Hugh Harris: The Banker who took up fighting racism

Hugh Harris CBE recently retired from his day job at London First where he tirelessly promoted the capitals businesses.

Interestingly though, at his retirement party there were as many Black activists and campaigners as there were company CEO’s, including Lord Morris, Lord Dholakia, and Bharat Mehta. This is  because the former banker to the Bank of England became a passionate advocate for tackling race inequality, as much as he was about promoting big business.

Back in the 90’s he was board member and then Deputy Chair at the Commission for Race Equality-remember that body - working along with the then Chair Herman Oueseley.

Lord Ouseley spoke at the leaving-do of his great friendship with Hugh in which the two men sought to change our world in regards to race equality.

I’m not sure the first time I was introduced to Hugh Harris, but it would be the beginning of a fifteen year friendship, in which , it was never said but during that time he was my mentor.

We were clearly from different worlds, but he took it upon himself -in a non patronising way to impart his knowledge of the business world and how it operated, including the etiquette of formal dinners, which when presented with an array of cutlery  can be  intimidating if you don’t know rules. I’d be his guest at the Lord Mayors banquets, and at his Banking Livery association. There he would introduce me as his friend ‘who is transforming our democracy for the better’. Moreover, he would point out why they –his contacts- should support OBV.

For many years all the OBV team worked on a voluntary basis until Harris persuaded BT to fund us. He told the BT executives during a swanky lunch that the corperate social responsibility would be inspired by the work we were doing.

So, for the next decade or so we would have lunch on a bimonthly basis, and we’d talk about the present challenges in regards to race equality. By the time I’d returned to the office he would have sent a summary of what we’d agreed and numbers of individuals for me to contact. Old school style.

What I didn’t realise until I spoke to friends at his retirement party, there were many other Black people who had had similar relationships with Hugh. One person told me that Hugh had always felt that business would benefit by having greater diversity, and that he might in some small way be a conduit for ensuring the two worlds work better together.

During one of our last lunches Hugh told me that he was proud that the relationship was mutally  beneficial . Although he said with a rye smile, ‘I haven’t always agreed with some of your associates.'

I learnt a lot from this good man too; including humility and sharing your contacts to ensure the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Another key aspect I learned from Hugh, simply by watching and listening to him, is that if you want to be truly radical, dress conservative.

Yes, Harris has been a wolf in finely tailored Merino wool clothing, going about his business getting good people to meet and make changes.

Hugh Harris has retired from London First but he has no intention of retiring from making a difference.

See you for lunch soon Hugh!

Simon Woolley