Tuesday 05 April 2022 10:40 am

Morning Wire Awards 2022: Personality of the Year

The City is back, and so are the Morning Wire Awards, recognising the best of the Square Mile, Canary Wharf and London’s business community – which has shown shown resilience, innovation and adaptability like never before over the past year. We’re delighted to host what will be a wonderful celebration of the capital’s rebound, but we need your nominations to do it. After months of uncertainty, it’s time to look forward – and say well done to those who came to the fore in the most difficult of circumstances.

The one to win

The City would be nothing without its people. This award, won over the years by the great and good of the Square Mile, honours those who’ve left their mark on their industries in their own inimitable style. After working from home for two years, a little personality is no bad thing – and these five have it in spades.

Anne Boden, CEO & Founder, Starling Bank

Being a woman in the start-up and scale-up game is still not as easy as it should be, so Boden’s leadership of Starling Bank is even more impressive than it otherwise would be. It’s also not easy to call out the industry you work in, and Boden hasn’t been afraid of doing that either. Forget the personality though, and look at the business: growing fast, pioneering open banking, and keeping the big players on their toes.

David Buik MBE

The City wouldn’t be the City without the living legend that is David Buik. A regular commentator, his weekly fayre emails have become the stuff of lore in the Square Mile, and his championing of the value of the Square Mile during the worst of the pandemic cheered the hearts of many stuck in the spare room on a dodgy laptop. Never shy of a phrase, he’s a true City personality.

Kate Nicholls, CEO, UKHospitality

Nobody did more to speak up for the City’s hospitality businesses – and pubs and restaurants around the country – than UK Hospitality’s Kate Nicholls. Holding the government’s feet to the fire she played a crucial role in ensuring that the watering holes we all know and love – and which power the Square Mile’s crucial gossip economy – were waiting for us when we returned to the City.

Sir Nigel Knowles, CEO, DWF LLP

A legal legend, Sir Nigel’s accidental second career – he says he was persuaded over a round of golf – as the chair and then boss of DWF has seen the legal services firm redefine what a UK law firm can be. Far-sighted acquisitions at DWF alongside a lengthy career at the top of DLA Piper suggest a man who knows his game- even if he’d surely like to be watching more cricket by now.

Sir Nigel Wilson, CEO, Legal and General Group

Nobody has done a better job trying to tease out the future of the City than Sir Nigel, who has been a champion of the benefits of our new more flexible world but never forgetting the “buzz” of the City and of collaboration in the office. Sir Nigel’s firm continues to thrive, too, pushing boundaries on ESG. After ten years at the top of Legal and General. Sir Nigel shows no sign of slowing down – and thank goodness for that.