Globe-trotting City bankers face having their wings clipped

Linda J. Dodson

“Long term, frequency of international travel will almost certainly decline and traditional company roadshows will be a thing of the past,” predicts Alex Ham, co-head of the UK’s largest corporate broker Numis. “It may actually bring down barriers to competing for overseas business as the virtual environment takes hold and we’ll be able to ‘open’ in new markets or hire in cities without the physical infrastructure.”

That does not mean Numis, which is broker to more than 210 London-listed companies including Asos and Ocado, is planning to up sticks and move staff to a cheaper location. Mr Ham said the bank is still going ahead with its move to a larger building in London next year but will “rethink the layout” to fit the new ways of working. He has already told staff that Monday to Friday office working will “simply not return”.  

Nevertheless there are concerns that a long-term shift towards a more virtual world could change the face of international banking and damage the sector’s pull towards London in the years ahead. With fewer long lunches and no more 9-to-5 commuting, once buzzy restaurants in the Square Mile could be left empty as deals are hashed out over Zoom calls from countryside locations.

“All senior people have said they have become massively more productive not travelling everywhere,” one City banker says. “The top bankers who only see clients can now do three times the number of meetings per day. They will still do social meetings to buttress the relationship, but after this it will be less frequent.” 

Bankers were already concerned that after Brexit the City could lose its status as Europe’s finance centre, a strength used as a bargaining chip for the UK in trade negotiations. The coronavirus crisis adds another dimension to those worries. 

“In order for London to retain its status as a financial hub it will need to show some leadership. Being the number one can make people complacent and lazy and there are plenty of contenders for the crown,” says former Goldman Sachs banker Graham Ward, now a professor at business school Insead. 

“[London] will need to continue to deliver world class innovation and creativity [which] means attracting the best and brightest and keeping them here. Unfortunately the collision of Covid-19 and Brexit may create huge problems for us in that regard.”  

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