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鈥橪iving here,鈥� says Alderman Mike Bear, 鈥渕akes me feel as though I am Alice in Wonderland.鈥� As he speaks, Bear, the new Lord Mayor of London, gazes around his majestic study complete with silk curtains and a colossal, shimmering chandelier - it鈥檚 all pretty impressive. Bear only moved into the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor鈥檚 official residence, four days ago and is still exploring: 鈥淚 am still discovering new rooms,鈥� he says quietly. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all very exciting.鈥�

Bear speaks earnestly and is refreshingly understated. But don鈥檛 let that fool you. He intends to make quite an impact over his 12-month term. As well as representing the City globally, the trained engineer and head of regeneration at Hammerson also wants to use the opportunity to champion development in London - 鈥渢he city with the best buildings in the world,鈥� he says.

Look who鈥檚 talking

The role of the mayor is to be an ambassador for the City, making sure it maintains its reputation as one of the best business centres in the world. This includes delivering 700 speeches - that鈥檚 about three a day - visiting 23 countries, spending 90 days out of the UK and hosting a different head of state or prime minister once a month.

The City is our golden goose. We must value it and treasure it

It鈥檚 quite a job spec, but Bear is unfazed. 鈥淲hen you put yourself up for election for this sort of role, [after a progression up through the ranks of the City hierarchy, usually starting out at councillor level], there鈥檚 a panel of around nine interviewers,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou have to show you are at the top of your game professionally, that you have a huge knowledge of the City and that you have the gravitas to be the ambassador for London.鈥�

Bear is convinced he can deliver on all of that and bring something different to the position. He will be the first Lord Mayor with a construction background in over two decades. He says that his experience working for firms including Taylor Woodrow, Balfour Beatty and Hammerson, will stand him in great stead: 鈥淲hen I am involved in big infrastructure projects or buildings, we use insurers, we use bankers, we use hedging and swaps. There is not a single instrument of trade and finance that we don鈥檛 use. This role has been taken on by supply-siders for a very long time and to have someone now who understands the City but who is an end user is a good thing - especially when we鈥檙e under so much scrutiny.鈥�

And that鈥檚 where Bear鈥檚 main ambition for this year in office lies, to change people鈥檚 perception of the City and to prove how vital it is to the UK economy. But before explaining how he plans to pull off that minor miracle, what about the future of construction in the capital?

鈥榃e鈥檙e on the up tilt鈥�

鈥淚 am very optimistic about London development,鈥� he says. The statement is reassuring but a little surprising considering work is only just getting going after a nigh-on two-year hiatus: 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e on the up tilt of a very dramatic cycle. And I think confidence is coming back.

鈥淲e have got three towers looking as though they鈥檙e now going to happen and we have some of the most iconic buildings in the world. The Gherkin has almost become shorthand for London. I think we鈥檙e brilliant at what we do, have some of the best construction managers in the world - and we have a good procurement system.鈥�

Do we really? 鈥淲ell, it could do with being improved. There is a lot of waste and it鈥檚 a lengthy process.鈥� Any tips on how this could be changed? 鈥淢y tip is that we need to get away from tips. Too much energy goes into tips and not enough into doing.鈥�

London calling

But first and foremost, Bear says, he needs to change people鈥檚 perception of the City: 鈥淭he City raises 拢60bn a year that goes to the exchequer and that goes towards schools and roads and hospitals, so we鈥檙e a huge revenue generator for the country and worth about 10% of GDP. This is our golden goose. We must value it and treasure it.鈥�

He adds that the challenge for the City is to prove it is embracing innovations like the green investment bank and infrastructure investment: 鈥淭he time is right for the City to lead the way in all of these areas.鈥�

And what about bankers鈥� bonuses - the albatross around the City鈥檚 neck? 鈥淚 can understand why it gets to people,鈥� says Bear. 鈥淚 think banks and bankers just need to justify why they get paid huge bonuses - they have to demonstrate that those bonuses are for work that goes to the heart of creating long-term value to the economy and not short-term results.鈥�

The main question here though, is how this is measured and whether there is a suitable checking system: 鈥淚 think there is - paying bonuses in shares, for example. We鈥檒l see what happens in the next bonus round.鈥�

If Bear succeeds in changing people鈥檚 perceptions of the City by then, he really will have earned those silk curtains 鈥�