths of this country. Wherever I’ve travelled, I’ve been struck by the respect and admiration for British business.
But I’ve also witnessed global financial centres moving at breathtaking speed. Competing fiercely for investment and talent. Harnessing revolutionary technologies. Sweeping away barriers and creating environments where enterprise and innovation can flourish. And they are not waiting for us.
Yet Britain has an extraordinary hand to play. World-class universities, exceptional talent, a legal system respected across the globe, institutions that inspire trust, innovation embedded in our very DNA and, of course, one of the oldest and greatest financial and professional services centres in the world. These are strengths that other nations admire, and advantages we must never take for granted.
That’s why this year, I’ve been determined to connect capital with opportunity and make the case for Britain with confidence. In July, we launched InvestConnect, an AI-powered platform connecting investors with opportunities across the UK. Investors representing £3 trillion in capital have already joined.
Stay in the know
Three daily briefings with the key market moves and top business and political stories.
SUBSCRIBE HEREWe’ve brought growing businesses together with investors at Mansion House, launched a dedicated defence investment day and held London’s first insurance-backed Global Risk Summit.
Through our Team UK campaign, supported by more than 200 businesses, we set out to let the facts speak for themselves. And we took that message far beyond the boardroom, reaching more than 18m people through digital campaigns, billboards, bollards, clean graffiti on our City streets and even wrapping the great pillars of Mansion House itself. Because confidence matters. And we cannot expect the world to believe in Britain if we are reluctant to believe in ourselves.
Why representation matters
Importantly, confidence is also about the opportunities the next generation believe are within their reach.
I was born in Bow, just a few miles from the Square Mile, yet for many, our gleaming skyscrapers could be a world away. But where you are born should never determine the opportunities you have.
Through City Insight Days, school visits and our work championing apprenticeships, we’ve sought to open up possibilities, raise aspirations and unlock potential that might otherwise go unrecognised. Because the City’s greatest strength lies not in its buildings, its institutions or even in its centuries of history. It lies in its people.
As only the third woman to hold this office, and the first to take the title Lady Mayor, I’ve realised something else this year. The importance of representation. You can tell someone a door is open. But there’s nothing as powerful as seeing someone like you walk through it.
As my year as Lady Mayor draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on this extraordinary City, and the courage, resilience and ambition that have carried it through centuries of challenge and change. Those same qualities will shape its future, and I know that my successor, Alderman Bronek Masojada, will bring his own energy and vision as he takes on this remarkable office.
As I prepare to hand on the baton, I do so with enormous pride and confidence in a City that it has been a privilege to represent. Because ultimately, the true measure of this great City lies not simply in what it achieves, but in what it makes possible for others.