The Square Mile has always run on belonging — to a ward, to a livery company, to the regulars’ end of a good pub. On Friday morning the City set about giving that old instinct a new workforce.
The occasion was the launch of the City Belonging Champions programme, hosted bright and early at Deutsche Bank’s Moorfields headquarters: two hours of City leaders, name badges and good strong coffee, with a full auditorium drawn from organisations across the Square Mile, all there to work out how their workplaces might plug more fully into the opportunities, networks and civic life of the City.
The City Belonging Project has been one of the Corporation’s quiet success stories since its launch in 2023, drawing thousands of workers from hundreds of organisations into the life of the Square Mile. The Champions programme is the next step: a nominated ambassador in every workplace, sharing what the City has on offer, championing the Belonging Networks, opening doors between organisations, and connecting colleagues to Corporation programmes on everything from Young Talent to Climate Action. Larger firms can even field a supporting cast of ‘Satellite Champions’, which is surely the best job title going in the Square Mile this year.
It will surprise nobody that this office approves. Belonging is rather our home turf: the City’s pubs have been the Square Mile’s belonging networks for seven centuries — the original cross-sector meeting places, open to all comers, no nomination form required. An office invented to guarantee the quality of the City’s welcome sits very comfortably alongside a programme built to widen it.
I should, in the interests of transparency, address the mug. An engagement that begins at half past eight in the morning is no place for ale, even for an Ale-Conner, so the tasting duties of the day fell upon Deutsche Bank’s coffee — which I am pleased to report was bright, well-kept and thoroughly delicious. Regular readers will recognise the verdict; I can only assure you it is applied with equal rigour whatever the vessel.
Before the call to action, a word of thanks. Mornings of this polish do not assemble themselves: Mark Gettleson, Director of Campaigns and Engagement, and his team pulled off an incredible event — a full house welcomed, caffeinated and connected before most of the Square Mile had opened its post. The office raises its mug to the lot of them.
And the call to action itself: if your workplace has not yet registered a Champion, now is the moment — nominations are open at belongingproject.city/champions, along with the full role description. It is a small commitment with a long reach: a colleague who knows the way into the City’s civic and cultural life, and can hold the door open for everyone else.
And should your newly connected colleagues want somewhere to belong after hours, the pub map stands ready with some 180 suggestions.