The City of London Corporation today elected Alderman Michael Bear as its 683rd Lord Mayor of the City of London.

Bear, who is regeneration director at Hammerson and managing director of Balfour Beatty Property, will begin in the post on 12 November.

He served as sheriff of the City in 2007-08 and was heavily involved in the Spitalfields regeneration.

Bear will need to be a global ambassador for financial services based in the City.  He was born in Nairobi, brought up and educated in Cyprus and the UK, and he studied civil engineering at South Africa’s Witwatersrand University.

Typically, a City Lord Mayor spends three months a year leading business delegations overseas. His role will also be to meet overseas politicians and business leaders visiting London.

Bear said: “London faces a double challenge as a world-leading financial centre – how to remain ahead as a global hub whilst at the same time demonstrating the benefits of that position to London and the UK as a whole.

“The financial crisis has raised the stakes: it is not enough for the City to bring billions into the UK exchequer, paying for schools, hospitals and roads. The City also has to find ways of sharing this success more directly with the public across London and the UK, so that more people feel that having a global financial centre based in the UK is good for us all. The City has to lead globally and demonstrate its benefits locally.’’

‘’I believe my experience as a user of financial services at home and abroad, linking finance and trade, together with my practical experience in regeneration, infrastructure and engineering, will help me use the mayoralty to get across the clear and tangible benefits to the UK of the City’s success.’

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