A remarkable effort to turn grim tragedy into something positive
More than two decades on, the sheer visceral terror of the September 11 attacks continues to linger. Few working in the City then, in a world of global finance, did not know someone caught up by the assault on New York in some way. In the world before immediate smartphone communication, those were anxious days waiting for news. For too many, the news, when it came, was awful.
It is to the eternal credit of the team at BGC Partners that they have turned the darkest day in their firm’s history into a celebration of charity and good causes. Then Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm lost hundreds of people on that awful day. A hundred or so of those who were on the floor yesterday, joking with celebrities and bantering with footballers both friendly and foe, were on the floor back in 2001, too. As boss Sean Windeatt put it delicately yesterday, the day comes with ‘private thoughts’ – and then it’s all upbeat smiles and cheers as the cash rolls in.
The millions BGC have raised since 2001, first for the families of those affected by the tragedy and then for local, smaller charities, have been transformative.
The role of corporates in UK philanthropy is often overlooked, and the City and Canary Wharf’s contribution doubly so.
But between the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, ICAP’s giving day and of course the BGC spectacular, there are plenty of signs of the Square Mile’s desire to contribute to the communities around them. In a cost of living crisis, that will become only more important.
Of course, the City’s purpose is itself a social good, too. For all the negative headlines, it’s fundamentally a place that millions of people here rely on to provide them banking services, insurance when life takes a turn and a secure retirement. As we head into an election campaign, it’s inevitable that the City will feel a punch or two: but let’s not forget that what happens here, for the most part, is for the greater good – whether people realise it or not.