Nick Bensted-Smith, former President of the Ward Club of Cheap
Today, Nick Bensted-Smith is the Upper Warden of the Worshipful Company of Loriners, a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths’ Company and former President of the Ward Club of Cheap (2022). However, his journey into City life began almost exactly 40 years ago when he joined a group of stockbrokers as a research analyst. At the time, the firm was equally top rated with another before it was bought out – a moment in time that seemed suitable for Nick to move to a firm which, at its core, he remained with for the next 25 years, albeit under several different company names.
A New Challenge
After 25 years of work, Nick found he was ready for a new challenge and it’s at that point that the world of local government beckoned. He went to a Ward Moat, at which he was the only attendee other than the Alderman, the Beadle, the Common Councilmen and the Honorary Ward Clark. With business dispatched in less than 30 seconds, he decided to get involved, feeling that there was a better way to go about being accountable to local citizens.
He says: “That lit the blue touch paper so to speak, and after having found a better balance with my day job, a by-election came up in which five of us competed, that was about 10 years back. I became one of the Common Councillors for the wonderful Ward of Cheap with its unending variety of things to do, not only in terms of local government work, but with the City Bridge Foundation and the City’s own estate, which has been going for about 1000 years.”
City Evolution
With such a strong heritage remaining intact within the City, it’s always interesting to hear how people feel it has changed over the course of their tenure.
A Growing Community
For one, Nick notes that the City as a community has changed, saying: “Yes it is a community now, but not in the past. If I go back 40 years it wasn’t really a community, it was a place to work and work hard – either it worked for you or it didn’t. Seniors tended to have a long lunch, juniors might have a glass of wine too many in the evening, but people didn’t visit to do anything cultural, study or shop. Now it’s very different – it’s a tourist destination, people visit, people study, and while 9000 people live here, 615,000 people come in and work here.”
The result of that, he notes, is that now the City offers an all round way of life rather than just being a place to earn a good living.
The Relevance of Livery Companies
Another area of change, he identifies is in the Livery Companies: “Over the last 50 to 60 years the Livery Companies have changed enormously. There were only 40 or so up until the 1970s when the whole movement was withering. Someone spotted it and created new ones, and now there are 111 Livery Companies – around 70 are the ‘modern’ ones, which have huge relevance, while older ones have largely reinvented themselves because they do need relevance and a purpose.”
Creating Balance
Thirdly, Nick says that while the culture of working long hours remains, it has become diluted as people recognise there’s more to life than just working. He says: “Companies recognise that if they want to attract the best people then they have to accommodate a higher degree of balance. Of the many bad things that came from Covid we now have the willingness to have an element of working flexibility, which can be productive and positive. There’s still a move to define that further, but in turn it also emphasises that there’s much to be gained by talking to real people and again striking a balance. The Lord Mayor’s theme this year, Connect to Prosper, is very much about that – reminding ourselves that the City is the coffee house of the world.”
The Keys to Success
Against that background it’s interesting to hear what Nick feels is an essential requirement for success in the City of today. His thoughts echo those of Adrian Waddingham CBE, as he says:
“I think if I compare it to when I started, the whole City was more inward looking and more domestically focused. Now it’s highly international and more outward looking. As a business, unless you’re the sandwich shop on the corner, you have to be more internationally focused. I think you’ve also got to be able to adapt, change and spot how things are moving with the times – both as an individual and as an organisation.”
He also sees a returning characteristic of the City that is fundamental to both individual and collective success: “I think something which was very strong some decades back, which went through an acute and embarrassing period of weakness, but now seems to be in the ascendancy again, is trusting the people you work with. I think more people realise that if you can trust your colleagues, clients, regulators – if you pretty much stick to what you say, everyone is better off. I choose to think that’s getting better again.”
Both those observations point appropriately towards where Nick would like to see the City take things over the next decade – namely, to retain its leading global position. He says: “The City of London is clearly the world’s financial powerhouse, so there’s much work to be done retaining that position as New York and others want it. It’s harder to get there these days, but we have lots to do to maintain that for the good of the UK as a whole.”
The Uniqueness of Cheap
When asked what he thinks is special about the Ward of Cheap, Nick acknowledges a small level of bias. However, he also highlights that its unique position begins with its status as the central business district (CBD), right in the heart of the City of London’s business area.
Where other Wards have more of a balance between those who live and those who work in them, Cheap has around 20,000 workers and only a very small number of residents. Geographically it also includes a small part of the Guildhall buildings, two churches, the Corporation Church of St Lawrence Jewry and the Church of St Vedast alias Foster, and the Livery Halls of the Mercers, Goldsmiths, Wax Chandlers, and Saddlers Companies. Nick adds that the Ward is supported by a strong and active Ward Club.
Thinking about what’s changed over the years, he muses: “I believe it’s the only Ward in the 25 in the City that doesn’t have a pub in it. We used to have one and it went maybe 10 years back. Thankfully, not a huge amount has changed – we’ve kept a pretty good balance of the largest employing firms as well as small businesses and that’s good.”
Join the Club
Of the Ward of Cheap Club itself, Nick is enthusiastic about its efforts to remain relevant – attracting people who currently work in the Ward as well as those who used to. He credits a busy and varied social calendar as well as a succession of Ward Club Presidents with achieving that outcome, and encourages anyone who has a connection with the Ward to get involved with the Club.
He says: “Many people have a connection with the Ward of Cheap through the firms they work for or through their Livery Companies – the Ward of Cheap is the most heavily liveried of all the wards. It’s a very active club, and I hear time and again that it’s a friendly one, where you will always find someone willing to open the door to you.”
If you want to be more involved with the City’s business community and help contribute to its ongoing success and improvement, consider joining the Ward of Cheap Club and explore the website for more information.