The newly appointed Lord Mayor of London, Charles Bowman, visited the Baltic Exchange today for a lunch with the Baltic’s board of directors and guests. The lunch began with an address from the chairman of the Baltic Exchange, Lambros Varnavides, highlighting key issues of relevance to the shipping community and the City of London.  He emphasised that although “The City of London is known as a financial and insurance powerhouse, it is also a maritime powerhouse and home to more shipbrokers, marine underwriters, ship financiers, maritime lawyers and arbitrators, maritime accountants, ship classification societies than anywhere else in the world”. He added that “It is this maritime flavour which gives the City its distinctive international taste.”

Charles Bowman, a senior partner at PwC, was last week installed as the 690th Lord Mayor of London. He intends to use his year to kickstart a campaign to rebuild trust in business as well as carrying out the role’s traditional duties as spokesperson and ambassador for the UK’s professional and financial services sector.  The Lord Mayor commented that  “The City of London is a national asset for the UK, accounting for billions of pounds in revenue and taxes and creating millions of jobs across the UK. It is also a unique, cultural and diverse institution and it is an honour to hold the position of the 690th Lord Mayor “.