Bancherul - BANCI / Ultima Ora / Romanul George Iacobescu, presedintele Canary Wharf, al doilea centru financiar al Londrei, primul roman innobilat de Regina Elisabeta a II-a a Marii Britanii

Ambasada Romaniei in Regatul Unit al Marii Britanii şi Irlandei de Nord anunta ca la 31 decembrie 2011, cu ocazia Anului Nou, Majestatea Sa Regina Elisabeta a II-a a Marii Britanii a conferit distincţii şi titluri onorifice unor personalităţi britanice care s-au remarcat pe parcursul anului 2011.

Între aceştia se numără şi domnul George Iacobescu, inginer și om de afaceri, cetăţean român, preşedinte şi director executiv al Grupului Canary Wharf, al doilea centru financiar al Londrei.

Acesta a primit titlul de Cavaler (Knight Bachelor) pentru aportul său în slujba activităţilor caritabile, comunităţii şi industriei serviciilor financiare, devenind astfel primul român distins de Regina Elisabeta a II-a a Marii Britanii cu un astfel de titlu, care dă dreptul la folosirea apelativului "Sir" înaintea prenumelui.

George Iacobescu s-a născut în anul 1945 în București, la câteva luni după terminarea celui de-al doilea război mondial, în familia unui medic hematolog. A învățat la școala primară din Tunari. A emigrat în Canada în anul 1975 unde a lucrat inițial timp de doi ani ca inginer la firma canadiană Homeco Investments din Montreal, după care, timp de cinci ani s-a ocupat de construcția primei fabrici moderne de granit din America de Nord, la Toronto, apoi a Olympia Center și al Neiman Marcus Buildings (clădire de 64 de etaje) la Chicago, precum și la câteva proiecte mari în Dallas, Boston și Houston.

În anul 1983, odată cu începerea lucrărilor de construcție a centrului "World Financial Center", s-a stabilit la New York, devenind și vicepreședintele executiv al companiei care s-a ocupat de finalizarea acestui proiect.

În anul 1987, a fost inițiat, ca urmare a deciziei premierului Margaret Thatcher, un proiect de reconversie și reabilitare a fostei zone a docurilor londoneze, proiect denumit "Canary Wharf" și care a fost încredințat firmei pentru care lucra George Iacobescu. El s-a mutat la Londra, devenind vicepreședinte executiv responsabil cu realizarea bugetelor, cu proiectarea și construirea a jumătate din viitorul centru financiar Canary Wharf.

În anul 1994, a fost promovat ca membru în Consiliul de Administrație al Canary Wharf Holdings Limited ca director executiv, devenind vicepreședinte executiv în anul 1996 și președinte executiv în martie 1997 al unei companii ce are active de peste 5 miliarde de lire sterline.

Canary Wharf este considerat ca fiind cel de-al doilea centru financiar din capitala Marii Britanii, după centrul financiar istoric "City" care s-a dezvoltat de-a lungul a 500 de ani. Ca volum al tranzacțiilor financiare, Canary Wharf a ajuns să dețină o treime din cel derulat în City, depășind însă volumul de tranzacții derulate în Frankfurt.

În iunie 2003 a fost decorat cu titlul de Comandor al Ordinului Imperiului Britanic, iar în anul 2007 a fost numit custode al British Museum.

În numele tuturor românilor din Marea Britanie, Ambasada României doreşte să adreseze cele mai sincere felicitări lui Sir George Iacobescu. Suntem mândri de toţi românii care, prin munca şi inteligenţa lor, reprezintă Ţara cu cinste, distincţie şi caracter. Domnul George Iacobescu este unul dintre cei mai străluciţi exponenţi ai comunităţii româneşti din Marea Britanie. Vă mulţumim, Sir George Iacobescu!

George Iacobescu
(as presented by Canary Wharf)

George Iacobescu CBE is a Civil and Industrial Engineer and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canary Wharf Group, the owners and developers of the Canary Wharf estate in London Docklands. He is one of the most successful Romanian born business leaders in the world, and has been responsible for the construction and development of many landmark buildings in the UK, Canada and the United States.

Early life

Mr Iacobescu was born on 9 November 1945 in Romania. His grandfather was a lawyer and newspaper publisher, and his father was a well-known doctor haematologist. Mr Iacobescu studied Civil and Industrial engineering at Bucharest University. From 1969 to 1975 he worked as a structural engineer in Romania but was determined to leave the country, then under the control of Nicolai Ceausescu’s Communist Party.

In 1975 Mr Iacobescu left Romania and emigrated to Canada, escaping through the Iron Curtain through contacts in the West. His fiancée Gabriela joined him after Mr Iacobescu lobbied hard to get her out of Romania.

On arrival in Canada, Mr Iacobescu started work in the property industry, rising to become the head of construction on some of the most famous landmark buildings in North America.

Career in North America

From 1975-1978 Mr Iacobescu was Construction Director of Homeco Investments, a German-Canadian Joint Venture in Montreal and Toronto, working on several large residential and office buildings.

In 1978 he joined Olympia & York, taking on a series of large construction projects for the company which was rapidly expanding from it's Canadian base.

From 1978-1981 he was responsible for the construction of the Olympia Centre in Chicago, a 64 storey skyscraper, as well as the construction of Granicor; the first modern granite factory in North America, in Quebec.

From 1983 – 1987 he was the Construction Director, and then Vice President, of Olympia & York, in New York, where he was responsible for the construction of the World Financial Centre, 4m sq ft Headquarters of Merrill Lynch.

Canary Wharf

In 1988 Mr Iacobescu came to London as a Senior Vice President of Olympia & York, to oversee the construction budget and delivery of the ambitious Canary Wharf project.

Mr Iacobescu stayed with the Canary Wharf project when Olympia & York went into administration in 1991 and worked as Construction Director under the Chairmanship of Lord Levene. When the Canary Wharf Group was formed in 1995 he became a Board member and then in 1996, Deputy Chief Executive.

In 1997 he became the Chief Executive of Canary Wharf Group. He additionally became Chairman in 2011.

At Canary Wharf Mr Iacobescu has participated in the development and construction of more than 30 buildings including: One Canada Square, the tallest office building in the UK; 8 Canada Square the global HQ of HSBC Bank; 25 Canada Square the European HQ of Citibank; One Churchill Place the global HQ of Barclays Bank; 10 Upper Bank Street, the global HQ of Clifford Chance; and the UK or European HQ buildings for Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, KPMG, McGraw Hill, Fitch, the Financial Services Authority and Thomson Reuters.

Following this was the successful creation of the Wood Wharf Partnership with British Waterways and Ballymore to develop a 4.2m sq ft site adjacent to Canary Wharf. From 2007 onwards the Canary Wharf Group expanded outside of its Docklands base into the City of London and then the South Bank. This move into other areas of Central London included joint venture developments Drapers’ Gardens with Morgan Stanley’s MSREF and the Walkie Talkie building at 20 Fenchurch Street with Land Securities, and recently the redevelopment of the Shell Centre with Qatari Diar.

Charitable activity

Mr Iacobescu is a member of the Board of Trustees of the British Museum, Vice Patron of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. He is also Patron of Jewish Care and the Community Safety Trust and has been involved as a trustee, patron or board member of several other charities.

He was founding Co-Chairman of Teach First and a key early supporter of the charity, as well as a Director of business lobby group London First, and a Director of inward investment agency Gateway to London. He is on the Advisory Board of Financial Services organisation TheCityUK.

In 2010, Mr Iacobescu was appointed by the Secretary of State for Defence to the Defence Reform Unit charged with the restructuring of the Ministry of Defence. The Unit made wide-ranging recommendations to the Government in 2011, many of which are already being implemented.

Mr Iacobescu holds an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from the University of East London and was made a CBE by Her Majesty the Queen in 2003.

Since Mr Iacobescu became Chief Executive in 1997, the Canary Wharf Group has extended it's charitable activity with some considerable achievements. The creation of a Local Business Liaison Office to help local companies secure contracts at Canary Wharf has, over 14 years, placed more than £700m with local SMEs.

From a low starting point, the number of people employed on the Wharf from the surrounding boroughs has increased to around 25% of the total, with direct and indirect employment in east London supported by Canary Wharf estimated at more than 180,000 jobs. Initiatives to further promote local employment have been the creation of a joint venture Recruitment and Training Centre for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and a scheme working with local training providers and construction union UCATT to provide skills and IT training to construction workers.

Canary Wharf Group has also provided rent-free office accommodation for a number of charities, such as Medicins du Monde and Teach First, enabling them to expand or develop new projects, and hosts a large number of events every year for the local community, as well as an active programme of sponsoring local schools, community groups and sports teams.

Canary Wharf has also implemented the creation of an extensive and expanding public art and events programme, including regular exhibitions and permanent installations of sculpture and art. This won Canary Wharf the prestigious Christies International Award for best Corporate Art Collection and Programme in 2011. The estate also hosts a large number of events, ranging from squash tournaments to open air orchestral concerts, many of which are free to attend.