George Floyd’s death to change US for good, says ad exec Sir Martin Sorrell

Ad executive Sir Martin Sorrell has become the most high profile UK business chief to speak out about the killing of George Floyd in the US by a white policeman.

The businessman – who started ad giant WPP in 1985 – said he thought the Black Lives Matter movement would be as powerful as the Me Too movement and change the way black people in the US are treated.

"I don’t think it matters who the President is, change will happen. This is not virtue signalling by people. The younger generation, want to see change. I was shocked by the killing. It was senseless, needless and brutal.”

Speaking from his London home Sorrell said he stayed up late watching the riots on TV. He compared the situation to 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King when race riots spread across the US in the country’s largest wave of social unrest.

He added: “It reminds me of 1968, I had just come out of business school. It was a difficult time as Martin Luther King had died and Bobby Kennedy was killed shortly afterwards.”

Sorrell also cautioned that the riots may play into Trump’s hands.

He continued: “Does it diminish his base or increase it? Nixon ran on a law and order ticket. There are numerous issues around China and his aggressive stance seems to be a vote winner at the moment.”

Sorrell follows Co-op chief executive Steve Murrells who was the first recognised UK boss to condemn the death of George Floyd.

Addressing staff earlier this week, Murrells wrote: "We know we can’t go on like this. A world where people are judged, discriminated against and die due to the colour of their skin is not the world I want, that any of us want. Even though we are not in the USA we all have a part to play.

"Some of you experience judgement and discrimination every single day. Both in work and outside of work.”