Shock waves of #MeToo reach the city of London

A series of very public sackings, suspensions and departures suggests that Britain's finance world is waking up to the toxic implications of sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace.

The changes come a little more than a year after the #MeToo movement exploded into public consciousness with multiple allegations of predatory sexual behaviour against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The campaign, in which women from a range of professions went public with allegations of harassment, quickly spread to Britain. And some of the most high-profile cases have come from inside the testosterone-fuelled world of business.

Some senior female executives who have already broken the glass ceiling have been instrumental in accelerating the pace of change.

At the beginning of the week, four major British auditing firms -- Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and FY -- announced they had shown the door to members of staff accused of sexual harassment or workplace bullying.

Deloitte alone revealed that it had fired 20 of its partners in Britain over the last four years for bullying and sexual harassment.