It may be a nod to his father who was a social worker in Belfast, but Harvey McGrath, the former chairman of Man Group, has always combined corporate directorships with not-for-profit interests.

Never shy of using City connections to campaign for projects such as Crossrail and the regeneration of east London, now the 56-year-old multi-millionaire and chair of business lobby group London Firstcapital has been tapped by new mayor Boris Johnson to be interim chairman at the London Development Agency. Mr McGrath is expected to spend several months overseeing the audit of the agency, which is facing allegations of mismanagement.