8th March 2010

The start of a busy week, with four evenings out. Last night the Senior Warden, Jim Surguy, and I were invited to take part in the Modern Livery Companies' spring dinner. The modern companies comprise all those created since 1926, starting with the Master Mariners and coming right up to date with the Guilds of PR Consultants and Educators. The common factor is that most members of these companies are practitioners of their respective trade or profession, which are themselves economically current.

We can learn from other companies and last night I was impressed by the Master Information Technologist, Charles Hughes, who told us that his company has provided several million pounds' worth of advice (at market rates) pro bono to charities and other organisations in recent years. Our Outreach activities grow steadily, but that's quite a target for us to aim at.

The Chartered Accountants were the host company last night (our turn comes in 2012) and their Master, Graham Ward, had invited Alderman Fiona Woolf as the guest speaker. She is standing for election as the Aldermanic Sheriff in June and has a glittering CV as a senior lawyer in the international privatisation of utilities - a skill which the City has successfully marketed to other countries. She said that all the modern livery professions present last night contributed in one way or another to such multi-disciplinary ventures and her key message was, "The City is so much more than financial services". (Indeed - see the post about the Financial Services Group on 26th Feb.)