Foreword - Town Clerk
"The City of London Corporation is a unique organisation. For 900 years, we’ve served as custodians of the nation’s trading centre, the beating heart of London. We’ve helped the capital transition from a small settlement to a global powerhouse. As the City has evolved, so have we, with responsibilities that extend today into wider London, the United Kingdom, and beyond."
But the City of London is more than a business district, and we at the City of London Corporation are more than guardians of history. We are convenors, facilitators, enablers, philanthropists, landlords, educators, environmentalists, and more. We have responsibilities that span a broad geographical reach, and we have statutory responsibilities that we take seriously.
We’re privileged to serve a diverse range of communities. As the governing body of the Square Mile, the City of London Corporation has responsibilities to residents, workers, businesses, visitors, and many more. It is serving this collection of communities, both in the City and elsewhere, that makes the City of London Corporation an exciting and unique place to be.
"Whether you call the City of London home, or work, study or visit here or at one of our sites outside the Square Mile, this corporate plan is for you."
The following pages outline the actions that we as one organisation – including our institutions – will take over the next five fantastic years to ensure that the City of London offers the best place to live, work, learn, and explore.
Guided by this Corporate Plan, we are embarking on an exciting and challenging range of work that is only possible at the City of London Corporation. Where we excel, we want to continue demonstrating leadership. Where we can be better, we have the aspiration and commitment to improve. That means building on brilliant basics and the provision of statutory duties to deliver for people; contributing to our civic life both in the City and further afield; and delivering social inclusion and social mobility for all.
To be world-class, to achieve our ambitions, we’ll need to work collaboratively as one team, breaking down organisational silos to solve the important issues of the day. We will proactively create new partnerships and develop existing ones; and be values-driven in our interactions, promoting equity, diversity and inclusion, and supporting sustainability (economic, social, and environmental).
We will be accountable, measuring our success against targets that will evolve to reflect new challenges. Clear targets will help us make better, more effective, and more strategic decisions. Embedded in decision-making at all levels, this corporate plan will be our golden thread, enabling everyone within the organisation, wherever they work, to feel connected to, and a part of, the next five years.
Leading our response to the challenges and opportunities of the next five years will be our people. Wherever they are based, our dedicated professionals are key to delivering our objectives. To recognise our dynamic workforce as the asset that they are, our first people strategy has been developed in tandem with this Corporate Plan.
"Together, they are steps toward our ambition of being a values-driven organisation."
This plan is for everyone connected to the work, activities, and responsibilities of the City of London Corporation. We want to deliver the things that matter to you. We want to ensure that the people and places we support are the best they can be. Working in partnership with all our communities, institutions and spaces, we will shape a fantastic five years ahead, together.
Ian Thomas CBE