FTSE’s foreign legion

A British CEO for Deutsche, but City attracts the world’s finest

WHEN John Cryan takes over as chief executive of Germany’s biggest lender this summer he becomes a member of a very select club of Britons running large overseas companies.

The list of British chief executives of big foreign groups is a small one, in stark contrast to the large number of FTSE 100 firms run by overseas bosses, which currently stands at 39.

The British companies run by foreign executives cover a cross section of industries from oil giant BP, run by American Bob Dudley, and BG Group, led by Norwegian Helge Lund.

In retail, DIY chain B&Q is fronted by Frenchwoman Véronique Laury who stepped up to become chief executive of parent firm Kingfisher last year, while Dutchman Marc Bolland runs Marks & Spencer.

Pharma major AstraZeneca has Frenchman Pascal Soriot in charge. Pimm’s-to- Guinness-maker Diageo is headed by Indian-born Ivan Menezes and Canadian Moya Greene is in charge at Royal Mail.

The top three nationalities of non-British FTSE 100 chief executives who are not British are American, French and South African, according to recruitment firm Robert Half.

But does this mean there is something wrong with British bosses? Are the best jobs failing to go to homegrown talent because we cannot compete?

Not so, say experts, who think the stats are a reflection of just how attractive London and the UK is to the world’s best bosses.

Richard Rawlinson, vice-president at PwC’s consulting arm, says: ‘A third of large UK companies appoint foreign nationals as their chief executives – about twice the rate globally.

‘This reflects British companies’ international success, reinforced by their willingness to develop talent from their operations around the world and the attractiveness of the London area as a base for multinational executives and their families.’

Headhunter Will Moynahan, UK managing partner for Heidrick & Struggles, agrees. ‘These chief executives could live anywhere in the world but they choose the UK. This is a reflection of the strengths of London and Britain.’

But the nature of the operations of London’s listed companies is also worth noting.

The FTSE 100 is a grouping of global firms rather than domestic ones. Many have most of their operations abroad rather than Britain. More than 20pc of the index is made of up of miners and oil companies, which largely operate outside of Europe, and bosses of the likes of Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Royal Dutch Shell reflect their regional operations.

But it isn’t just Footsie firms that attract talent from around the world. Some of the world’s top private equity and hedge funds are based in London while even the Bank of England is run by a Canadian, Mark Carney.

When Cryan takes the helm at Deutsche Bank he will be joining the ranks of a small group of Brits who have made it overseas.

Others include Watford-born Steve Easterbrook of McDonald’s, and past examples are Sir Linsday Owen- Jones of L’Oreal and Sir Howard Stringer at Sony.

But not all British bosses have found it easy at foreign firms.

Olympus chief executive Michael Woodford was sacked by the board in 2011 after he questioned dubious deals later found to have been used to conceal the Japanese electronics giant’s huge losses over a number of years.

He blew the whistle on a £1bn corporate fraud which became one of the biggest financial frauds in Japan’s history.