By Jack Mendel
The City of London has elected Nicholas Lyons as its 694th Lord Mayor.
The father-of-four and veteran business leader was announced as the new head of the Square Mile today, taking over the year-long role from Vincent Keaveny.
Lyons, who has worked in the City for more than 40-years, pledged to represent financial and professional services in the Square Mile which he called a “national asset that underpins every aspect of our lives”.
Lyons was born in Ireland and had a long and distinguished business career, including at Lehman Brothers until 2003. He retired to sit on boards of financial institutions and charities, and is currently on sabbatical from being Chairman of Phoenix Group Holdings.
He has also given to numerous philanthropic causes revolving around education, and said:“It is a great honour to be elected the 694th Lord Mayor of the City of London.”
“I want to put the City back where it belongs at the heart of the economy when the country most needs it to drive growth, create jobs and support investment.”
“Fnancial and professional services firms employ over 2.3 million people across the UK – two-thirds of which are outside of London.The sector is a national asset that underpins every aspect of our lives.”
He praised the industry for navigating Covid with workers “successfully working from home, ensuring that transactions, payments and access to credit and to savings were unaffected” but warned “we cannot, however, afford to be complacent and must work with Government and the regulators to ensure the UK is internationally competitive, innovative and open.
Lyons also said the City “must also address the twin challenges of financial literacy and financial inclusion. This is particularly important in the face of a challenging economic outlook and I hope to drive this agenda forward during my year in office.”
Events in November mark the start of his tenure, including the annual Lord Mayor’s Show on 12 November, and by the Lord Mayor’s Banquet on Monday 28, at which Prime Minister Liz Truss will speak.
The Lord Mayor is a representative of the Square Mile on the international stage, and figurehead for business delegations overseas.
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