On 17th June, one of the UK’s largest pub chains and an insurance firm pledged to pay financial compensation to the black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community after an academic database highlighted their exploitation and roles in the slave trade.
Greene King and Lloyd’s of London have stated that they would make payments acknowledging for the first time the controversy over the UK's past involvement with slavery, which has resulted in the toppling of the statues and has impacted the corporate sector.
Greene King founded in the early 19th century by Benjamin Greene, was one of 47,000 people who had benefited from the then Government’s compensation to Britons after slavery was abolished in 1833. King received equivalent of £500,000 when he surrendered rights to three plantations in the West Indies. But King does not mention its past links to slavery on its company website. They were set out in a 1983 book about the Suffolk firm's history.
Details of the compensation are chronicled in a comprehensive database in possession of University College London (UCL). The same database also highlighted that Simon Fraser, Founder Subscriber member of Lloyd's of London, was paid nearly £400,000 to surrender an estate in Dominica.
The Telegraph reported that Greene King would make a "substantial investment to benefit the BAME community and support race diversity in the business."
Whereas, a spokesman of Lloyd’s said, "We are sorry for the role played by the Lloyd's market in the 18th and 19th century slave trade. This was an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own, and we condemn the indefensible wrongdoing that occurred during this period.
"We will provide financial support to charities and organisations promoting opportunity and inclusion for black and minority ethnic groups."
Lloyd's also said it would now review its "organisational artefacts, to ensure that they are explicitly non-racist".
