Lord Mayor of London William Russell is to speak to Manchester-based financial services firms as part of a virtual visit focussed on FinTech.
The visit follows his ‘virtual’ FinTech-focussed visit to North America last week accompanied by two Manchester firms, who met US investors Capital G (the venture capital arm of Google) and American Express Ventures.
The two firms were Acceleris Capital, which was founded in Manchester in 2000 and specialises in early stage investment, and GoodBox, which specialises in cashless solutions for the third sector.
Both firms were also part of the Lord Mayor’s last visit to the US when he visited San Francisco in December 2019.
Manchester is the largest UK FinTech hub outside of London, with more than 80 FinTech-related operations run out of the city region and 8,000 people working in the sector.
Lord Mayor of London William Russell said: “I’m delighted to be virtually heading back to Manchester over the next few days.
“I’ve seen for myself that Manchester has some of the most innovative fintech firms anywhere in the UK, having worked with them on my recent visits to North America and beyond.
“Working together will therefore be vital to unlock opportunities as we look beyond the pandemic. I’m excited to continue that process over the coming days as we look towards what our two great cities can achieve through partnership.”
Corporate Finance Director at Acceleris VC, Patrick Molyneux added: “I wish the Lord Mayor all the best on his virtual visit to Manchester this week, and it’s great that he’ll able to find out more about the vibrant and growing fintech scene we have here.
“It was a privilege once again to join him on a visit to North America last week, albeit virtually of course, and I’d certainly recommend being part of a City of London delegation to any ambitious fintech or VC firm anywhere in the UK.