British giants vow to pay over slavery past
● Greene King and insurance group Lloyd’s on list of firms linked to trade
Two of Britain’s largest companies have vowed to pay money benefiting black and ethnic minorities after their roles in the slave trade were revealed.
Insurance giant Lloyd’s of London and pub chain Greene King said they would devote large sums to projects assisting minorities, after they were named in a database of companies connected to slavery compiled by University College London.
The list is a sign of how Britain’s past involvement with the slave trade, which has led to the tearing down of statues, has begun to impact on the corporate sector.
Greene King was founded in 1799 by Benjamin Greene, who became one of 47,000 people who benefited from compensation paid to slave owners when slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833.
Greene surrendered rights to three plantations in the West Indies in return for what amountsto£500,000intoday’s money. While Greene King’s past connections to slavery are not mentioned on the company’s website, chief executive Nick Mackenzie said the company would update its site yesterday, while he also offered an apology for that chapter of the pub chain’s history.
“It is inexcusable that one of our founders profited from slavery and argued against its abolition in the 1800s,” he said.
“We don’t have all the answers, so that is why we are taking time to listen and learn from all the voices, including our team members and charity partners, as we strengthen our diversity and inclusion work.” Mr Mackenzie said Greene King would make a “substantial investment” to benefit the black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community and work to support its own race diversity.
With regard to Lloyd’s, the database shows that Simon Fraser, a founder subscriber member, was given £400,000 in today’s money to give up an estate in Dominica.
A Lloyd’s spokesman said: “We are sorry for the role played by the Lloyd’s market in the 18th and 19th century slave trade. We will provide financial support to charities and organisations promoting opportunity and inclusion for black and minority ethnic groups.”
The statement comes as an Edinburgh man who has demanded a public apology for the renovation of the capital’s famous Ross fountain because it has “incredibly racist” black figures in it has been branded ridiculous by Scotland’s first black professor.
Jade Stewart, a security guard from Pilton, whose father was a Jamaican immigrant who moved to Edinburgh in 1949, says he was outraged when he realised the figures on the recently restored fountain were black.
He is demanding Edinburgh City Council apologises for the “really bad and offensive” structure. Mr Stewart said: “It’s incredibly racist. Why are they black? It might have meant to represent something else, but for someone like me who is mixed race it now looks really bad and offensive.”
The neoclassical fountain was originally sculpted by Jean-baptiste-jules Klagmann in the 19th century and was gifted to Edinburgh by local gun maker Daniel Ross.
Sir Geoff Palmer, emeritus professor of life sciences at Heriot-watt University and a human rights activist, ridiculed Mr Stewart’s complaint, calling it a “diversion ... from the real issues such as the statue of Henry Dundas”, who frustrated efforts to abolish slavery.