INITIATIVE RECIPE: FSG Livery Activation

Initiative Name: Financial Services Group (FSG) Livery Mobilisation

FSG Livery Mobilisation

The Financial Services Group represents a dormant asset of considerable scale: 5,000 professionals employed by City firms, organised through 16 Livery companies, yet lacking any meaningful mechanism to contribute to the Mayoralty's objectives.

Dame Susan has already signalled dissatisfaction with the quality of FSG briefings she receives — a symptom of a broader problem. The Group exists to support the Lady Mayor but has no structured means of doing so beyond ceremonial engagement.

The Aim: This initiative converts that latent capacity into operational value. The 5,000 members become a deployable network: volunteers for schools programmes, sources of intelligence on what their firms need from the City and from overseas visits, and ambassadors for the Square Mile in their professional lives.

The Lady Mayor needs only to bless an emissary appointment and host one convening session; others do the work. The return is a direct channel into the financial and professional services sector, the City's core constituency, that currently does not exist in usable form.

For UnSquaring the Square Mile, this represents precisely the kind of institutional modernisation the agenda demands: taking a 900-year-old structure and making it function for contemporary purposes.

Strategic Alignment

Lining up with the wall and the shortlist spreadsheet:

 

The UnSquared Wall - The Ideas Bank and Initial Shortlist

 

Current State

Assets:

  • 16 Livery companies in FPS sector

  • ~5,000 individual members employed by City firms

  • Existing (fragmented) education and mentorship activities

  • Annual chair rotation (new chair incoming)

  • Stated desire to brief Lord/Lady Mayor

Problems:

  • Lady Mayor "not impressed" with current briefing quality/format

  • No meaningful plan to leverage 5,000 members

  • No coordination mechanism between Livery education efforts

  • No systematic connection between FSG and the firms employing members

  • No structured input to overseas visit agendas

What the Lady Mayor Does

 
 

Total Lady Mayor time commitment: Approximately 3-4 hours across the term, plus the initial blessing conversation.

What Others Must Deliver

Emissary Role (Mike Yershon)

Mandate: Act as Lady Mayor's representative to FSG for the 2025-26 term.

Deliverables:

  1. Reformed Briefing Format (Month 1-2)

    • Meet with the Lady Mayor to capture what she would have wanted to receive

    • Design a one-page briefing template: three priorities, three asks, three offers

    • Present to the FSG chair for adoption

  2. Member Mobilisation Plan (Month 2-4)

    • Audit current member engagement across 16 companies

    • Identify 2-3 high-impact activation options (see proposals below)

    • Present the recommendation to FSG for a decision

  3. Education/Mentorship Coordination (Month 3-5)

    • Map existing programmes across the 16 Liveries

    • Identify overlaps, gaps, and consolidation opportunities

    • Propose a unified "FSG Schools Programme" branded under the Lady Mayor's term

  4. Firm Wish List Mechanism (Month 4-6)

    • Facilitate FSG engagement with 10-15 major firms employing members

    • Compile overseas visit priorities and blockers

    • Format as an actionable brief for SABTAC and overseas visit planning

 
 

Decision Required

From Lady Mayor:

  1. Does she bless Mike Yershon’s appointment as her ‘emissary’ to FSG for the term?

  2. Will she allocate 30 minutes to describe what she would have wanted from FSG briefings?

  3. Will she commit to one convening session with FSG chair + firm representatives (90 minutes, Month 4-5)?

From You:

  1. Are the KPIs acceptable?

  2. Is the time commitment (estimated 2-3 days per month for 6 months) feasible?

From FSG:

  1. Will they accept an emissary model?

  2. Will they adopt a reformed briefing format?

  3. Will they commit to one member mobilisation pilot?

Next Steps

  1. Lady Mayor blesses emissary appointment (conversation with you + Josh)

  2. Mike Yershon to secure an introduction to the incoming FSG chair

  3. Lady Mayor provides 30-minute input on desired briefing format

  4. You present the reformed format to the FSG chair (Month 1)

  5. FSG adopts format; first briefing delivered in new style (Month 2)

  6. Parallel work begins on member mobilisation and education mapping

This structure separates what the Lady Mayor must do (minimal, high-leverage) from what the emissary and FSG must deliver (substantial, operational). The "blessing" model is preserved.