Alessandra Buonfino: Welcome to the Oxford Conversations on
Qwnership. I am delighted you join us today. My name is
Alessandra Buonfino. I am a fellow at the Ownership Project
at the Saïd Business School. And today I'm speaking to Venetia
Hoare of Hoare and Co. Bank, which is Britain's oldest
privately owned bank. Thank you Venetia for joining us today.
Venetia Hoare: Well, thank you. I'm so delighted.
Alessandra Buonfino: So the bank was founded by Sir Richard Hoare
in 1672. At the 'Sign of the Golden Bottle' on London's
Cheapside. Today, it employs around 400 people in its Fleet
Street headquarters and remains family owned. It is managed by
the 11th generation of Richard's descendants, and 11 generations
owned, what does ownership mean to you?
Venetia Hoare: We really regard ourselves rather than absolute
owners, its trustees for future future generations. As an owner,
I feel responsible to a number of people, it's the future
generations of the family. They're all the people who work
for us, and then all our wonderful customers, as well, so
and the community that we that we operate in.
Alessandra Buonfino: Sir Richard to date has about 4000
descendants I was reading and how is the bank set up so that
family ownership is not diluted over time?
Venetia Hoare: It is the only family who have shares or an
interest in the bank are the six partners who all carry unlimited
liability. You can only be a shareholder, if you're working
in the business. It doesn't necessarily pass from all I
mean, it used to be father son. There are their daughters as
well. But it doesn't necessarily pass parent child. We sort of
keep an eye on all the next generation and hopefully then
bring in the most appropriate in each generation.
Alessandra Buonfino: Wow, fascinating. How do you ensure
that family members who are not actively part of the business on
a day to day feel part of something bigger?
Venetia Hoare: Well as our business is retail banking, many
of the family have their banking with us. So they certainly feel
part of it through part of it through that. Then in the wider
network of cousins. We do organise events for them will do
things for younger younger cousins, trying to get to know
them, particularly ones that work in the city or relevant
jobs. For our third of the millennium. 333 we had a big
family party at Stourhead down in Wiltshire. We celebrate 350
years next year, so again, we'll do a big family party, probably
down in Luscombe where a cousin of mine lives in Devon, which is
a family house. So we look for ways to bring family together.
That's brilliant as well. But they do that they do feel a
strong connection through having through banking with us.
Alessandra Buonfino: Yes, I can imagine. And so now going into
philanthropy, so philanthropy as far as far as I understand it,
as well as being quite central to Hoare and Co's culture. And
to the heart of your success, and your family has been leading
the bank to achieve its ambition of being both good bankers and
good citizens, which I think is a great statement. As you know,
the Ownership Project very much focuses on how family owners
become powerful catalysts for change, and what tools they use
to ensure that the business can benefit people and planet. And
you told me what you believe ownership means to you. But what
about responsible ownership? And do you feel like that has
evolved over time?
Venetia Hoare: Henry Hoare, who was the son of Richard Hoare was
one of the founders of the what was then the Westminster
Hospital. They've definitely, I mean throughout the generations,
we've been very supportive of different I mean, we're involved
with the Trinity Jospice, we're involved with the Corum Family,
there are all sorts of old charities that we've been
involved with, sort of, if not right from the start from very
early on. We I mean, we now have the Golden Bottle Trust, which
we give a proportion of our profits every year into the
Golden Bottle Trust through that we support all sorts of things.
We're doing a lot on sort of sustainability. I mean, if you
get sort of right down into the weeds, we're sort of supporting
sustainable farming at the moment. We're eels, sort of
plant life. We're trying to do quite a lot in this country at
the moment but also support all sorts of things.
Alessandra Buonfino: How do you decide causes that you support?
Venetia Hoare: Each of the partners will have their own
fund that they can actually spend how they want, but they
will report to the family each year. So there has to be a
certain amount of accountability. We then have a
large donations panel, which is just a few members of the
family, looking at larger donations of up to £100,000, or
something. But so and then the large donations panel will then
present to a sort of wider body of family, which includes
partners and other family members working in the bank.
Alessandra Buonfino: Fantastic, it is a great structure. And so
I was looking at the composition of your board. And it was really
fascinating. So the board of your bank comprises five family
members, and five non-family directors that includes the CEO,
and then a non-executive chairman. Two out of the five
family members on the board are women, including, and you've
recently appointed a female CEO, I believe Diana
Brightmore-Armour. Yeah, which is a brilliant story is that of
in terms of how gender really can get to the sort of the top
management levels as it should be? As you know, one of the
areas of the Ownership Project that I'm particularly interested
in as the role that women can play in their own family
businesses, the percentages of female owners who sit on boards
of family businesses are still really low globally. And you're
not one of those examples. But what has been your family's
story when it comes to women rising to management position? I
know you have a fascinating perspective that we spoke about
before.
Venetia Hoare: I mean, I think it's, it's it's evolved. I mean,
I was lucky being in the right place at the right time, because
certainly previous generations, I don't think it would have I
mean, just didn't happen did that did it. So I'm very lucky
that certainly as a business. We when I first joined, there were
very few women in senior roles. There's sort of one I can think
of. Whereas now, I think, CEO, our chief financial officer is a
woman, our head of internal audit is the woman. We've got
the head of our sort of customer proposition and other you know,
we've got a lot of women in senior positions now. It's
because they're good.
Alessandra Buonfino: Of course. Do you make an example of it in
a way that when you have sort of, particularly around, you
know, like minded family firms? You are, in a way? A very good
example, but not a common example?
Venetia Hoare: I mean, I've got a friend of mine, and I mean I,
who her family absolutely did not employ women. And, but they
do now, I think that, yeah, I think by and large, everyone's
more accepting, I mean, thing is with a family firm, I think it's
probably more important, in terms of getting family members
on board, it's more important that your family than whether
you're male or female.
Alessandra Buonfino: Of course. Yeah, absolutely. No, no, I get
that. Exactly. And so, I mean, we are all emerging from a very
tough year, I mean, is there, you know, a sign of, you know,
cautious optimism as we enter the summer now, but I assume for
the bank, and for yourself, the last 18 months, with the
pandemic must have been pretty tough. Is there anything you
know, is particularly when it comes to communicating with
customers and staff, new innovations that you've put in
place as a bank, that you're going to keep for the future,
Venetia Hoare: As a small business, for the partners, we
like to try and meet all our new customers. It's very easy to do
that by as you know, if you can't meet them in person,
actually to have a quick zoom meeting. And then, you know, at
a later date, meet them in person, but it's a bit of a bore
for people to always come into Fleet Street to meet us. So I
think that I think that will really change. And then within
the business, I think I don't expect everybody will come back
into the office full time. I think there's definitely demand
for people to be people wanting to work from home a day or two a
week. But we're a people business. So I think we will
definitely be gathering back in Fleet Street.
Alessandra Buonfino: It's been a fascinating conversation. But
what is one piece of wisdom about family business that you
received from your parents or grandparents generation that has
stood the test of time and you're going to pass on to your
children?
Venetia Hoare: I think it's to treat people well, to treat
people as you'd want to be treated. Yes, and actually
whether that's the people who are working for you, whether
it's your family, whether it's the customers, actually I think
if you look that's what our business is, it's looking after
people.