Britain | Capital ideas

The City is fighting to carve out a post-Brexit role

It still needs to find new business lines in which to excel

With skyscrapers in the City of London, the capital's financial district, in the distance, a a cyclist pedals uphill, a park user walks alongside and a woman walks her dog across Brockwell Park in south London, on 8th September 2022, in London, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)

Sep 22nd 2022

“A club no more”, the final instalment of David Kynaston’s four-volume chronicle of the City of London, opens on a bleak note. In 1945 the financial district was littered with debris from bombing and struggling to find a new role as the empire it had grown to serve splintered. But by the end of Mr Kynaston’s work, half a century later, the City had been transformed. Financial innovation had forged a hub for offshore lending and currency trading. Boiled-cabbage lunches and old school ties were replaced by Michelin stars and a modern, global financial centre.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Capital ideas”