A Budget Dinner and a Taxing time Tuesday 25th February

Off to Stationers’ Hall with the Assistant Clerk to be guests of the Master Tax Adviser, Nicholas Goulding, for the Company’s Budget Banquet.

The Master was tonight hosting the Modern Livery Companies that comprise the Financial Services Group of Livery Companies, of which our Livery is a very supportive and active member, assisting the Mayoralty. To that end a group photograph of the FSG Masters was taken. I was delighted to be seated next to the Master’s wife, the Revd Amanda Goulding.  We had many acquaintances in common and shared church challenges and clerical humour.

The Chaplain said the Company's grace in Latin which was impressive. In December 2000 the Court of Aldermen constituted the Guild a City Company without Livery. Four years later, on 18 January 2005, the Court of Aldermen approved the Grant of Livery as the 107^th Company in order of preference. It was certainly not a budget banquet commented the speaker, Professor Anthony Mellows, Lord Prior of the Order of St John, as dinner ended.  It was a fine feast no less. Engaging us all in a quiz he regaled us about the College of Arms. The law of heraldic arms (or laws of heraldry) governs the "bearing of arms", and the annual tax on coats of arms was repealed in 1945. Still to this day the heralds do not pay any tax but each year voluntarily send a cheque to HMRC for the amount they would expect to pay, if requested.  Nice work if you can get it.