Worshipful Company of Marketors

A Lesson in Etiquette

2012-01-20T20:50:00.013Z

Every year the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists hold a dinner for Freemen and Liverymen who have been admitted in the previous twelve months. They are a large Company with 700+ members so every twelve months there are a lot of new Freemen and Liverymen--it was a big dinner.
As a guest I was intrigued to learn that the essence of these evenings is essentially, and in a humorous and light-hearted way, to provide instruction in all the etiquette involved in Livery dinners. This includes everything from how to sing Grace, how to perform the Loving Cup Ceremony, the Rosebowl Ceremony, how correctly to handle toasts, not to leave the table during dinner, and much more besides. All new Freemen and Liverymen have to listen or watch demonstrations and then perform themselves. They are scored out of 10 by the Clerk holding up a 1-10 score card. Less than a score of 6 requires that the exercise is repeated. It is very amusing and very instructive for those who need to know.
Sitting next to their Master he referred many times to the excellent work the Marketors had done in the branding and marketing of the new, digitally focused, Hammersmith Academy which they and the Mercers have co-financed. I don't know whether I felt vicarious pleasure or reflected corporate glory. The glory of course goes to Court Assistant Peter Rees who made such a major contribution to the successful launch of the Academy, including staff and student recruitment
The guest speaker was Alderman Fiona Woolf who, having stepped down from being Aldermanic Sheriff in 2011, is biding her time now before she becomes Lord Mayor in a few years time. She was as always, and as befits a senior lawyer, both incisive and witty. Altogether a very enjoyable evening

Laundering

2012-01-20T18:24:00.010Z

Earlier in the week I was a guest at the Launderers' Court Dinner at Launderers' Hall (sometimes also known as Glaziers' Hall) I have made good friends with Colin Hill, their Master, and have been unable to go to other events to which he would have liked to invite me. He was determined to get me to a Launderers' event and so invited me to their Court Dinner. As we sat down it dawned on me that I was the only guest.
It was a delightful meal marred only slightly when, as we came towards the end of the first course, Colin nonchalantly said would I like to say a few words. I was completely unprepared for this but ever mindful of the name and fame of the Marketors I said yes, of course. The dessert course was consumed whilst I rapidly thought what I might say. Clearly thank you was very much in order to start with. Then I was able to recall that in my early career when working for Lever Brothers I had for a time worked in Lever Industrial-the arm of Lever Brothers which sold soap and detergent to Laundries and other non consumer customers. I could reminisce.
My eye then fell upon the Menu which had the Company's crest on it. It is reproduced here. You can see the two women who flank each side of the crest. Laundering is ancient and was historically, and is perhaps today, female orientated. Ignoring the Company's Chaplain and the representative of their affiliated Regiment, who had just been made an Honorary Liveryman at the preceding Court meeting, there were well over twenty Court members sitting round the table. There was only one woman. I am not one to pass up such an opportunity for gentle ribbing. Happily it went down well. Were my term of office as Master longer I might have been invited back

Court Dinner

2012-01-20T17:56:00.011Z

It is traditional at the end of a Master's year for there to be a Court Dinner with Partners. In effect it's a farewell dinner. Thanks to the good offices of the Clerk we were able to hold this in Girdlers Hall. This hall is not generally available and is only let out three or four times a year. The Girdlers are financially strong enough not to have to worry overmuch about generating hall revenue!
The hall itself is on a site that the Company has owned for centuries but like so many halls it was destroyed in the great fire of 1666 and again during the bombing raids of the second world war. It was rebuilt in 1961 and significantly extended and refurbished in 2006. It is now very grand indeed and a wonderful venue for the Court Dinner
This traditionally a closed event with no guests. An exception was made this year as we invited Commander Tom Sharpe of HMS St Albans. The ship has just returned from 6 months in the Persian Gulf and after a refit will out at sea again so it seemed a perfect opportunity for us to meet Commander Sharpe and for him to meet us in an informal and relaxed setting.
It also allowed me the opportunity to present him with the silver Marketors' Cup to be awarded annually to the member of the ship's company who does the most to raise the profile of HMS St Albans/the Royal Navy externally by, for instance, work in local communities, volunteering in youth groups, raising money for charity and the like. I was also able to present him with a cheque from the Marketors' Trust as a donation to the ship's Benevolent Fund.
For me, as I reached almost the end of my year, this Court Dinner was a very special evening which Marianne and I deeply appreciated

Carols at St Brides

2011-12-17T18:15:00.012Z

On Monday last an unprecedentedly large number of Marketors attended the 46th annual carol service for the communications industry-and what better place than than Wren's St Brides the spiritual home of printing and the media for over 300 years and the home church now to a host of communications organisations who were all represented. The church when empty it is a place of great tranquility but for a carol service, with the St Brides choir, it is joyfully full of music.
The church is rightly famous for its choir, ( all professional singers) which was established in 1957 for the church's re dedication and which has remained more or less the same ever since. For a carol service they are in their element.
The service included many of the old favourite Christmas carols and seasonal readings. The Christmas message was delivered by Boris's sister, Rachel Johnson, erstwhile editor of the Lady magazine.
Afterwards 42 of us walked up Fetter Lane to the Grappalo Restaurant where we refreshed our throats and had a thoroughly enjoyable and convivial meal

St Albans Coming Home

2011-12-10T14:48:00.009Z

The Company were invited to send two members to join with our affiliated ship, HMS St Albans, at Lisbon for the final leg of its journey home from operations in the Persian Gulf. Hugh West and Jeremy Stern snapped up the chance to spend 6 days on board. You see them here on the left and to all intents and purposes this photograph makes it appear that they are on a windy deck of a luxury holiday cruise liner. In the interests of balanced reporting I show a photograph lower down of Hugh which makes it clear that they were on HMS St Albans.
I quote now short extracts from an interesting paper Hugh wrote about their experiences on board.
''Each department took us through a very detailed explanation of their role and many exercises were carried out to keep the crew on top form. This included fire drills, sea boat launches and firing salvoes from the main 4.5” gun managed by our excellent and patient host, the Principal Weapons Officer, Lt Cdr James Robey RN, as well as allowing us to fire their Gatling type mini gun and the general purpose machine guns personally. I declined the strong invitation to take part in the man overboard exercise which showed how efficient the crew handled emergencies.''

''The ship was over manned with additional crew and a Royal Marines detachment making accommodation rather tight. We were billeted with the Chief Petty Officers (they are very large!) and slept in a tier of three narrow steel bunks within a few inches of the raging Atlantic swell though the single-skinned hull. Showers and heads (toilets) were the deck above which proved a difficult passage when only dressed in a towel at 0600 hours!''

''After a final night we anchored in Spithead and the Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery CBE RN, visited the ship and made a speech to the whole crew, with us at attention, and then we weigh anchor and gently glide into sunny Portsmouth harbour to be greeted with columns of water from the fireboats and the emotional sight of hundreds of excited family members on the quay waiting to welcome home their loved-ones after their six month deployment accompanied by a Royal Marine Band.

''The experience was wonderful but it is the officers and crew that makes St Albans such an outstanding ship and I hope the Marketors’ affiliation with HMS St Albans will be of long-lasting mutual benefit and being in Home Waters, until her refit in 2013, there will be plenty of opportunities for us to reciprocate their hospitality.''

'London 1,000 Years'

2011-12-06T09:20:00.009Z

'London 1,000 years: treasures from the collection of the City of London' is the title of a newly published book written and compiled by David Pearson, Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries for the City of London Corporation. In celebration of the 600th anniversary of Guildhall the launch, attended by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, took place in the Great Hall last night.
The launch was an ancillary event to the main event which was a presentation by Dr Simon Thurley on the history of Guildhall. From it's origins in 1411, built on an even older Roman site, Dr Thurley used very fine slides to compare London's Guildhall with other Guildhalls in European Cities and even old Guildhalls elsewhere in England (Norwich being the biggest one outside London) He is a masterly speaker and held captive a very large audience as he talked through the history of the Guildhall up to the present day.
He was followed by David Pearson who touched on a minute percentage of the City's enormous historical collection--70 kilometres of archive shelving just to hold what is not on display. The Corporation looks after collections on national importance going back to the Norman conquest. It even includes an original copy of Magna Carta, an original First Folio of Shakespeare and more records, paintings, books, manuscripts, gold and silver than one can easily get one's brain round. The book is a delight and a pictorial treasure trove. I would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone.

Annual City Lecture

2011-12-04T23:08:00.005Z

Last week we held our Annual City Lecture in the beautiful environment of Goldsmiths' Hall. Despite it being a Friday night it was a well attended event with the Masters of 26 other Livery Companies present as guests of the Company, with their Clerks.
Pre lecture drinks led on to a stunning presentation, using digital slides and video, from the guest speaker Jeannette Liendo. As Sir Paul Judge said in introducing her, she is Brazilian, was educated in Switzerland and lives in Paris. She is the Global Marketing Director, Corporate, for Microsoft. As I explained when I opened the evening it is impossible to have a year themed, as mine is, on the subject of Innovation without having a major speaker to talk on the subject which is the most innovative in our life time -the digital revolution. And who better than Jeannette.
An accomplishes presenter she explained how Microsoft approach innovation both in process and culturally. She then showed a video on the future of digital--the innovations that exist today but are not yet, as she put it, 'distributed' i.e in general circulation. What looked like science fiction actually now exists and will in time be rolled out for public consumption. Whether everyone in the audience fully grasped all that she said I don't know but it certainly left a terrific impression.
After a virtuoso performance we retired from the main hall to the outer rooms for a delightful supper.

Solicitors' Dinner

2011-12-04T22:22:00.006Z

Last Tuesday I was at the Livery Dinner of the Worshipful Company of Solicitors held in Carpenters Hall. And a very fine dinner it was with exquisite wines. I discovered from the Past Master next to whom I was sitting that the Company buys its wine en primeur, keeps it until mature and then drinks it at dinners years later. As an en primeur buyer myself I was full of admiration at this policy.
The after dinner speaker was Lady Justice Hallet, Vice President, High Court, Queen's Bench Division. She was, unsurprisingly, eloquent and spoke of the potential hazards facing the profession from the lowering of standards, due to three emerging factors : firstly the rise of conditional fees where fees are related to outcome (ambulance chasing as us non-lawyers describe it); secondly education and the watering down of qualifications (very serious if true); and lastly Regulation, where lay regulators are applying a 'light touch'. As she herself made clear at the beginning of her speech this was not an after dinner speech full of jokes but even for non-lawyers it was very interesting.However talking defensively to her own kind one was reminded of Mandy Rice Davis's famous comment ''well he would say that wouldn't he''.

Red Cross Christmas Market

2011-12-04T20:25:00.006Z

Held every two years in the historic Great Hall at Guildhall--and spilling over into the Old Library so great is it, the Red Cross Christmas Market is a tremendous event. Written up in an earlier Clerk's Notices, Marianne and I went on Monday evening to this two day event. It's enormous and enormous fun--all for charity. There are over 80 stalls selling at rock bottom prices an eclectic mix of goods from nearly new designer label clothes to bags and accessories; international foods; jewellery; fair trade crafts; books and much, much more. If you wanted unusual gifts it was a treasure trove. My credit card was damaged accordingly.
On Monday evening there was live music, endless champagne and canapes and Julian Fellows, the writer behind Downton Abbey, giving the welcome.
It was a wonderfully atmospheric experience in a magnificent setting with a unique selection of merchandise not found on the High Street. It was interesting to see a lot of members and Masters of other Livery Companies there. Indeed many Companies had their own stalls-it would be nice to think we could arrange this in future years.

CIM Graduation Ceremony

2011-11-26T19:23:00.009Z

The graduation ceremony for all those CIM students who have passed their Diploma, or Post Graduate Diploma, in Marketing was held on Friday in the superb surroundings of the Birmingham Symphony Hall. A magnificent setting for a serious occasion. Some indication of the quality of the Symphony Hall can be seen on the left, a much foreshortened photograph.
I was there, with a number of gowned academics, sitting on the raised platform as I was to give awards from our Trust to the ''Top Worldwide Professional Post Graduate Diploma student and subsequently an award to the 'Top Worldwide Professional Diploma student.
These awards came towards the end of the graduation ceremony which saw many hundreds of students come up to receive the applause and recognition they deserved. Speeches were made, a particularly fine one by Sir Paul Judge, a Past Master and the President of the CIM
The Marketors are well represented in the upper echelons of the CIM as was evidenced on the day since, as well as Sir Paul Judge, Middle Warden Sally Muggeridge is a member of the CIM Academic Senate, as is Liveryman Professor Malcolm McDonald and both the outgoing and incoming Chairmen of the Institute,who are members, were there.
I couldn't help but notice as I left, that outside the Symphony Hall, apart from a vibrant Christmas market, were banners promoting the world Trampoline and Tumbling championships, being held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Were these I wondered an analogy for the troubled Euro zone.

Are Plastics Really Fantastic?

2011-11-19T20:29:00.009Z

This was the title given to the annual Horners' Company Lecture which I attended last week. The event was held in the Royal Society of Medicine's building in Wimpole Street. I can say unreservedly it is a fabulous venue. It has recently undergone wholesale refurbishment and internal reconstruction and is now offers state of the art lecture and entertainment facilities. Even the raked seats in in the super modern lecture theatre have individual microphones in the arm of every seat.
The lecture was given by the Master, a man with 45 years' experience in the plastics industry and an industry titan. He explained that he was continuing the theme of last year's lecture in explaining why plastics are indeed fantastic. Too often we hear in the media headlines : ''Ban plastic bags''; ''Pacific ocean plastic waste dump''; ''Ban PVC''; Plastic feeding bottles poison babies''. The image is one of plastics wasting valuable resources and polluting the world.
In response to such claims the speaker robustly explained the advantages of plastic with its low carbon footprint and eco efficient manufacturing. The many advantages and disadvantages were discussed . For example the the green benefits of light weight bottles over heavier glass; the myriad uses of plastic from bio degradable bags to the advanced composites in used in aeroplane construction. He stressed the recyclable nature of plastic enabling it to be used over and over again in different guises. All food for thought making plastics, he said, too valuable to be thrown away.

Livery Lecture by the Actuaries

2011-11-19T19:39:00.004Z

Actuarial affairs are usually dry stuff but not so the the annual Actuaries' Lecture which I attended last week. The venue was Staple Inn Hall just off High Holborn. Never having been there before it was a pleasure to admire the hall and the stained glass in particular.
The speaker was the hereditary peer Lord Colin Moynihan who, those with long memories will remember, won a gold medal as a rowing cox in the world championships and a silver medal at the Moscow Olympics. Now the Chairman of the British Olympic Association he was the guest speaker and spoke on the subject ''2012 An Olympic Dream-Can the Games deliver a Sporting Legacy for the UK''. The answer was unlikely to be 'no'.
He spoke widely and interestingly on the topic of the Olympics, beyond the legacy, especially on an athlete's need for fanatical attention to detail in order to win. He quoted the interesting statistic that of five gold medals we won at the last Olympics the total time taken for all five events was only a little over 12 minutes. The total time difference between Gold and Silver for all five events added together was 0.514 seconds. Just over half a second separates gold winners from silver winners across five events. Wining today is measured in hundredths of a second. A sobering thought for athletes in training.

Address by the Lord Mayor

2011-11-19T18:52:00.006Z

Every new Lord Mayor addresses the Livery at the beginning of their year. Alderman David Wootton did so last Wednesday at the Mansion House. It is his opportunity to say thank to the Livery who gave him the opportunity to be Lord Mayor but also an opportunity for him to set out his Agenda for the year.
2012 of course is the year of both the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. A great year to be Lord Mayor as he observed and one which would make this country and the City in particular a centre of world attention. Against this background he explained that he intended to raise the visibility and quality of awareness of the City not just internationally but in the UK as a whole. He wants to shine a light on the City's contribution and in addition the contribution of the Livery which in the wider world is virtually unknown. To help this cause the Mercers have just published a short paper demonstrating the contributions the Livery makes and I shall be circulating this round our Company.
Like all Lord Mayors David Wootton has his own appeal entitled (well it would be wouldn't it) 'Fit For The Future' This appeal will help five charities-the primary one being Barts and the London Charity on behalf of the Trauma Unit at the Royal London Hospital. The Rowing Foundation; London Youth Rowing; Fields in Trust and Futures for Kids will all benefit.
It sounded as though he is going to have a very full year!

Tony Bellm Lunch

2011-11-19T18:31:00.007Z

One of our very earliest Masters was Tony Bellm who, as can be seen from the front of the Directory, was Master in 1979. He very generously bequeathed in his will an endowment to fund a lunch each year for Past Masters, their partners, the current Master and partner and the Clerk.
The lunch was on Monday and was held in the private dining room at Guildhall, a perfect venue. 24 sat down of whom 12 were Past Masters-a good turn out.
It is traditional at this lunch that the most senior Past Master toasts absent friends and in doing so recalls some of the history of the Company. Austin Nunn did this admirably. Tony Bellm was National Chairman of the Institute of Marketing in the early seventies when Lord Mais became Lord Mayor and it was Tony Bellm who put his resources into organising the Lord Mayors show for Lord Mais. Lord Mais of course subsequently became our supporter and it is largely thanks to his good offices that we became a Livery Company.
Generous gestures such as Tony Bellm's reflect so well on the 'service to others' and fellowship ethos which underpin a successful Livery Company. He is remembered with pleasure and respect.

Remembrance Sunday

2011-11-18T12:45:00.007Z

It was wonderful to see so many Marketors at the Remembrance Day service at St Brides last Sunday. Something Archdeacon David Meara specifically commented upon to me after the service. At the beginning of the service I laid the Marketors wreath on the steps before the altar, as did representatives of other organisations.
It was a beautifully constructed service and in his sermon, commenting on sacrifice, David Meara opened by referring to the war memorial on Platform 1 of St Pancras station. I stare at it every time I am in St Pancras and go past it. It is a quite superb sculpture of a 'Tommy'' in full kit reading a letter from home. It's probably the finest war memorial I know and worth a detour if you're in the area. It doesn't have the magnificence of Charles Sargeant Jagger's Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park corner but it generates a more immediate emotional response.
As we walked back up Ludgate Hill to St Pauls station past the tented protesters I thought of another form of sacrifice. The protesters are protesting against Mammon not God and yet ironically the damage they are doing is to God's work (the church). The job losses and revenue losses that St Paul's Cathedral has suffered reflect the fact it is the church which has made the sacrifice.

The Lord Mayor's Show

2011-11-18T11:58:00.011Z

''Three miles of fun, music, and pageantry to welcome the new Lord Mayor'' is the wording on the front of the official Lord Mayor's Show brochure. There is absolutely no doubt that the event lived up to this claim. In perfect weather 153 entrants comprised the parade and the Marketors' float was number 113.
I am advised this was only the third time in history that the Company has entered a float into the Lord Mayor's Show. We had wonderful support from our affiliated school St Dunstans whose marching band and CCF preceded the float.
The float itself owed much to the school whose students designed and constructed the structure of the float. With sponsorship from the CIM, celebrating their centenary, just as st Dunstans CCF also were, and from Unilever whose products and TV ad reel added colour and movement, our entry was one to be proud of. Here below is a photo with the organising maestro Assistant, Michael Harrison whose contribution to this event was awesome.
I was on the float waving furiously together with the Senior Warden and Jane Davies, the Head Mistress of St Dunstans, and the school's Head Girl, plus four Prefects, all waving furiously.
At the halfway point outside the Royal Courts, where the Lord Mayor has to take time out from the parade to swear allegiance to the Queen in front of the judges, I had to disembark in order to get back to the Mansion House to be one of the 22 Masters chosen to form the Guard of Honour welcoming the Lord Mayor back.
Before that I managed to drop into the Wine Tun and the Capital Club to say hello to the 220 people who had accepted our invitation to join the party. The logistics of organising 220 people and their menu choices fell to Lesley Wilson who unflappably did a superb and glitch free job.
A wonderful and memorable day was completed by Marianne joining me for lunch with the new Lord Mayor in the Mansion House.

Blessing the new Lord Mayor

2011-11-18T11:29:00.006Z

Late on the 11th November, following the Lord Mayor's official installation at the Silent Ceremony, there is a Service of Prayer and Blessing for the new Lord Mayor held at St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall. It was a simple service when the Guild Vicar, Canon David Parrot, skillfully found ways in his sermon to mention all the Livery Companies of which Lord Mayor Wootton is a member. It is probably well known that Roman Generals returning in triumph made processional entrances into the city and had at the back of their chariot a slave whose only role was to lean forward at periodic intervals, as the enthusiastic crowd waved and shouted, and intone ''remember you are only human''. A similar sentiment, more subtly and delicately put, came through the sermon via the biblical reference ''to whom much is given much is expected''
There is no doubt that like his predecessor David Wootton will meet these expectations as he gives everything he can to his role as Lord Mayor.

Presentation of Addresses Ceremony

2011-11-18T11:11:00.004Z

A short while after the Silent Ceremony Marianne and I had kindly been invited by our Clerk, Adele, to witness the Presentation of Addresses ceremony which was held in the upper foyer of Guildhall art gallery. This is a very strictly 'invitation only' affair. Both Sheriffs and the Lord Mayor attend since it is to them that the 'Presentations' are made.
These are presentations of gifts of appreciation and congratulation from members representing the various Livery Companies, City Wards, or other organisations of which the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs are members. The gifts presented varied from inscribed silver trays to decanters, pens, glasses and silver photograph frames. Each gift was announced by the Remembrancer and formally presented. Adele presented a gift as President of the Aldgate Ward Club. An unusual event to be able to witness.

Silent Ceremony

2011-11-17T16:18:00.008Z

Last Friday the 11th November I was in the Great Hall at Guildhall to witness the historic Silent Ceremony when the new Lord Mayor, already elected, is officially appointed. Apart from a short declaration of office by the in-coming Lord Mayor not a word is spoken. The lights are lowered for an atmospheric occasion. It is one on which the new Lord Mayor is sworn in and the retiring Lord Mayor passes on his symbols of office to the new Lord Mayor.
The principal items passed include the sword, sceptre, seal and inventory of the Corporations possessions (for which the new Lord Mayor takes responsibility) It is a ceremony full of dignity and ritual with much bowing, or 'reverences' as they are called, as the symbols of Mayoralty pass from the old Lord Mayor to the new one.
The ceremony was filmed and Stephen Fry was a guest since this ceremony will be incorporated into a TV film about the City to be aired later and he will be the narrator. Study the TV guides!

Gardening Leave

2011-11-17T15:57:00.003Z

It is a privilege of the Master to be allocated by the Marketors' Trust the sum of £2,000 for a charitable donation of his choosing. I have reflected for some time on the choice. It seemed to me that such a sum would be most valued by a small charity with real focus where it would have a greater significance than if given to one of the major charities. With this thinking in mind I have given the donation to to a small, fairly new (founded in 2007) charity called Gardening Leave. The charity aims to improve the mental and physical well being of ex-service people by offering horticultural therapy in walled gardens. They provide peaceful, unpressurised environments where mentally damaged veterans can participate as much or as little as they like in the life cycle of the garden. Many who attend at the sites have difficulty making the transition from military to civilian life and also suffer from combat stress reactions. Gardening Leave offers them structure, routine, being with like minded individuals , being outside and having something constructive to do.
So it was with pleasure that I handed over the Trust's cheque to Anna Baker Cresswell, the founder, at the charity's walled garden within the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. There are sites elsewhere in the UK and over the next 5 years the charity aims to open new projects in walled gardens throughout the country to bring companionship and reassurance to more traumatically stressed veterans young and not so young.

Garden of Remembrance St Pauls

2011-11-09T21:38:00.007Z

The City's Garden of Remembrance Service was held on Monday in the Garden on the North East side of St Paul's . Unlike last year the weather was clement. I was privileged to be there.
We gathered in the Crypt to begin and after refreshments were briefly addressed by the President of the Royal British Legion, John Kiszely. Explaining that this event was very well attended, as indeed it was, he commented wittily that there were even people camping outside to try and get in. . More seriously he told us that the annual one day collection in the stations and streets of the City had raised over £400k significantly more than the £250k raised last year.
The service in the garden was short but moving with the band of the Scots Guards and the Royal British Legion Flag Bearers adding to the occasion. The crosses on the Remembrance Garden lawn were planted by representatives of almost all the 108 Livery Companies together with representatives of of other City Organisations.
The service finished with the Kohima Prayer :

''When you go home, tell them of us and say,

For your tomorrow we gave our today''

It was a ceremony that allowed all who were there to reflect and demonstrate in a small way gratitude for the sacrifices made on our behalf in the past and today

At Home

2011-11-05T13:38:00.007Z

My wife Marianne, our Clerk Adele, and I went to a very happy ''At Home'' in the Egyptian room of the Mansion House last Thursday at the invitation of Lady Mayoress Barbara Bear. It sandwiches, cakes and tea which never stopped coming. There were quite a few Masters of other Companies there whom I knew but in the main they had recently become Past Masters. It is very common that Masters' years end in the autumn.We are unusual in having a middle of January change of Master.

I was able to chat to Barbara Bear and it was the perfect opportunity for me to give her the cheque for all the money that was raised in our Prize Draw for 'Bullet Bear'. As the afternoon went on champagne duly appeared. There were no speeches, it was a simple and informal affair and all the better for that.

Miss World :Beauty with a Purpose

2011-11-02T11:55:00.010Z

If you are a man you might think 'Miss World' is frothy fun with very attractive girls; if you are a woman your feminist hackles might rise with a feeling that naive young women are being exploited. Both wrong. Very wrong. At the heart of Miss World is the charity, Beauty with a Purpose, which works tirelessly across the world and raises hundred of millions of pounds mainly for the benefit of disadvantaged children. From funding cleft palate teams in South America, Russia and Sri Lanka, supporting the Nelson Mandela Trust in South Africa to fund raising for the Vietnamese Red Cross and special childrens' villages catering for abandoned and neglected children the charity operates world wide. Miss World Country representatives actively support and promote these charitable causes and raise funds in their own countries.

All this has been instigated and is run by the charming but irrepressible Julia Morley, a long standing member of the Marketors. Why she has not received public recognition for her colossal charitable efforts I do not know. She kindly invited four of us with wives to the Miss World Charity Dinner on Monday night. The 120 contestants from around the world were there, the final of the competition is on 6 November. The contestants mingled and chatted with guests before dinner and sat with them at dinner. On our table we were graced with Miss Denmark and Miss Czech Republic.

Like all the contestants these were mature and intelligent young women. None of the contestants aspire to be hairdressers. Many are studying law and medicine; some are already qualified teachers; they are bright as well as beautiful. It was a very happy dinner which with a charity auction probably raised £100,000. Beauty with a Purpose indeed.

Halloween

2011-11-01T09:37:00.012Z

There are now 17 of the 108 Clerks of Livery Companies who are female(and several Assistant Clerks). They met yesterday for lunch as they do every Halloween----as a witches coven (I'm not making this up, I was told by our Clerk). With great wit they decided that the main course which was most appropriate was grouse. 'nuff said.

For the avoidance of doubt, as my lawyer has advised me to make clear, I must state that the picture to the left bears no relation to any known Livery Company Clerks.

Helping Disadvantaged Students

2011-10-31T09:50:00.007Z

One of the charities to which our Trust gave significantly this year is the Sir John Cass Foundation Lord Mayor's Bursary Scheme. A title which, as the Lord Mayor himself commented, doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. Last Friday was the official launch of the scheme at the Mansion House which the Chairman of our Trust, Trevor Brignall, and I attended. After speeches the Lord Mayor presented certificates to 19 scholars in recognition of their award of a scholarship to enable them to undertake undergraduate studies.

This scholarship scheme is funded both by Sir John Cass's Foundation and the Lord Mayor's Bear Necessities Appeal. It awards scholarships to young residents facing financial hardship, aged 18-20 from nine inner London boroughs, to pay for their tuition fees, maintenance, and other educational costs over 3 years of study. £1.5 million will be awarded over 5 years--this is not a small scheme. The students between them are going to all the major London universities to study. As he bows out as Lord Mayor, Alderman Michael Bear can take great pride in this legacy which he has created and left behind.

Management Consultants

2011-10-31T09:25:00.010Z

It was a great pleasure last week to go to Carpenters Hall for the Installation Dinner of Mary Collis the newly installed Master of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants.

The Management Consultants, at number 105, are a newer Company than the Marketors but are notably active, as are we, in pro bono outreach activity. Mary touched on this in her Master's speech; they provide very considerable external consultancy and mentoring particularly to less well off charities. Their members' commitment to such activities is very great indeed and something towards which we should aim.

The guest speaker after dinner was Sir Peter Gershon who has had an extensive career in the defence industry and at a top level in the public sector, before gathering his current portfolio of public company directorships. He spoke about industry and government relations, their interdependence and how the needs of both might be better met in our troubled times. What it requires it seems is ''Change with Wisdom''-----which just so happens to be the motto of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants as you may be able to discern from their crest above.

Breakfast at the Old Bailey

2011-10-31T08:59:00.004Z

The breakfast last Wednesday was held to promote the good work undertaken by the Sheriffs and Recorder's Fund. Serendipitously it was hosted by his Honour Judge Peter Beaumont, whose daughter went to the same school and is a good friend of my daughter, so he was not unknown to me. He talked about the workings of the old Bailey and the complicated logistics involved in the moving around of prisoners during a trial. He took us to visit the famous number one court. Whilst beautiful it is not, he explained, at all efficient as a court room not least because of the layout with the jury unable to see the witness at anything other than a sideways angle.
We also saw a more modern court, one of 18 at the Old Bailey, with its recently constructed glass screen in front of where the accused stands.Necessary he explained to prevent the accused from leaping out and rushing across the court room and punching the judge in the face as happened to an unfortunate lady judge not so long ago.
At breakfast Lady Prue Davies, Chairman of the Fund talked about the work of the charity which is focused on helping ex-prisoners get a new start in life and on relieving hardship in the families of serving offenders. It does this to help re-offending by making grants for training, tools of the trade, clothing and household equipment. One of the beneficiaries of the Trust, a reformed character, was at breakfast to pay tribute to what the Fund had done for him to help him put his life back on the straight and narrow. This is a charity not only of great efficiency but also of great compassion. I am glad the Marketors regularly support it.

Annual Curry Dinner

2011-10-31T08:21:00.013Z

If, as they say, an army marches on its stomach, then our adopted Regiment 151(London) Transport Regiment must move swiftly. As indeed it does as was explained at the annual Curry Evening held at the Sutton TA Centre last Tuesday. The evening started with a macro view of the army, in the context of the Strategic Defence Review which was given by Major General Mark Poffley, the Regiment's Honorary Colonel. He explained that the grand plan would result in a single army not a Regular army and a discrete Territorial army. The single army would comprise full time and part time soldiers with an increasing reliance on the latter. The Regular army is being cut by 20%.

He then discussed theatres of war including Afghanistan where 'winning' was an irrelevant concept since the country is essentially tribal rather than a cohesive nation state.

His opening was followed by presentations from officers of 151 Regiment demonstrating the width of the Regiment's capabilities in providing all the logistical back up for the army sometimes having to fight their way through to provide the needed resources at the front line.

Speeches and presentations were followed by an excellent curry dinner and more extremely interesting conversation. about the actions of the Regiment.. At the end of dinner I was able to present Lt Colonel Adrian Lee, commanding officer of 151, with a framed Freedom of the City of London Certificate, emanating from his Freedom ceremony about which I have blogged earlier. The evening encapsulated the fine relationship between the Marketors and 151 Regiment.

Not forgetting the Bear

2011-10-31T07:52:00.007Z

I suddenly realise that one of the high points of the Bowden Charter Dinner was the draw for our Lord Mayor's Charity Prize Draw---and I neglected to cover it in my previous blog. Well here is a picture of AnneMarie Hanlon, the winner of the sculpture of the Bear which was the first prize and which has been happily sitting in the Reception of Mansion House all year after Barbara Bear acquired it from the sculptor Lewis Hunter. The second prize was won by Diane Morris and third prize by Mike Barnato. Congratulations all round and our thanks to Matthew Trowbridge who masterminded the ticket sales and to all the many who participated.

Bowden Charter Dinner

2011-10-24T22:47:00.018+01:00

This dinner renamed the Bowden Charter Dinner in order to celebrate both the Company's award of its Royal Charter last year and our founding Master Reggie Bowden was held on Wednesday last in the opulence of Drapers Hall. It was a full event due no doubt to the splendour of the venue and the attraction of the speaker.
The dinner was preceded by a Ceremonial Court where the Company admitted seven new Freemen and where I was pleased to recognise Harpreet Sethi of Cass Business school for his dissertation on smartphone apps, particularly related to near field communications--a subject on which I am sure we will progressively hear more.

My, by now well known, theme of innovation was more than adequately addressed by the after dinner speaker Syl Saller. Syl has had a glittering career culminating in her present position as Global Innovation Director at Diageo the global drinks organisation. She gave an impassioned speech relating her company's modus operandi to a single brand --Johnny Walker and its innovative evolution over time as both a brand and a product. It was a pleasure to talk with her over dinner, it was an even greater pleasure to hear her speech--and to judge by the applause the room found it a great pleasure as well. Like Mark Price the MD of Waitrose who spoke on innovation at the Installation Dinner the issue of courage was very much at the forefront of Syl's talk. In today's world you cannot stand still you have to have the courage to take the risks that innovation involves. It's a message that needs to be more widely recognised.

Freedom at last......

2011-10-24T22:31:00.012+01:00

It is always a great pleasure to give pleasure and so it was that as the Proposer I was able to be at the ceremony in the Chamberlain's office when Marion Nunn, Past Master Austin Nunn's wife and Valerie Druce, wife of Past Master Harry Druce were both granted the Freedom of the City of London. As their husbands were two of the founders of the Company it was timely that they at last also became Freemen of the City.

The ceremony as always was handled with aplomb by Clerk to the Chamberlain, Murray Craig, who after the ceremony regailed the assembled company with stories and anecdote's of those who had received the Freedom in the past. Here you see the new Freemen with their husbands.It was a very happy occasion which continued over a splendid lunch at the Little Ship club organised by Roddy Mullin.

Aspects of the City

2011-10-24T19:20:00.008+01:00

Because the Lord Mayor is by background and training a Civil Engineer and property developer he has a deep interest in the City not just from a development point of view but also from an historical and architectural point of view. With this in mind he instituted this year a series of three talks/presentations on different aspects of the City of London in the context of urban design . I went to the first one where the speaker was the erudite Simon Thurley CEO of English Heritage and a superb speaker, about which I blogged earlier; last week I went to the third and last of these talks having been unable to attend the second one.This third and final talk was about the City of the Future and consisted of a panel chaired by Peter Rees, the City Planning Officer; Francis Salway, the Chief Executive of the property company Land Securities; and Lee Polisano, President of PLP Architecture. They made a formidable team. The talks ranged, unsurprisingly, over inter city global competition and what this meant for infra structure and high speed links, particularly to airports; sustainability in urban planning; the management of resources; the continued growth of all cities and the practical implications. All this and much more but surprisingly no mention of of the impact of technology in its many guises.

This evening's event at the Mansion House, introduced by the Lord Mayor, came the day after a book launch at Mansion House also introduced by the Lord Mayor, and one which I attended and which launched a magnificent tome on the architecture, both ancient and modern, of the City. The City past, present and future all in two days. What more could a Master interested in the City ask.

Celebratory Concert

2011-10-24T18:26:00.003+01:00

Last week I went to the Lord Mayor's Appeal Celebratory Concert at the Royal Festival Hall. As most people by now know Alderman Michael Bear's Appeal 'Bear Necessities' supports two charities--the children's charity, Coram and redr UK that trains and provides engineers and other relief workers to respond to world wide disasters. This concert was in support of his appeal and marked its grand finale. And what a concert. It featured a wonderful programme from EC4 Music and the choirs from four schools.

EC4 Music is a non-professional choir and orchestra taking its name from the post code of where the group was founded. It has performed sell-out concerts at its 'spiritual home' St Brides for the last twelve years. It is a very large orchestra of the highest quality amply demonstrated by a rich programme. This included a 400 strong performance of Parry's ''I was Glad''-made famous across the world by its inclusion in the recent Royal wedding. The orchestra's own large choir was boosted by the addition of 100 children drawn from four London schools.

The concert also included 'The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra' by Benjamin Britten with Richard Stilgoe as the irrepressibly witty narrator, as well as Handel's Zadok the Priest and the slightly off the wall Belshazzer's Feast by Sir William Walton. A delightful evening finished off by a private reception where I again had the pleasure of a long chat to both the Lord Mayor and his wife Barbara.

Freedom for an Army man

2011-10-16T21:52:00.005+01:00

Adrian Lee is the Commanding Officer of our adopted Regiment, 151 (London) Transport Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps. Our continuing excellent relationship was furthered by the Master and the Chairman of the Armed Forces Committee, together with Past Master Brigadier Roger Hood supporting him in his application to gain the Freedom of the City of London .
And so it was on Thursday last that we all, including Adrian's wife, were at the ceremony in the Chamberlain's office in Guildhall for the granting of the Freedom to Adrian Lee. As ever Murray Craig, Clerk of the Chamberlain's Court, officiated and after the ceremony regaled us with anecdotes and stories of those who had received the Freedom in earlier times. Since Adrian is a military man these related to historical figures from Nelson and on through Generals who fought at Waterloo and elsewhere.
The page of the Freedom book which Adrian had to sign showed that the immediately previous entry was for the Earl of Wessex. However for a brief time Adrian had become the ''youngest Freeman''. Something we all celebrated at a jolly lunch afterwards at the Old Dr Butler's Head in Masons Avenue.

A New Master

2011-10-16T21:17:00.012+01:00

It is always a fascinating experience to go to the Installation dinner of a Master of another Livery Company. On Friday Marianne and I were guests at the Installation Dinner of Mei Sim Lai the newly installed Master of the Worshipful Company of World Traders at Drapers Hall.

Mei Sim had invited numerous guests particularly those from the Asia-Pacific Rim area. This is her own homeland heritage and so her guests at dinner were thus representative of Asia and Australasia and included those such as the Deputy High Commissioner of New Zealand; the Minister for Economic Affairs, Japanese Embassy; Ambassador, Republic of Indonesia; Ambassador, Republic of Vietnam, and more besides as well as some Masters from other Livery Companies. The toast for the guests was thus a formidable task but Alderman Neil Redcliffe rose to the challenge.

I show here the crest of the Worshipful Company of World Traders for no reason other than it has a motto which I like. Difficult to read here but it says ''Commerce and honest friendship with all''. It is taken from Thomas Jefferson's inaugural Presidential address.

We were fortunate in sitting on the same table as the immediate Past Master whom I know well having shared most of his year with him. On my other side sat a youthful Danish lady who, ex-Oxbridge, Harvard and Yale, is a Professor at a West coast U.S. university. On enquiring what her Doctorate was in, and hence what she lectured on, she told me it was terrorism on which she is an acknowledged expert and author. It made for an interesting dinner table conversation.

Art in the City

2011-10-12T10:30:00.005+01:00

This picture is not a fanciful one (well it is actually, look at it) but is a reproduction from the front cover of the Painter-Stainers' annual exhibition:''Art In The City'' The Company have a Fine Art Society and take over the Livery hall for an exhibition of their work. This, I suppose, should not really come as surprise given that since its institution in 1502 the Company through the centuries has included as members a host of famous artists including Joshua Reynolds, Godfrey Kneller, Peter Lely, James Thornhill, Lord Leighton, John Millais, Alfred Munnings, Hugh Casson and many more besides. There were no painters of such stature exhibiting last night when Marianne and I went.
However wandering round, glass of bubbles in hand, there was no doubt that this was an impressive exhibition with many paintings at professional level.
The hall itself has hanging on the walls some wonderful royal portraits but the finest to our eyes was a 6 footer by Sir Gerald Kelly Past President of the Royal Academy entitled Joaquina V. I have no idea who she was but it's a powerful piece of painting. Anyway it's a pleasure to see craft skills based Livery Companies demonstrating their skills to a wider audience. Whilst I was invited to this private show by virtue of position the exhibition is open to the public. It's finished now but worth looking out for next year if like us you enjoy art.

The Foundling Museum

2011-10-11T11:22:00.013+01:00

Situated in a leafy Bloomsbury cul-de-sac between the British Museum and the British Library is the Foundling Museum--unlike anything else, anywhere. Last Friday the Marketors had a private viewing of this emotionally loaded museum with an expert guide

The Museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain's first home for abandoned children.Through the tireless work of Thomas Coram, who was appalled at the number of babies abandoned every year, the hospital was set up ''for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children.''There were many early eighteenth century benefactors including Hogarth and Handel. Many artists and sculptors donated work including Reynolds, Gainsborough, Roubiliac and many others. The art is still there to be enjoyed including the famous Hogarth satirical painting, worth £millions shown on the right : ''March of The Guards To Finchley'' Before the opening of the Royal Academy the Foundling Museum was the main art gallery in London open to the public

The composer Handel was a Governor and major supporter of the hospital and the museum also contains the world's greatest collection of Handel memorabilia collected over a lifetime by an avid Handel admirer and donated to the museum. The saddest part of the museum is the display of Foundling tokens (coins, a button, jewelry, a poem, half a playing card). These were given by mothers leaving their babies, allowing the Foundling Hospital to match a mother with her child should she ever come back to retrieve her offspring. Few ever did.

The charity work for children started by Thomas Coram carries on today through the Coram charity, one of the beneficiaries of Lord Mayor Michael Bear's appeal, Bear Necessities.

At the end of the visit we walked the short distance to the North Sea Fish Restaurant for a fine fish dinner and convivial conversation

To The Barricades...........

2011-10-09T18:36:00.010+01:00

If you are a hammer every problem looks like a nail, even if it has a slot cut across the head or the head is six sided. If you are the Director of the Society of Editors representing 450 of the main national, regional and local newspapers and magazines the answer to every problem is a stout defence of the freedom of the press. And so it was with the annual Olsen Lecture last Thursday at St Brides, given this year by Bob Satchwell the Director of the Society of Editors who talked on the topic ' An Unholy Alliance of Press, Police and Politicians' The Olsen Lecture started 10 years ago in memory of Tom Olsen a former Sunday Telegraph journalist. It has had many notable speakers over the years including David Attenborough, P D James, Lord McGregor, Matthew Parris and Andrew Marr. Bob Satchwell himself has had a long and successful career in journalism and indeed was at one point Assistant Editor of the late lamented News of The World. He took as his start point July 4 2011 the day that Milly Dowler's phone hacking was made public-4 days before the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was expected to allow Rupert Murdoch to proceed with his bid for the shares in BSkyB he didn't already own. Parliament raged but Hackgate as it became known was not, he observed, just about journalists' ethics and behaviour, the failures of earlier police inquiries into Murdoch were exposed. As we saw and read the political classes who have been battered and severely bruised by investigative media inquiries and reporting took the opportunity to kick back. Bob went on to claim that now we have too may inquiries : the media he claimed was now the most inquired into public institution in history--we now have inquiries into inquiries.
The worry in the media now, Bob said, is that the whole hacking debacle and its ramifications has not only tarnished the press but threatens to create regulations or restrictions which will hamper a truly free press. The counter attack was to hope that the inquiries also examine the collective guilt of politicians who now say they were over-influenced by one man. (some hope!). Unsurprisingly he closed by emphasising that the Society of Editors is determined to fulfil its role as defender of the media at every level. Well he would wouldn't he.
This evening was sponsored by Kaizo PR who kindly provided endless wine and wonderful canapes at the Lutyens restaurant adjoining the church, where there was complete freedom of expression.

Geography and History

2011-10-09T16:33:00.010+01:00

A crowd of Marketors and guests were given a masterful education in both geography and history during a memorable trip to the Royal Geographical Society. We were treated first to a fascinating talk and slide show explaining the role of the Society. Founded in 1830 the RGS is the UK's pre-eminent learned society and professional body for geography in all its dimensions. We were shown how the Society through research, education, fieldwork and expeditions advances geography as a leading discipline. With an illustrious history the Society holds one of the world's greatest geographical collections of artifacts and historical photos. which spans over 500 years of discovery and geographical science. It also holds the world's finest map collection some maps going back to the 15th Century.

After the presentation given by Alastair Macleod, Head of Collections and our guide and mentor for the evening we were taken down to the Foyle library where an amazing array of historical artifacts had been laid out for us. These ranged from Livingstone and Stanley's hats to Darwin's pocket sextant, Mallory's goggles and other possessions found on his body, the shopping list from Harrods for an attempt on Everest which, unbelievably included items such as sauce boats, and superb photographs taken on the many expeditions round the world including Scott's and Shackleton's----and much more besides. Here are a couple of photos. On the left Hillary and Tensing Norgay on the way down after conquering Everest. Below on the right we can see the unfortunate members of Scott's fated expedition; left to right Scott, Evans, Oates, Wilson, Bowers. These pictures give only the merest glimpse of the treasures in the Royal Geographical Society

At the end of the evening we were privileged to be the first to use the newly refurbished members area for drinks and canapes. Finer fare than that consumed by the early intrepid explorers whose expedition rations and cooking pots we had just seen.

Election of Lord Mayor

2011-10-09T15:09:00.010+01:00

Common Hall, open to all Liverymen, was held last Monday 3 October in Guildhall. This is the annual event for the election of the next Lord Mayor. The event is preceded by a church service in St Lawrence Jewry, known as the Divine Service. Like most Wren churches St Lawrence has no separation or major distinction between nave and chancel. It is a quite beautiful church, well worth a visit, with a magnificent organ but one not quite as magnificent as the monumental one in St James on the South side of Piccadilly, which is truly a marvel.

The sermon was given by the Chaplain to the Lord Mayor (yes, he has a Rabbi too) based on the Reading which was Mark 10. 42-45 and I quote ''whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all''. A message perhaps not just for the incoming Lord Mayor but also for Livery Masters...........

The election in Guildhall is one where all the Masters fully gowned process in and sit close to the front-how lucky. The great and the good process in subsequently. As is now well known Alderman David Wootton was elected 684th Lord Mayor with Roger Gifford being lined up as a future Lord Mayor. The election process-open outcry- reflects the centuries old rituals and demonstrates the full panoply of the Mayoralty and Corporation at such ceremonial events.

The speeches were, of course, gracious, from all concerned with outgoing Lord Mayor Alderman Michael Bear generating the most appreciation with his continuing puns on the word 'bear'.

The Marketors present then repaired to Founders Hall to join others from different Companies for some welcome refreshment and a splendid lunch.

A Professorial Exposition

2011-09-22T21:52:00.013+01:00

One of the threads that runs through my year is St Paul's Cathedral, from the Loriners 750th celebration there, the United Guilds Service, the 300 year anniversary of the Cathedral, the Sons of the Clergy service and again last night for a brilliant talk by Professor Peter McCullough a Lay Canon of St Paul's and Fellow and Tutor of Renaissance Literature at Oxford University. He spoke on ''St Paul's, the Corporation, and Liveries in the age of John Donne.''

We sat, theatre style, under the dome and a warm and amusing introduction was given by Graeme Knowles the Dean of St Paul's. He then introduced the speaker which is when it started to go wrong. Peter McCullough had a lapel mike which was linked to the main sound system and the echo this produced made it incredibly difficult for everyone to understand what he was saying. Concentration was all.

He spoke eloquently on the way in which the Cathedral, the Livery and the City Corporation have been entwined for centuries. John Donne, poet, lawyer, Ironmonger Liveryman and priest was the Dean of St Paul's in the time of Elizabeth the First. This was pre-Wren when the old cathedral dominated the London skyline with its spire. In the 100 or so years before the cathedral was destroyed in the Great Fire of London it was considerably decayed and dilapidated. Professor Mc Cullough explained the very close relationship the Livery had with the cathedral in those times. Indeed more than the Guildhall chapel itself, St Paul's was one of the most important stages upon which the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Liveries showed in a visible and corporate way their support of the crown's established church. This talk was so good that I have put a link in here so that if you have the time you can read it for yourself.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4766507/20%20Sept%202011%20Peter%20McCullough%20talk.docx

Chains of Office

2011-09-22T20:59:00.011+01:00

The Sheriffs were elected a short while ago but this week saw the presentation of the Shrieval chains to Alderman and Sheriff Alan Yarrow and Sheriff Wendy Mead. Chains of office are elaborate, individually designed by the wearer, very expensive and very impressive. Justifiably so as Sheriffs once held the highest office in the City as the Kings representative governing the City until they were bumped off the top spot by the institution of the Mayoralty in 1189.

Wendy Mead held her presentation in Carpenters Hall where the chain was on display. Because chains are so expensive an appeal is made to raise funds and all those who had contributed are invited to the presentation. Speeches follow and the champagne flows. Beside the chain is a beautiful hand written ledger detailing the names of all those who had contributed.

Alan Yarrow had his presentation ceremony in Fishmongers Hall and it followed the same format. His chain was significantly different. This is because the centre piece of the chain is a badge containing a coat of arms designed by the College of Arms representing the interests and achievements of its owner, together with a chosen motto.

These events attract a large crowd of supporters from the City as well as from the Livery although it was a pleasure to catch up with Masters I know. We are in Master 'change over' season now so many I know are now being replaced by their Senior Warden . I have a lot more new faces to get to know.

The Sheriffs' Opera

2011-09-19T15:00:00.007+01:00

Last Friday evening the Sheriffs combined to raise money for the Lord Mayor's appeal by staging the Sheriffs' Opera - A Bear of Two Cities-in the Great Hall at Guildhall. Dickens' Tale of Two Cities was ingeniously reworked into a musical in which a man and a bear, like the famous Dick Whittington and his cat, leave the delights of Paris to travel to London through the port of Le Havre. The trials and tribulations of the journey were reflected in the music which encompassed work by Verdi, Puccini, and Donizetti. The adapted story line was amusingly narrated by Hannah Gordon as the fictional journey progressed. This 'contemporary opera' starred the the great diva soprano Nelly Miricioiou. She was accompanied by the Chelsea Opera Group Orchestra and Chorus a body of which Fiona Woolf is Chairman and on the night a participating soprano. Surprisingly good acoustics and some wonderful singing made for a splendid evening.

All Day Walking

2011-09-19T14:36:00.010+01:00

If you think the Marketors are an energetic lot you don't know the Environmental Cleaners. For the seventh year running on Thursday last they organised their 'Livery Halls Walk' which raises money for charity. It takes all day and participants walk to visit all 40 Livery Halls. There were 44 of us walking. The weather was wonderful for walking and those of us who had done it before wore walking boots. Novices didn't. And regretted it.

The Senior Warden and I met at the office to collect our gowns and bonnets and then walked to Armourers and Braziers, the start point. Breakfast in the form of orange juice, coffee and bacon rolls was provided.. Then the long walk. We took in several halls before arriving at Ironmongers where we were invited in for a decent size glass of dry sherry. It was just gone 10am not the time one usually starts imbibing but most fortifying nevertheless. We took in 22 halls before before a quite excellent lunch provided by the Bakers in their hall. After lunch another 18 halls were visited, including champagne at Vintners and tea on HQS Wellington with the Master Mariners.

The walk finished at Mansion House where Lady Bear was presented with a cheque by the Master of the Environmental Cleaners. All in all a very pleasurable day full of camaraderie and one which helped mitigate, in a small way, rather a lot of Livery 'hospitality'.

Becoming, Or Not Becoming, Energised

2011-09-18T21:23:00.019+01:00

One of the pleasures of being Master is that you are invited to other Companies' annual lectures. On Tuesday I went to Drapers Hall as a guest of the Fuellers Company to listen to John Cridland, the Director General of the Confederation of British Industry, talk on the extent to which the UK's energy policy is fit for purpose. Something of a dry subject (unless you are a Fueller) one might suppose. And a little incongruous for the Fuellers whose Latin motto translates as ''Our strength is in coal.' Never mind. The reality of course is that when you have a high intellect person speaking on a subject on which they are not only extremely knowledgeable but also quite passionate, it is a fascinating experience

Energy policy needless to say is set at government level but it is business that feels the effect and John Cridland's view was that not enough consultation with business takes place. The competitiveness of energy intensive industries is, he believes, under threat because of government policy.

Worse yet, renewable energy (think wind farms) are not cost effective. Indeed sometimes they have to be shut down when it's too windy (no, really, they do). So to be told that Tony Blair, just before he was removed from office, signed us up to a European legal commitment to have 30% of all energy produced to be from renewables by 2020 is more than a little disheartening.

I met a lot of familiar faces at the reception afterwards and happily we all had enough energy to enjoy the Fuellers' hospitality.

Winning In Today's Digital World

2011-09-18T18:26:00.030+01:00

On Monday, for the first time, the Marketors held a joint event with another Livery Company : the Stationers and Newspaper Makers. Both Companies have a shared interest in the digital world. So the Stationers Digital Marketing Group and the Marketors' Think Tank got together to put on a seminar and discussion at Stationers Hall under the title 'How Do You Win In Today's Digital World'

We enjoyed a very high class Keynote speaker, Rory Sutherland the Executive Creative Director of OgilvyOne and Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group UK. Rory is an acknowledged expert on Behavioural Economics or 'Nudge' theory as it is known. This is the theory underpinned by the belief that the decisions which people make are hugely influenced by unconscious and non-rational factors and nudging to influence behaviour can be more productive than instruction or overt coercion-sometimes simply by making decisions easier. Rory demonstrated the use of the theory in digital marketing, particularly in terms of responses to web sites.

Daniel Finklestein, the Executive Editor of The Times talked more directly about the issues of monetoising content-content on line being something that people have historically taken for granted as being free. The Times and The Sunday Times are pursuing a paywall approach to monetising their content. The industry looks on with great interest at what many see as an experiment.

Daniel was followed by Fergus Boyd the acting Head of E-business at Virgin Atlantic. The airline uses everythting from apps to social media as well as mobile and web as well as all the traditional media, cross promoting across them. As a sophisticated user of on and off line and integration the two Daniel demonstrated the width of possibilities available for the adventurous like Virgin.

The final speaker was Professor Merlin Stone, visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes, Portsmouth and DeMontfort Universities who is an expert on customer relationship management. Ex IBM he has been a leader in e-commerce since the mid 90s. Perfectly positioned therefore to explain how customer relationship management skills can profitably migrate on line.

Questions to the panel rapidly followed the speakers' presentations. With well over 100 people in the audience we were fortunate to have immediate Past Master Venetia Howes moderating the evening, not only opening proceedings with skill but controlling the questions and bringing them to a well timed conclusion. Hospitality, as it is quaintly called, followed rounding off a very informative and successful evening.

A nght at the Proms

2011-09-09T09:33:00.011+01:00

On Monday evening 23 of us had the great pleasure of going to the BBC Proms at the Albert Hall-amazingly a building built with the money left over after the construction of the Albert Memorial opposite, the funds for which were raised by public subscription. The nation's appreciation of Albert was clearly considerable. We went to a concert given by the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra led by the Maestro Manfred Honeck. He follows on from the many illustrious Music Directors and Conductors in the past including Otto Klemperer, Fritz Reiner, William Steinberg and Andre Previn. Manfred Honeck began his tenure as the orchestra's Music Director in 2008/2009 after periods as Conductor of some of the most famous orchestras in the world.
The programme contained works by Beethoven )Piano Concerto No.4), Tchaikovsky (Symphony No.5) and work by the lesser known Braunfels.
The Marketors' connection with the orchestra goes back to Past Master Keith Arundale's very successful trip four years ago to Pittsburg. After the concert we had drinks 'back stage' and met with Honek and some of his principal musicians, a rare treat.

The Beethoven Piano Concerto was played by the world famous pianist Helene Grimaud with great sensitivity and to huge applause. Proms audiences always make clear what they like! This was a wonderful evening and we can only wish the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra well as they continue their European tour in France and Germany.

A Great Event

2011-07-31T22:05:00.008+01:00

Our Mansion House Banquet with the Lord Mayor, Lady Mayoress, the Sheriffs and their partners is always a memorable affair. From the entrance up the stairs through the St Dunstans cadets' carpet guard to the final drinks and farewells it was truly a GREAT event.

I was delighted at a ceremonial court before the dinner to admit Diane Morris as a new court Assistant. I also clothed in the Livery Richard Christou, Jo Edwards and Christopher Lenton, as well as admitting as new Freemen Anne Curtis, Andrew Robinson, Peter Rosenvinge, Michael Smeeth, Brain Smith, Andrew Ward and Jonathan Williams. Finally I was very pleased to to present the Marketors' Award to Captain Giles Phillips for outstanding leadership within the St Dunstans CCF.

At dinner the Lord Mayor was in fine form, humorous and serious by turns keeping everyone fully engaged. The brass band played the post horn gallop magnificently and to rapturous applause. Good company, good speeches, good food and wine in a stunning environment ensured that this year's Banquet fully lived up to past triumphs and current expectations.

As we enter August and the holiday period your Blogger will rest awhile but return refreshed in a few weeks time. Meanwhile I wish you all a very happy holiday period.

Ambushed at Luncheon

2011-07-31T17:24:00.019+01:00

Last Thursday I was a guest of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators at their Royal Charter Luncheon. A splendid affair and, I noted, as we mingled pre-lunch, a good representation from the Royal Navy. The lunch was held in Butchers Hall, a light and airy hall with big windows perfect for lunch on a sunny summer day. We ate with some fine oil paintings of the late Queen Mother and HRH The Princess Royal (the Butcher's current Master) gazing down upon us. You can just about see the Queen Mother in the top left in the photo on the left.For the Chartered Secretaries and Administrators this was a special occasion, although as far as I could see nothing to do with their Royal Charter which was never mentioned. It was the occasion of the official signing of the Letters of Association between the Company and their new Navy ship: HMS Ambush, a nuclear submarine. The strength of the naval representation, including the Commander of the Fleet Sir Trevor Soar, suddenly made sense. After the signing the Master gave Sir Trevor a set of pictures of the City of London with, as he commented, the necessary screws. One can only assume it is possible to screw pictures into the walls of a submarine. This is some submarine, the navy's latest, finest, biggest and only the second Astute class submarine. Silent in operation and with sophisticated enough sonar and electronics that it can detect ships three thousand miles away.

All in all it was an excellent and interesting lunch. I noticed on the guest list an 'Apprentice'. An Apprentice system is not at all uncommon in Livery Companies and it is a subject to which I will return later in my year.

Perfect Restoration

2011-07-31T16:12:00.012+01:00

Spencer House is aptly described as London's most magnificent 18th Century private Palace. In fact the only private palace left in London and originally the house of the ancestors of Lady Diane Spencer. Last week 39 Marketors were privileged to have a private tour. Welcomed by Baron Charles de Chassiron, Chairman of Spencer House Trust, which runs the house, we were given a brief introduction to the history of the house. Rothschild Investment Trust took the building over ten years ago and over the intervening period an extensive restoration has taken place. And much needed it was too. Since the war it has been home to everything from the Ladies Army and Navy Club, Christies the auctioneers, British Oxygen Company who converted it to offices and lastly the Economist Intelligence Unit. Having been stripped of valuables during the war and following the depredations of commercial usage it is no surprise the restoration took ten years.

The tour took us through a variety of state rooms which reflected the two original designers' passion for the classical Greek and Roman architectural style. Many wonderful paintings and pieces of furniture have been acquired, borrowed or specially commissioned to furnish the house.. It is a treasure trove of good taste--but then it was all put together by a specially assembled ''Good Taste'' committee. This is a connoisseurs' paradise and is open to the public on Sundays--Google it and go--you will not be disappointed.

After the tour we walked round the corner to the Avenue restaurant in St James's Street. Here we had an excellent meal which was voted one of the best value London restaurants that anyone could recall. Private splendour and good food. What's not to like.

Cocktails at Sundown

2011-07-15T12:56:00.012+01:00

Our Regiment-151 (London) Transport Regiment hosted a cocktail party on HMS President last night. This is not a ship but a stone frigate, or shore establishment of the Royal Navy Reserves, near Tower Bridge, who use it as a training centre. It's a wonderful location--perhaps because it was originally the P & O London Ferry Terminal.It was a beautiful evening, quite good enough for everyone to stand on the outside deck overlooking the Thames as the sun slowly sunk in the West. We were also treated to the none too common site of Tower Bridge opening as a large ship cruised lazily Eastwards.
There were a good crowd of people there including a number of London Borough Mayors. In all cases the the massiveness of their gold chains and badges eclipsed most of the Master's Badges and chains that I have seen. It's nice to think that local councils have some of their own gold reserves.

Knighthood--The Oldest Dignity

2011-07-14T15:49:00.004+01:00

Knighthood is the most ancient title of honour in the UK whose origins go back to before the Norman conquest and it is the oldest non-Royal title of honour. Today I attended the Annual Dedication Service of The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor. The term Knight Bachelor goes back to Henry the third. With historical connotations of medieval chivalry I was somewhat surprised to find that the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor only goes back to 1908. Our own Sir Paul Judge is the Society's Registrar.

The Society has in perpetuity the use of a chapel in the crypt provided by the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's, now named the Knights' Chapel. It is a fine space. The service was formal full of ceremony and regalia. The sermon was given by The Rt Honourable Richard Chartres the Bishop of London. He started by musing on powerful rulers in history who claimed divine status and came on to the biblical reference of Christ's: ''render unto Caesar those things that are Caesar's and unto God those that are God's. A message in humility for the Knights perhaps. He then segued into the 400th anniversary of the King James bible and the huge influence this had on the Western world. The beauty of the language and the underpinning morality are acknowledged even by Dawkins he said. He then referred to Clemence Attlee's famous comment that he loved the ethics of the bible but didn't care for the associated mumbo jumbo. But where would the ethics be without the supporting mumbo jumbo asked the Bishop. A question to ponder.

Cart Marking

2011-07-13T20:01:00.023+01:00

Today I witnessed one of the 'unique to the City' occasions--the annual marking of carts in Guildhall Yard. It was absolutely packed with spectators. For centuries the Corporation of the City of London exercised its rights over carts and carriers. It was agreed that all vehicles would be licensed and would bear an individually numbered brass plate with the City arms on the shaft. This changed in 1838 when the power to license was vested in the Keeper of the Guildhall. He was empowered to mark the 'carrs and carts' of Freemen of the Fellowship of Carmen to stand and ply for hire in the City's streets. Each vehicle was brought into Guildhall to be marked with each year being distinguished by a letter and each 'carr' by a number.
Times change but this time honoured tradition continues to be maintained by the Worshipful Company of Carmen. Once a year Carmen bring their treasured vehicles to be branded, or marked, with a red hot iron, on a wooden plate which each vehicle carries.. This ancient ceremony acts as a reminder of centuries of service to the City. The vehicles vary enormously and to give you some idea here are a few.

A steam powered 1937 Sentinel Wagon

1902 Purdey Pantechnicon

I have no idea!

Ann original Smithfield Bumaree

So that you can see the wooden plates which are branded, or 'marked', see the picture below. The last mark here is the letter 'S'. This year the mark burnt in was 'T'

If you have never seen this ceremony, attended by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, make a note to go next year. It is a truly eccentric British one-off.

Dinner with The Engineers

2011-07-13T18:30:00.014+01:00

Last night, moving swiftly from the Big Curry thank you reception (see previous blog) I was at the Annual Awards Livery Dinner given by The Engineers at Plaisterers Hall. It is, as we know, a very big hall and it was full. The Engineers must be a fairly progressive lot as they were founded in 1983 --Founder Master a Marketor, Sir Peter Gadsden--and they were awarded their Royal Charter in 2004. No hanging about.
The Awards Dinner is clearly a major event in the Company's year. The Awards are divided into two categories: Civilian and Service which explains something that initially puzzled me: why were there so many armed forces personnel in full kit at the dinner? This incidentally is a Company whose members and Officers keep their service titles even though they are in civilian life, or retired. Always a strange habit I have thought. In civilian life retirees do not continue to use their work titles when they retire.
The Awards took the form of Medals, Financial Prizes and Certificates. There were six Civilian prizes awarded and eleven Service Awards. The Clerk did a masterly job of reading through all seventeen citations. It was a happy and impressive event with a minimum of speeches, excellent food and great efficiency--as you would expect from engineers.

A Thank You

2011-07-13T17:46:00.011+01:00

It's always nice to be thanked and last night I was at a Reception given by the Army Benevolent Fund-The Soldiers' Charity, to thank all those who support the charity and in particular the Big Curry Lunch. Thanks to the army curry is the country's favourite dish. Back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries 20,000 British soldiers were stationed across the sub-continent and the cooks of the East India Company developed anglicised versions of of Indian dishes and curry was borne. Now in its fifth year the Charity's flagship fundraising event is the Big Curry Lunch in April. It is a national event and in London it is supported by the Lord Mayor and the event is held in Guildhall (see earlier blog)

Last night the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs attended the thank you reception from which we learned that the London lunch alone raised well over £200,000.The charity gives lifetime support to serving and retired soldiers and their families and has done so for 66 years. Purely from donations the charity raises around £7 million a year and half of this is given direct to individuals to help in areas like debt relief, mobility assistance, education bursaries, care home fees, and respite breaks; the other half is given as grants to other charities.

I discussed with a number of ABF staff who were there last night the idea of changing the charity's name. Army Benevolent Fund sounds vaguely Victorian to me and not particularly attractive. On the other hand the word 'Soldier' has considerable emotional resonance. Dropping ABF and renaming the charity simply 'The Soldiers Charity' seems eminently desirable to me. A marketing man's point of view I suppose.

Helping Ex-prisoners

2011-07-12T10:32:00.004+01:00

Last night was the AGM of the Sheriffs' and Recorder's Fund held in the Central Criminal Court. The Court room was packed to hear not only the AGM but also the guest speaker Baroness Hale. The fund, of which we are consistent supporters,was created 200 years ago by two Sheriffs who were shocked at the horrors of Newgate prison. So they started a fund to help inmates and their destitute families with food, clothing and grants to make a new life when they left prison. The fund has always relied on the generosity of individual and corporate donations.
The AGM was interesting for the light it threw on the Fund's current activities. With a total income of £179,376 the majority, £161,221 was spent on charitable activities. These activities were in the main small grants to individuals to help them get back on their feet. 1,040 grants in total were given for anything from clothing, tools of the trade to educational/skills based courses. Helping ex-prisoners in this way helps reduce re-offending, relieves hardship and gives people an opportunity for a new start. The Sheriffs' and Recorder's Fund is a remarkable City institution doing good in a simple way for over 200 years.

Olympic Park

2011-07-11T12:03:00.014+01:00

Last week a considerable number of Marketors met with a very well informed guide at Stratford station and travelled the one stop on the DLR to Pudding Mill to start a guided tour round the edge of the Olympic Park. First stop was the 'View Tube' a raised construction from which a very good view of the site could be had. Not all of it clearly for the site is, as our guide told us, the same size as Regents Park!The rather dodgy photo on the right shows the rather strange View Tube--the yellow construction. A lot of the site could be seen including, obviously, the main stadium, Zaha Hadid's magnificent Aquatic Center and the very strange ArcellorMittal Orbital Tower.

This is designed as as a spectacular piece of modern architecture and a major public attraction in the Park. It is currently only half built but the photo on the right shows what it will look like when finished. Designed by the award winning artist Anish Kapoor it will be the largest sculpture in the UK. Standing at 115metres it will be 22 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty. Not only will there be a viewing platform at the top from which the whole Park can be seen but also a restaurant. Unsurprisingly opinion is divided over the aesthetics of this piece of modern sculpture. The cost? A cool £19 million largely funded by ArcelorMittal. The intention is that, post the Olympics, in the words only a politician would use ''This stunning structure will become a new iconic London Landmark (Tessa Jowell).

Walking along the edge of the Park with the River Lea on one side we could clearly see that the turf had been laid in the main stadium and indeed the Park is now 80% complete. The stadium is structurally complete with the roof and all the spectator seats installed. The cycling Velodrome is completely finished and the Aquatics Centre nearly so. Three quarters of the accommodation for athletes is completed. The media centre, to house 2,000 journalists, is as big as the main tower block in Canary Wharf were it laid down sideways. Much work as we could see is now going into tree planting and hard landscaping. Continuing our walk we came round the edge of the site to Fish Island and the wonderful Forman and Field smokehouse and restaurant. Forman's is a 100 year old family business supplying smoked salmon, caviar and other smoked fish to top class hotels and restaurants. They were sited right in the middle of the Park. To persuade them to move the Park Authority built them a brand new smokery and restaurant in a perfect position 100 metres from the Park with fantastic views. Here looking across the river Lea at the Stadium we had a delightful fish buffet and wine. If you go onto the Forman and Field web site, (http://www.formanandfield.com) apart from seeing the wonderful selection of gourmet food on offer, you will find they have a webcam on their roof permanently focussed on the Olympic site. It was a perfect end to a fascinating tour.

Ladies Luncheon

2011-07-09T23:28:00.008+01:00

In a year whose theme is innovation it's always good to experiment. So with this mindset I thought it would be interesting to hold for the first time a Ladies' Lunch. Such lunches are not at all uncommon amongst Livery Companies and I'm not sure why we have never had one in the past. My wife sent the invitations out and a week ago this innovation came to fruition with a lunch held in a private dining room in Guildhall.
Before lunch a tour of the Guildhall art gallery and the amphitheatre had been arranged and this was much enjoyed despite the high volume of noise created in Guildhall yard by the City of London Festival Procession which started from the Yard. 1,000 young people from across London formed a multi coloured display with much loud music in a procession which wended it's way subsequently through many of the streets of the square mile. The City of London Festival is a major annual cultural event which runs from 6 June until 12 August. See http://www.colf.org/
Back in the Guildhall dining room 29 sat down to a fine lunch following a drinks reception. We were fortunate to have a guest speaker--Murray Craig from the Chamberlain's office, who is a witty speaker and who regaled us with stories of the extraordinary things he has experienced at the many Freedom ceremonies at which he has officiated.
The lunch was adjudged a great success so it may well be repeated next year, who knows.

Telling Stories

2011-07-07T19:10:00.012+01:00

It's always a great pleasure to hear an expert talk on their own subject. At the Think Tank Seminar at Cass Business School last Thursday we experienced that pleasure when Matt Kingdon the CEO and joint founder of Whatif? spent all morning talking about innovation, the Master's theme for the year. Whatif? after 19 years are now the world's largest independent innovation consultancy so we were indeed listening to an expert.
Matt started by defining innovation as 'profitable creativity' and went on to give the formula :
I+I+I =Innovation which he explained as Insight+ Ideas + Implementation =Innovation.He then went on tell a series of stories, always the best way to make your points, which exemplified the formula. Essentially what he was talking about was how leaders make innovation happen in big organisations. From Kingfisher to Google via Four Seasons to Apple he told story after story. He explained some of the unusual research techniques which Whatif? use and questions and comments flowed from the floor throughout. A lively Q and A session followed before we finished and repaired to another floor to talk on and enjoy a very good buffet lunch

The Garden Party

2011-07-07T18:06:00.008+01:00

Every year the Queen opens Buckingham Palace Gardens for 'the Queen's Garden Party'. Marianne and I were invited and went last week. So did a thousand other people--it's not a small affair but for central London the garden is vast. The picture below gives some idea of the event. The crowd form into lines and the royals come out of the Palace and walk down the aisle of visitors chatting to pre-selectd people ending up in a small Royal Pavilion set aside for them to have their own tea

The tea which is provided for everyone is actually very good-fine sandwiches and cakes. The most extra ordinary thing though is that very large numbers of people sit in chairs in long rows, several deep, in front of the Royal Pavilion just staring at the royal party eating their tea. I'm sure the royals are world weary enough not to be disconcerted but strange and poor manners nevertheless. The gardens are a great pleasure to walk around, they're quite immaculate and happily the sun shone all afternoon. Perfect summer party weather. Walking round we bumped into a number of other Masters whom we knew so it was quite sociable as well as being novel.

A Birthday Dinner

2011-07-07T16:51:00.010+01:00

Sometimes by great good fortune one can find oneself in the right place at the right time. And so it was last week when, as Master, I with the Wardens, was invited to a very special dinner: HRH the Duke of Edinburgh's 90th Birthday Dinner. As was clear from the Charter ceremony last year and as is clear today, for a nonagenarian he is holding up rather well. Since he is an Honorary member of a number of Livery Companies as well as holding Honorary positions at the Bank of England and the Baltic Exchange he asked that instead of being asked to multiple dinner engagements could everyone not combine for a single Birthday dinner. And so it came to pass, with Fishmongers generously offering to organise and host the dinner. And what a dinner. With only ten Livery Companies and four other organisations represented it was a small and intimate affair.

Her Majesty the Queen accompanied the Duke as did the Princess Royal. We were all personally introduced to each royal before the dinner. The Menu was a joy and a wonderful souvenir but the food and drink were sensational. With such small numbers the tables were in a simple horseshoe shape. With these guests of honour the Fishmongers, if you will excuse the pun, pushed the boat out. A glorious meal was followed by two short speeches, one from the Prime Warden of the Fishmongers Company and one in response by the Duke. The Prime Warden paid tribute to Prince Philip's service to our country and to his tireless support to the Queen for decades. He told the dinner that the Queen had given him a special 90th Birthday present. She had conferred on him the Title and Office of Lord High Admiral which means he is now head of the Navy--a position formerly held by the monarch.

Prince Philip paid tribute to Livery but observed that he was scaling back his commitments. He told the BBC '' I reckon I've done my bit. I want to enjoy myself a bit now, with less responsibility, less frantic rushing around, less trying to think of something to say.'' What he said after dinner was similar and received a great applause. On a separate occasion the Prime Minister said he was ''a remarkable man who has given years of his service to our country, someone who has defended his nation in times of war, a man who has stood alongside Her Majesty the Queen for over six decades, a man who has given his time and effort and passion to so many great causes up and down the country, across the Commonwealth and indeed across the world'' These words reflected the mood of that evening. It was a singular privilege to be there and is one of the greatest highlights of my year so far.

St Dunstan's College CCF Contingent Dinner

2011-06-26T17:00:00.019+01:00

St Dunstan's College CCF with whom we have a strong and happy relationship goes from strength to strength. On the left you see cadets at the Armed Services Flag Raising Day in Guildhall Yard last Monday.

On the same day their enormously talented Corps of Drums performed in the garden of Stationers Hall before the City Livery Club Civic Lunch.

A number of us were privileged to attend as guests their Contingent Dinner in the college main hall on Saturday evening.

A black tie event the room was full of gilded youth immaculately dressed and immaculately behaved. The Contingent Dinner is an 'end of term' affair whose principal role is to celebrate the achievements of the year and award prizes to the winners in various categories, including the award of the Coxswain's Sword generously gifted last year by Court Assistant David Williams. The guest of honour was Tim Lowe Commodore of the Marine Warfare School. With wide international experience and many ship commands he was in a perfect position to explain the role of the military in the modern world and, essentially, the human requirements of those who serve. It is people he said, not equipment or services, which are at the heart of successful operating units and in this respect he was full of praise for the schools CCF which he had at an earlier time had the responsibility of checking and monitoring.
I cannot say I was in any way reminded of the dinners I suffered when I was at school. On Saturday night we were treated to a quite excellent dinner and listened to some very mature speakers from amongst the CCF award winners. If the CCF is representative of the school as a whole Past Master Sir Paul Judge, Chairman of the Governors, and an old boy should be a very happy man.

Common Hall-Election of Sheriffs

2011-06-25T17:27:00.011+01:00

The offices of Sheriff and Alderman go back to medieval times and the office of Sheriff is older than any other in the City. Until the institution of the Mayoralty in 1189 Sheriffs or Shire Reeves governed the City as the King's representatives. These days two Sheriffs, an Aldermanic Sheriff proposed by the Court of Aldermen and a lay Sheriff are elected on, or as close to, Midsummer's Day in Guildhall. The election was on Friday last. These annual elections are grand ceremonial occasions with the full panoply of the Civic City's great and good performing. For it is a performance with much bowing and, for the Lord Mayor, hat doffing.
This year there was only one candidate for the role of Aldermanic Sheriff so he was elected unopposed.For the office of lay Sheriff 3 candidates competed. The hall was full and Liverymen, who are exclusively entitled to vote, overflowed into other rooms. The 3 candidates stood and individually verbally presented their case. The vote was taken by a show of hands which were counted by tellers. The election rules are perhaps not as simple as they might be and in the event that the votes cast for each candidate show that there is less than a 10% difference in the votes cast between the candidates and the candidate with the majority then a second, written poll vote is called for on another occasion. Which is what happened on Friday. The poll vote requires Liverymen to vote again on July 8th at Guildhall.
The election of the Sheriffs coincides with the election of other officers, such as Auditors, on the same occasion. Most interestingly Ale Connors are voted for. What or who are Ale Connors I sense you asking. Four Ale Connors are voted and their role, which is an ancient one, is to examine the measures used by beer and liquor sellers to guard against fraud. Early trading standards folk if you like. Originally ''to examine and assay the beer and ale, and to take care that they were good and wholesome and sold at proper prices according to the assize..'' was to ensure that the ale brewed by the many ale houses didn't contain too much sugar. Sugar being a way of using cheaper grain and hops--excessive sugar being a sign of poor ingredients. It is said that the ale connor had a simple task. He would visit a pub and upon being given a pint of ale would pour half of it on to a bench and sit in the puddle. He wore strong leather breeches. He drank the remainder and after half an hour stood up. If his leather breeches stuck to the wooden bench there was too much sugar in the ale. I find this explanation handed down through history charming, and probably true if you believe there are fairies at the bottom of the bottle.

After the election we were hosted to a delightful lunch at Farmers and Fletchers an intimate hall well suited to a smaller more informal gathering. Masters from some 12 Companies were there and the excellent lunch was accompanied by some lively conversation given the hung result of the election. The name of the successfully elected lay Sheriff will not now be known until the close of play on July 8

City Livery Club Lunch

2011-06-21T11:22:00.016+01:00

Straight from the Armed Forces Flag Raising ceremony in Guildhall Yard to the City Livery Club Civic Reception and Luncheon at Stationers Hall. The weather was beautiful and so the drinks reception was held in the garden of the hall which as you can see from the picture above is quite lovely and lends itself perfectly to this sort of occasion. There I met many friends from other Companies before we went up the garden steps into the hall for lunch.

The City Livery Club was founded nearly 100 years ago in 1914 and comprises not just City Liverymen but Liverymen and Freemen of all Livery Companies as well having Associate membership for related bodies such as the Guild of Freemen, the Society of Young Freemen, Ward Clubs and others. So the membership is wide, many Marketors are members and I am pleased to say that this year's President, who hosted the Luncheon, is a Marketor--Valerie Boakes. It was a beautifully run event with fine food and wine and good company. Valerie spoke well in proposing the guests-and then the Lord Mayor spoke. I have heard Lord Mayor Michael Bear speak now at least half a dozen times at various events. He invariably finds a way to introduce into his speeches puns, one after another. Who puts him up to this I wonder: his wife, his speech writers or is he a natural punster. I look forward greatly to hearing him again at our Mansion House Banquet. If I can Bear more puns.

Flag Raising Day

2011-06-21T11:07:00.007+01:00

Last Monday, 20 June, was Armed Forces Flag Raising day in Guildhall Yard. Guildhall was not the only venue for this ceremony, flag raising was going on all over the country last Monday. It is an event to recognise the contribution made to our country by those who serve or have served in the armed forces. It is an opportunity to demonstrate support for the men and women who make up the armed forces from currently serving troops to service families and from veterans to cadets.

It was a grand ceremony with representative contingents from all the services as well as cadets and, of course, a military band. The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs were there in full robes and the Lord Mayor spoke eloquently of the debt owed to those who serve in the various branches of the services. With immaculate timing, as the clock struck noon, the flag you see above was raised over Guildhall. As one of the crowd of onlookers I then had to slip away as, like the Lord Mayor I was due at the City Livery Club Lunch.

Justice to Tea

2011-06-17T18:50:00.022+01:00

In 1866 Parliament announced a competition for the design of a new central Supreme Court and 11 architects submitted their ideas. 7.5 acres of slums were compulsorily purchased; 450 dwellings, housing more than 4,000 people, were demolished and having chosen an architect, in 1873 construction of what we know as the Royal Courts of Justice began. With more than 3.5 miles of corridors and more than 1,000 rooms it took more than 8 years to complete. The Marketors who had a guided tour of the building on Thursday happily were not required to walk all 3.5 miles.
It is an architecturally marvellous place in which the Court of Appeal and High Court sit hearing varied and sometimes complex cases. It is to here, in a tradition dating back 800 years, that on the second Saturday of November each year the new Lord Mayor rides in his Golden coach to be sworn in before the Lord Chief Justice of England and to pledge his loyalty to the crown and to the duties of his office.

Both inside and outside there are remarkable architectural features and statues, none more remarkable than the mosaic floor of the main hall which measures 238 feet in length by 48 feet in width with every small piece of mosaic being laid individually, not in blocks. Not forgetting the clock hanging outside which if it ever breaks down may remain silent forever as it is reputed that its maker took the secret of its balance with him to the grave and no-one has ever managed to duplicate it.After a thoroughly fascinating tour the party crossed the road to the infinitely smaller premises of Twinings Tea where a room had been set aside for us to learn more about tea from an expert. A slide presentation and practical exploration of tea introduced us to the different types of tea which we were then encouraged to taste and to 'slurp' to gain the greatest flavour out of each tea. It was a fascinating and highly educative experience much enjoyed by all present and concluded with, yes, tea and cakes.

Luncheon with the Drapers

2011-06-17T15:28:00.017+01:00

Yesterday our Clerk, Adele, and I were at a Court Luncheon of the Drapers Company by kind invitation of their Master and Wardens. It was not a small affair. This may be deduced when I explain that the Master proposed the toast to the guests, represented by more than 40 Livery Companies and 5 Draper related Guilds or Fellowships from around the country-Edinburgh to Exeter. I mean proposed them all individually by name, not en bloc, swiftly, charmingly, amusingly. I would not have believed it possible had I not heard it. A virtuoso performance.
It is of course always a pleasure to go to Drapers hall, probably the most magnificent hall in the City and I'm very pleased that we shall be holding our Bowden Charter Dinner there in October. The word opulent is not too strong to describe the hall-I doubt there's any scagliola here.

The pictures gracing the walls are wonderful but as readers of this blog will know from an earlier blog following a previous visit to Drapers it is the ceilings which fascinate me. Large oil paintings are of course splendid but you can see them in every stately home or National Trust property you go to. Not so with late nineteenth century ceiling frescos. The ones in the hall in which we were dining were Shakespearean with Titania and Oberon at either end and representations from the Tempest in the grand central panel. Knockout! But not sufficient to detract from from a beautiful meal accompanied by the kind of wines that only an ancient cellar containing generations of wine purchases can produce. Like the ceiling, heavenly.

Mansion House Scholars

2011-06-17T13:33:00.007+01:00

The Mansion House Scholarship scheme is one the Marketors have supported for many years. It is a scheme designed to give scholarships in support of overseas students training for work and work experience in the UK's financial services industry. The majority of scholars take Masters' Degrees in financial services or related subjects.
This year the scheme reached its 100th award milestone since it started 12 years ago. Scholars number 100 and 101 are both Brazilian and were awarded their scholarships by Lord Mayor Michael Bear whilst he was leading a business delegation to Brazil. Both award winners will use their scholarships to attend the London School of Economics for post graduate study
On Monday I represented the Company at a Reception to meet the 2010 scholars and some from earlier years. The Chairman of the Trustees Julian Tregoning gave an interesting speech covering the width and value of the scheme and thanking Companies like the Marketors who support it. It is a charity which does nothing but good for individuals on the one hand and benefits the City long term on the other hand. It is one we should be very pleased we support.

Historical setting for an historical lunch

2011-06-15T16:59:00.003+01:00

On Monday Marianne and I went to a splendid event in the Crypts of Guildhall. Pre-lunch drinks preceded a wonderful lunch presided over by our very own Adele Thorpe who is the current President of the Aldgate Ward Club. We were her personal guests. The occasion was the Civic lunch in the presence of the Lord Mayor, together with the lady Mayoress and Alderman Fiona Woolf.
Of the 25 Wards of the City Aldgate is, with Tower Ward, the Easternmost of the City wards. The Ward club traces its history back over three centuries so it was fitting to hold the lunch in the oldest medieval crypt in London. As the City changes so do the populations of the Wards and the City of London Corporation has undertaken a review of the internal boundaries of the City's 25 Wards and new boundaries will come into effect in 2013. One wonders with the sheer scale of some of the enormous buildings going up in the City, housing huge numbers of people, whether they might not comprise Wards themselves.
After lunch Adele gave a masterly speech, or should I say a Presidential speech, welcoming the guests--all in witty rhyme. It justified the terrific applause it received. Such hidden talent!
The Aldgate Ward club, if this was a fair representation of its social activities, would seem to be in rude good health.

Masters at Ironbridge

2011-06-15T16:05:00.003+01:00

What do you call a collection of Masters. Is there a collective noun? I don't know. But this annual event brings together Masters from the majority of the Livery Companies. There were 90 of us last week-end. The purpose is for Masters to become familiar with each other in a purely social environment and have the opportunity, if so inclined, to talk about mutual Livery interests and issues. Principally however it is a social week-end with partners which starts with a black tie dinner on Friday night and ends at Sunday lunch time--for those with the staying power to survive the Ball on Saturday night. I am pleased to report that this very enjoyable week-end was an innovation instituted years ago by a Marketor, Sir Peter Gadsden who was Lord Mayor 1979/1980. It is pleasing to know that our reputation for being a sociable Company has real history.
The days are spent in an organised way exploring all that the Ironbridge Gorge and its museums have to offer. Which is a great deal. It was here within the dramatic gorge of the river Severn that the great iron master Abraham Derby perfected the secret of smelting iron with cheap and plentiful coke instead of expensive and inefficient charcoal. Britain and the world was never the same again. Ironbridge was the birthplace of the industrial revolution. The iron bridge itself, the first ever of its kind was a precursor to mass production iron and subsequently steel.
The gorge houses excellent museums and historic buildings including a large and remarkable tile museum so it is easy to see why it has been designated a World Heritage Site

Beating Retreat

2011-06-15T15:26:00.005+01:00

The camera never lies. Or does it. Here is a big picture with, relatively, small people, simply because Horse Guards Parade is a quite vast area and will dwarf any group in it, even a large one. The soldiers and horses Beating Retreat last Wednesday were, however, anything but small. Sitting in the stands as we were, all 50 of us, the bands and horses were of course much closer (and bigger!) and the beating of the music, the sound of the marching and the ambiance of the event made for a viscerally thrilling evening.
Beating Retreat is an old system of recalling troops back to barracks, or their equivalent, at the end of a day's battle. Historically it was drummers and later buglers who sounded the Retreat. Today Beating Retreat is a magnificent spectacle with Corps of drums, massed pipes, mounted trumpeters and military bands evoking a sense of tradition and ceremony going back centuries.
This extremely popular event was preceded by an excellent carvery dinner at 86 St James's Street where we took over the upstairs restaurant for a convivial meal. The choice of venue was perfect for it meant we were within a very short walk of Horse Guards Parade. From this start to the final drum roll it was a stunning evening when even the weather looked kindly upon us.

Jailed and Bailed

2011-06-05T10:02:00.013+01:00

Last week I was arrested. It happened like this. I was having a quiet coffee with some other Masters at the Sheriffs' invitation in Mansion House. Suddenly there was a huge racket as multiple whistles were blown. Was this a fire drill I thought. But no, in marched 4 policemen all in full Victorian police uniform. An Inspector then had the temerity to read out outrageous trumped up charges against each of us and we were arrested. A ball and chain was fixed to each person's arm and we were marched out into the street. There awaited us an early twentieth century coach, restored and an eye catcher as it drove us straight into the Tower of London.
Awaiting us were two Yeoman Warders with Halberds at the ready. We were unceremoniously marched, single file, across the central Courtyard and into the dining room of the Fusiliers Museum. Bread and water awaited. Things looked up. The water was golden and sparkled. The 'bread' was served buffet style. Fortunately I had bail, thanks to the generosity of all those who so kindly donated money against this eventuality. All the collected Bail money happily went to the Red Cross. Then, having had my photo taken, whilst holding a card with a number on it against my chest (such indignity!), and my fingerprints taken, I and my fellow Masters were allowed out into the sunshine. An unrepeatable experience for an extremely worthwhile cause.

Lunch with the Carmen

2011-06-05T09:37:00.010+01:00

A delightful lunch last week at the annual Carmen's Master and Clerks' Luncheon held at what they call ''our nearest approach to a hall'' which is in fact the Officers Mess at Regents Park Barracks in Albany Street. It was a refreshingly different venue and an event enjoyed by thirteen Masters of different Companies, some now becoming old friends.
The Carmen are an old Company (founded in 1517) and indeed their claim to be the oldest transport organisation in the world is to be believed. Not that they haven't had their ups and downs. Whilst waggons, carts, packhorse and coach dominated City commerce for centuries the nineteenth century brought docks, steam and London's growth. The Carmen faded away and family ties were all that was left. The twentieth century saw resurgence and Carmen rebuilt their Company, regained a Charter, achieved Civic recognition and revived old traditions. Including excellent lunches!

Master's Trip to North Wales

2011-05-30T21:51:00.020+01:00

Wales has much to offer and the changes it experiences (Plaid Cymru where are you now that Labour has swept the electoral board) are primarily economic. Which means the old industries, now defunct, have transformed themselves into tourist attractions (well, not sheep farming obviously). The shipping ports are now harbours with yacht clubs; the old slate railways are now narrow gauge tourist train rides; the slate mines are open to visitor 'experiences'; the grand houses, like all stately homes, open to the public.

The 31 Marketors who travelled to North Wales experienced all these things and more. A full write up will appear in the Marketor. The highlights were probably the LLechwedd Slate caverns where the shocking conditions under which men mined for slate is amply demonstrated.; the amazing Rex Whistler mural at Plas Newyydd on Angelsea 58 feet long and one piece of canvas with extraordinary trompe l'oeil effects; and of course Portmerion an astounding village designed and constructed by a man who was not even a qualified architect. Not forgetting Bodnant gardens one of the UK's greatest gardens and at its best in the Spring when the golden cascades of its remarkable 100 yard long laburnam arch can be walked through.

The conviviality and fellowshipwere first class. The card tricks at dinner by Peter Rees magical, and the weather, considering we were in the mountains, not too bad at all. As a taster of what North Wales has to offer all agreed it was a rich and thoroughly enjoyable trip.

The oldest continuous church service in the Anglican Communion

2011-05-17T21:08:00.017+01:00

Sorry about the rather less than snappy title here. Last night I was at the 357th Festival of The Sons of the Clergy. Another mouthful. It's a charity founded in the middle of the seventeenth century by a group of sons of clergymen to support the families of members of the clergy who, having remained loyal to to the monarchy during the period under Cromwell, had been deprived of their livings and left destitute. The first Festival in 1655 was the charity's founding event and there's been a Festival every year since then without a break.

The festival is a full on, theatrical, ritualistic church service at St Pauls. It's a BIG event. Over 80 Livery Company Masters and every notable from the Lord Mayor (last night Locum Tenens) and Sheriffs to top brass from the Corporation, the College of Canons, the Dean and Chapter, Aldermen, the Bishop of London and 11 Bishops from throughout the Country, plus in addition to the St Pauls choir, also the choirs of Worcester Cathedral and St Mary's Edinburgh. And the trumpeters of the of the band of the Blues and Royals and more besides. The procession as you may imagine took a long time. St Pauls was full. Defying the dodgy acoustics of St Pauls the combined choir singing a long anthem was a joy. It was a long service but none the worse for that. It was the church of England in its highest gear --subject only of course to Royal Weddings.......but naturally, it was a celebration of its own good works.
The sermon was based (remember this is for a charity) on ministries, whether ministering to the sick or ministering for religious reasons. The common thread was the need to relate to the whole person. For doctors not just to treat the disease but to treat the whole person. For the vicar to minister not just to a person's spitritual needs but to the whole person in his or her own personal context. In our relations with others we should see the whole person. It was put better than this and with typical Welsh eloquence since the preacher was the Archbishop of Wales. From where no doubt my next blog will come.

Support for Barts

2011-05-16T14:11:00.006+01:00

Last Wednesday was the annual Livery Masters and Clerks trip into Barts for a charity reception. The Reception was preceded by a choral Evensong in the Priory Church of Saint Bartholomew the Great. The picture above hardly does justice to one of the finest churches in the country. Founded in 1123 as an Augustine Priory it has been in use continuously as a place of worship for over 850 years. The architecture is quite stunning and unsurprisingly the church has been featured in many films. It's a small church left untouched by the Great Fire of London and two world wars. It's a gem and if you have never been there, go.

Interestingly the Rector and choir are placed at the opposite end of the church to the Altar and the preacher preaches from under the organ loft. Quite back to front but due to the layout of this unusual church. The visiting preacher, an Irishman who had undoubtedly kissed the blarney stone amused, informed and asked for support. At the Reception afterwards in the Great Hall of Barts, another gem, sixty Livery Companies were represented and listened to speakers talk about the work of the hospital. It was then possible to have a tour of the hospital and see some of the state of the art equipment now in use. An impressive evening on all fronts.

Wren at his finest

2011-05-12T15:14:00.001+01:00

It was a gloriously sunny day last Sunday when thirty two of us , Marketors, family and friends, took a boat from Westminster pier to visit the old Royal Naval College at Greenwich which grew up on the site of the Tudor Palace where Henry v111 and Elizabeth 1 were born. Built in 1695 to house naval pensioners to a Wren design it became the Naval College in 1873, but is now essentially university buildings since the navy left in 1998.

On the boat we were entertained to an amusing chat about the buildings and landmarks on either bank by a crew member, self-admittedly not a qualified guide he was at pains to stress. A point amply demonstrated when he told us on passing the glass building housing the mayor's offices that this was the office building of the Lord Mayor. A mistake our Senior Warden had no problem correcting for him!

After landing we had time for a wander around , in my case to go up to the Observatory to see the Meridian Line and the clock exhibition. Almost a day trip on its own. Then it was time for for a first class lunch, courtesy of Leiths, in the King William Undercroft, an elegant room originally designed as a refectory for the Greenwich pensioners.

We divided into two groups and were taken on a tour of the old college buildings now put to different uses. We saw the remains of the old Greenwich Palace below ground and above ground we saw much including the exquisite chapel, the painted hall and even the old skittle alley (for the amusement for the pensioners to keep them out of the many local pubs we were told). It is little wonder that this is a World Heritage site, it is a great baroque masterpiece. Even Sir Christopher Wren described Greenwich as '' one of the most sublime sights English architecture affords''. He was not wrong. The return trip on the boat ended a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday out.

Thanksgiving and Rededication at St Brides

2011-05-12T13:19:00.009+01:00

The annual Thanksgiving and Rededication Service at St Brides is one of the most important events in the Marketors' Calendar. It is a time to reaffirm our commitment to the Company and its aims and values. It is also a quite wonderful but simple church service.

One of the pleasures and privileges of being Master is being able to choose the hymns, the anthem and all of the music for the service. Which I did on the basis of making the very best use of the wonderful choir and choosing hymns which everyone could sing. It was a truly uplifting service.

As is traditional, we then walked part of the parish, on a beautiful sunny evening for a change, beating the bounds with sticks to either the amazement or amusement of passers by. Part of the way round we were royally entertained by the Master of the twelth century Temple church who opened his lovely private garden and generously provided liquid refreshments. The evening comncluded in the Bridewell Institute where 46 of us sat down to a buffet supper during which I was pleased to present, fittingly, a cheque from the Company to Archdeacon David Meara towards the upkeep of St Brides. Our relationship with St Brides is a valued and continuing aspect of the Company and there are plans to enhance further the Rededication service next year

The Entertaining Cleaners

2011-05-12T12:50:00.001+01:00

On Monday last I was at the Court and Visiting Masters Luncheon of the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners in Armourers Hall. It is a hall I have never eaten in before although I have been inside it, as it is the start point for the Livery Halls Walk which takes place every year. The hall has a magnificent collection of armoury including what is claimed to be the most perfect and complete suit of armour in the country-although probably not the oldest.

The Master of the Environmental Cleaners has only recently been installed and this was his first 'Great Event'. He handled it with aplomb and had the great advantage of knowing that there would be post lunch entertainment-and he didn't have to provide it.

There were 7 Masters of other Companies as guests and after lunch each had to stand and speak for 4 minutes about their Company. Timing was critical since at 3.5 minutes the Clerk to the Company stood up holding a large yellow card with 3.5 written on it in large letters warning the speaker that he has only 30 seconds left. Dead on the 4 minute mark the Clerk stands again with a large red card with 4 written on it whilst simultaneously and loudly 'gonging out' the speaker if he is still speaking. 2 Masters were thus gonged out for not sticking within the allotted 4 minutes and had to sit down before finishing. All, of course, taken in good spirit.

Lunch with the Judges

2011-05-12T12:22:00.001+01:00

We have always supported the Sheriffs' and Recorders' Fund and their fund raising events and I was invited last week by Alderman and Sheriff Fiona Woolf to have lunch with the judges at the Old Bailey. Whilst I have ben in, and around, the Old Bailey before (purely as a visitor you understand) as have many, it was quite different to go into the judges' private quarters.

I was in elevated company since the guests in addition to me were Cherie Blair, Lord Goldsmith the Attorney General, Henry Bellingham the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Colonial Office and Shadow Minister for Constitutional Affairs/Justice and Professor Jeffrey Golden former Chairman of the American Bar Association and visiting professor of law at the LSE. The conversation was animated and interesting and ranged widely. One of the things I learned in answer to my question ''what determines which cases come to the Old Bailey for trial'' is that at the Old Bailey they concentrate on cases against the person, e.g. knife crime; GBH, rape, murder, within the M25 in normal circumstances, outside in exceptional circumstances. Whilst my knowledge of the judiciary has now improved I hope in return that they now have in some small measure a better understanding of what marketing is.

I had to decline the invitation to stay on after lunch and watch a case in court as I had business commitments. Oh, and finally, in answer to the question several people have asked me : do the judges drink at lunch time? The answer is yes but only a very little.

Subalterns Evening

2011-05-08T22:33:00.009+01:00

It's been a little while since I last blogged due to an indecently long Easter holiday, taking in the Royal wedding (and what a wedding!) and the resultant backlog of work. I write now about a super evening very generously provided by Freeman Richard Christou, the Business Group Chairman of Fujitsu, and masterminded on the evening by Freeman Simon Carter of Fujitsu in Richard's absence, living as Richard does currently in the Far East. The evening took the form of a Reception and Dinner held in Fujitsu's Baker Street offices

A most beautiful meal was interspersed with extremely interesting talks/presentations. Simon Carter demonstrated the enormously impressive diversity and global each of Fujitu's defence and security resources which are used, particularly the cyber ones, by just about every important Government Department as well as the MOD and firms and governments round the world. It's a firm with 175,000 employees providing solutions in 70 countries.

Simon was followed by a wittily produced presentation by 151 Regiment's RSM Scott Younger. Scott gave an amusingly animated presentation on the logistics needed to keep troops in the battle field supplied with kit, munitions, fuel and infrastructure necessities. Finally we heard from Lt Austin Chamberlain who deployed to Afganistan with 3 Para. We heard at first hand how the propoganda war is being fought and how influence is a tool of war when skillfully used.

All in all a fascinating evening much enjoyed by all present and we are indebted to Fujitsu for their generosity in making the evening possible.

Rocking in the aisles

2011-04-15T22:50:00.001+01:00

One of the interesting things about most Livery Companies is that in general the membership is older rather than younger. Rock and roll was what they were brought up on in their youth. So it's no surprise that the Company's trip to see Million Dollar Quartet at the Noel Coward theatre last Thursday had a big turn out. It was a hugely successful evening. But then it's a hugely successful musical commemorating as it does the day when Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash were all in the studio together making music: a unique occasion. This was a 100% feel-good factor night out in the company of these legends. The evening started at the glamorous Ivy in the upstairs Ivy Club. Here everyone met and pre-theatre drinks and food were served. Senior Warden John Flynn, a serious West End theatre goer and investor, had used his connections to have a West producer talk to us about the nature of putting on West end shows, the risks involved, the work involved, the strong nerves needed, and the rewards if if a show became a hit. A lively question and answer session followed. Then, as they say, it was on with the show.

The evening was a glorious rock and roll celebration with a cast who gave more than 100% as smash hit after smash came out----Blue Suede Shoes ( a Carl Perkins song pinched by Elvis); I walk The Line; Great balls Of Fire; Hound Dog; See You later alligator.....and on and on. This was more than foot tapping, this was music in the blood. ''The devils music' it was called when it broke on an unsuspecting world used to the crooning of Sinatra. It was in its day mould breaking; it was the music which led on to the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and everything that's come since.
A great evening to remember.

The Gift of Basketmaking

2011-04-15T21:58:00.001+01:00

Basketmaking is an ancient craft, older even than weaving and pottery. Not so the Basketmakers, they youthfully spring from 1569. When I said at our Spring lunch last week that the basket makers were expelled from the City in the time of Henry the Eighth on account of their negligence, I should perhaps have made clear that this was basket makers in general not The Basketmakers Company who were formed a little later. Anyway I was generously entertained on Wednesday at their Livery Dinner. And a grand occasion it was in Skinners Hall.

I noticed on the Menu that against the white wine it simply had 'PPW White Wine''. The Basketmakers have a Prime Warden not a Master. ''PPW'' stood for Past Prime Warden. The Past Prime Warden who owns and runs the vineyard from whence the white wine at dinner came was sitting, coincidentally, next to me. We had an entertaining conversation on the subject and I feel sure, as I have mentioned to him, that our own Past Master John Petersen will, in the fullness of time, provide the Marketors at one dinner or another with wine from his own extensive and immaculate vineyard.

The speaker was Murray Craig, Clerk of the Chamberlain's Court who will be familiar to many as the man who takes applicants through the Freedom of the City ceremony. With such a great variety of different people passing through his office to gain the Freedom he had many stories to tell. I particularly liked the one about Rowan Williams who, when the old right of driving your sheep over London Bridge came up in conversation, remarked that his 'flock' was anyway rather too big for such an event.

The evening passed all too quickly and at the end I was, with other guest Masters, called forward to receive a beautiful gift of a handmade basket from a Yeoman Basketmaker of the Company. No glue, no pins, no trickery, sheer basket making skill; it is indeed a wonderful gift.

Spring Lunch (and more)

2011-04-10T16:34:00.002+01:00

Friday last was the date of the Company's annual Spring Lunch in the elegance of Saddler's Hall. When you are Master it is always a concern, when choosing a hall for a dinner or lunch, to be sure of selecting one that is both the right size for the event, not too big, not too small, and which is also suitable for the occasion. Saddlers happily was ideal both in size and because of its light and airy feel due to its huge windows. Perfect for a sunny spring luncheon.

Before lunch at a Ceremonial Court meeting I had the great pleasure of clothing in the Livery Victor Chopin-John; Christopher Goard and Sylvia Robert-Sargeant. I was also pleased to welcome into the Company as new Freemen Annie Brooks and Simon Carter. After three years on Court and a superb and much longer history of service to the Company, it was also my pleasure to award Mike Kearsley with a framed certificate acknowledging his contribution to the Marketors.

Ceremonial Courts are also the time when we are able to recognize publicly those receiving Awards for academic excellence. These are awards for post-graduate studies on marketing topics which have been agreed with the Marketor's Awards Committee chaired by Sue Garland-Worthington and funded by our Marketors' Trust. Awards and cheques were given to :

Christina Howard, London Business School
Lilli Allihn, of Nottingham University
Folaki Olatunji, of London Business School
Dr Philip Klaus of Cranfield University Business School was unable to be present at the last moment due to his wife's illness and so his award was picked by his academic superviser whom we were pleased to see.

We had an extremely high turnout for lunch and reached the absolute maximum that the hall would hold for lunch.The assembled members and guests were not disappointed by either the lunch or the Speaker. Richard Reed is one of the co-founders of Innocent Drinks now a leading food and drinks company with a turnover of £150million and brand leader in its space. He informed and amused us in equal amounts as he recounted his own lowly beginnings in business in a biscuit factory before he co-founded Innocent Drinks with two university friends. Amongst the anecdotes and jokes (who will forget the two plump nuns) he explained the strong sustainability ethos and ethical stance of the company which gives away 10% of its profits to charity. I thought Mark Price the MD of Waitrose who spoke so well at the Installation Dinner would be a hard act to follow but Richard followed on effortlessly and everyone went out into the sunshine with a smile on their face.

A world Class University

2011-04-10T15:15:00.000+01:00

Last Thursday was the City University London, Chancellor's Dinner. As Lord Mayor, Alderman Michael Bear is the Chancellor of the University. A great many friends and supporters of the University sat down to an excellent dinner. The Marketors, through the Marketors Trust, provide very significant financial bursaries to students of Cass Business School, part of City University. It's a rolling 3 year programme of financial support. The Dinner was both a recognition of support and an update on the University.

City University is over 100 years old and is ranked in the top five percent of universities in the world. Cass is only one of seven schools which make up the university in total. The evening began with the Lord Mayor speaking about the role of the university, its academic excellence, the support it receives and his hopes for the university in the future. It fell to an alumnus of the university, Daniel Finkelstein, to make the keynote address. Since both his father and brother have been Professors at the university it seemed more than fitting. Daniel is the Executive Editor of The Times, its Chief Leader writer and a weekly political columnist. As a Conservative adviser he united with George Osborne and David Cameron, amongst others, to form a strategy to modernise the Conservative party.

He spoke eloquently about his time at the university, and the value it brings to its students (10th in the UK for graduate employment). He was followed by a star student, and multiple award winner, Beth Shrubsall reading for a Civil Engineering Batchelors degree. She extolled the university's support for less well off students and the contribution the university had made to her own life.

City University goes from strength to strength and as Marketors we should be proud and pleased to play a part in its success.

A History of London: The Urban Space

2011-04-10T13:11:00.007+01:00

The title above was the subject of a talk given by Dr Simon Thurley at Mansion House last week. As a property and construction man The Lord Mayor has organised a series of three lectures focussing on a range of urban issues, with a particular focus on London and the City. Last week the lecture was specifically on why London and the City rose from being one of the smaller capital cities in Europe to become a dominant world City and by far the largest in Europe.

To have Simon Thurley address you is unalloyed pleasure. He is a leading architectural historian and the Chief Executive of English Heritage as well as being a writer and broadcaster and the Government's principal adviser on the historic environment in England. He has an enormous passion for his subject as well as a masterly grasp of it. He explained the factors which led to the growth and success of London and the City which included everything from its strength in exporting wool in medieval times, through the transformative effects on the redistribution of property after the dissolution of the monasteries, similar transformations after the great fire of London and the effect of the railways coming into London and into the City. His talk was rich in content, his slides fascinating, his enthusiasm infectious. I could cheerfully have listened to him for hours.

The next two lectures in this trilogy are on 18 July on 'The current challenges facing London in retaining its position as a leading working city'; and the 18th October on 'The future challenges and prospects facing global cities.' One can only hope that these next two are as good as the first one. Simon Thurley has set the bar very high.

Big, very big,Curry Lunch

2011-04-09T22:28:00.001+01:00

Yes, it's a very big logo--for a very big event. The Big Curry Lunch, held annually at Guildhall, is in support of The Soldiers' Charity--the Army's own national charity. Over 67 years old, the charity is providing a lifetime of support to soldiers, former soldiers and their families, whatever the circumstance, whatever the age, whatever the rank.The Patron is her Majesty the Queen. The Lord Mayor's Big Curry Lunch in Guildhall is the flagship event for the National Big Curry Lunch Campaign which raises £450,000 for the charity.

The Marketors, through the Marketors' Trust, have been regular supporters of the Charity, and this event, together with 48 other Livery Companies from the Mercers and Grocers downwards. The Lord Mayor attends and in the absence of the Queen, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent meets with us as sponsors before lunch.

The lunch is so well attended that even in Guildhall three sittings are necessary to accommodate everybody. This is indeed a very big event. There is a major Silent Auction and a major raffle ( I'm still waiting to hear if I have won a trip for two round the Champagne area.......) It's a memorable occasion for an extremely worthy cause.

Looking back; facing forward: the first 100 years

2011-04-09T21:58:00.000+01:00

If you have a big birthday do it in style. This clearly was the thinking at the Chartered Institute of Marketing as they celebrated their Centenary with a spectacular bash at Windsor Castle. The castle is the preferred home of the Queen and it is easy to see why. It is magnificent as anyone who has been there will testify and yet it's not overpowering.

The evening started with a champagne reception towards the end of which a few selected guests, including your Master, were shepherded into a separate room to to meet his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, the CIM's Patron. A wonderful dinner followed, the highlight of which was undoubtedly the speech given by HRH. After the opening formalities which included the immortal line ''I have been your Patron for half of your existence'' (he has indeed been Patron for 50 years), the Duke then spoke, unscripted, about the castle, the fire which did such tremendous damage to the great hall, and the subsequent renovation. He spoke at length and with real feeling--he obviously loves the place as much as her Majesty the Queen.

The dinner was attended by a gratifying number of Marketors, all Fellows, and included two Founder members of the Marketors, Norman Boakes and Austin Nunn. As well, of course, as the great and the good from the Chartered Institute and elsewhere. It was without question a Birthday celebration with style.

151 Regiment Officers Mess Guest Dinner

2011-04-07T15:12:00.002+01:00

Our relationship with 151 Regiment is a very strong one thanks to much good work done by our Regimental Liaison Committee ably headed by Liveryman Steven Rowe. It is no surprise therefore that they invite us to their dinners. The Dinner last Saturday was held in the Officers Mess in Bordon Hampshire, a relatively modern, very large officers' mess building situated in beautiful rural surroundings. Would it survive the armed services cuts I wondered as I looked out of my bedroom windows at the surrounding woodlands.

It was a traditional Officers' Mess Dinner but this one was special since it was the occasion when the Regiment and the Marketors said goodbye to the Regiment's retiring Honorary Colonel, Brigadier Richard Rook. Richard has been invaluable in helping to build the relationship between 151 Regiment and the Marketors as I emphasised when I spoke after dinner. We and the Regiment welcomed at the Dinner the Regiment's new Honorary Colonel, Major General Mark Poffley. His is a huge job, as he is in charge of the whole of the UK land army and so he has what is reputed to be the busiest job in the army.

The evening progressed. The port went round, as is customary, and round, and round again. And again, then round again. I can't remember much more after that......

United Guilds Service

2011-04-06T22:50:00.004+01:00

This service is held annually and has been since 1943 when the Great Twelve Companies decided to hold a service for Livery Companies and Guilds to help raise spirits after the Blitz. The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs attended as they do to this day. It is now one of the very few events during the year at which all the Livery Companies and Guilds come together.

The procession is long and apart from the Masters of the Great Twelve Companies also includes the Masters from twelve other selected Livery Companies. The Marketors were selected and so I found myself processing up the enormous nave of St Pauls at the start of the service. The service itself was very fine although, as always, the Lessons and Sermon had great clarity whilst the huge choir, brilliant though it may be, was quite wasted due to the appalling acoustics in St Pauls. It's an extremely well known and commented on weakness and I simply dont't know why, with modern acoustic technology, they don't fix it.

In this most Protestant of churches the sermon was given by the Very Reverend John Hall, Dean of Westminster Cathedral. The occasion coincided with the 400th anniversary of the death of the poet and churchman John Donne. He was a man of great paradoxes, who grappled with intellectual paradoxes and as a metaphysical poet his work frequently contained paradoxes. A Roman Catholic he converted in 1615 and became an Anglican priest largely it has to be said because James 1st ordered it and partly for financial reasons. He went on to become the Dean of St Pauls. The sermon preached by the Dean of Westminster naturally used paradoxes as a basis for an excellent peroration.

After such spiritual refreshment we walked across the road for some corporeal refreshment at Stationers Hall where 14 Marketors sat down to a most enjoyable and paradox-free lunch.

The Lord Mayor's Dinner

2011-04-06T14:52:00.001+01:00

Every year the Lord Mayor has a Dinner for the Masters of all the Livery Companies plus wives. It was last week and needless to say Mansion House was packed out. At such events I find I can greet an increasing number of friends as I get to know more Masters of other Livery Companies. The Dinner itself, in the Egyptian Room was splendid with first class food and wine. On such an occasion the Lord Mayor is thanking, praising and encouraging the Livery (as well he might as the Livery put him in his exalted role!) Lord Mayor Michael Bear spoke eloquently but perhaps equally eloquently but a little more cogently was the response on behalf of the guests given by the Master of the Mercers. It was an outstanding speech and I have taken the liberty of writing to him to ask for a copy. All in all a delightful evening and makes one reflect upon what it means to be Master of a City Livery Company.

Bad News at Lloyds

2011-03-28T22:40:00.004+01:00

It's always bad news at Lloyds, it's what they deal in. As the world's largest insurance market they don't pay out on good news! We had such niceties and much more besides explained to us by an expert guide when 2 parties of Marketors toured the building on Friday. Designed in 1977 it looks as modern today as it did when first opened 25 years ago in 1986. The reason all the services are on the outside of the building is simply, it was explained, so that more space is available inside.A bit like the Pompidou Centre in Paris, another Richard Rogers masterpiece.

Our vist started with a thorough explanation of the history of Lloyds going back to Mr Lloyds coffee shop and on into a description of what Lloyds does. Which is everything from insuring against catastrophes and terrorism to Marine insurance, the foundation of Lloyds originally, and aviation, casualty, property, oil rigs----in fact anything anyone wants to insure including football teams in flight to overseas away games or even ballerina's legs. We then toured the building looking at the boxes from where the underwriting syndicates operate and saw the magnificent treasures presented to Lord Nelson by a grateful Lloyds for keeping the sea routes open, protected, and free for trade.

Finally we saw the famous Lutine bell recovered after the HMS Lutine sank in a heavy gale in the mouth of the Zuider Zee in 1799. It was carrying a great amount of coin and bullion and the loss was underwritten by Lloyds. This is the bell that is only rung when it's very bad news at Lloyds.

Lunch Afloat

2011-03-16T21:03:00.001Z

A fine lunch today at the Honourable Company of Master Mariners' Hall. The only one which is a ship and the only Livery Hall  in Westminster. It is still, however, justifiably a City Livery Hall since the ship's moorings are in the right place!

Welcomed on board by the Master it was gratifying to see that both the Master and the Clerk sported appropriate seafaring beards. Not perhaps in the Captain Birds Eye or John Player class but still good to see nevertheless. With drinks first on the aft deck, suitably covered and with heaters, one could admire the Thames and feel it under one's feet--it was happily not a choppy water day. The ship, whilst the home of the Master Mariners Company is also a museum,with a model room containing a priceless collection of antique model boats. It also houses an impressive library and runs educational maritime courses for children. I could have spent longer wandering around but lunch called.

At lunch I sat opposite the Clerk to the Tallow Chandlers. He told me that they had had only  two clerks (Uncle and Nephew) in 90 years up to 1979. Remarkable but financially ruinous for the Company as neither had any financial sense. Unlike our Clerk who, even with nurturing, may not last 45 years but has a great deal of financial sense. The speaker after an excellent lunch was the Deputy Master of Trinity House who spoke about the different aspects of maintaining safety and security in the seas round this island. This also includes, apparently, moving sunken wrecks where they might endanger shipping. It was a convivial lunch but in conversation it was clear that whilst the Army is suffering significant reductions in funding the Navy is being hit even harder. At least the Master Mariners will stay afloat.

Modern Livery Companies Dinner

2011-03-15T21:04:00.000Z

An enjoyable occasion twice a year is the Modern Livery Companies' Dinner-one in the Spring, one in the Autumn. A different Company hosts on each occasion. The Marketors will be hosting in Spring 2012. On these occasions Masters are allowed out without their Clerks. Enough said.

Last night the Worshipful Company of Builders Merchants were the hosts at Founders Hall. The Founders (as in Iron Founders) are an ancient Company whose history goes back into the fourteenth century and since then they have had a number of halls but the current one was built in 1987. It is contemporary but very stylish and redolent of their history. This is the Company that for centuries had control over weights and measures until well into Victoria's reign when official authorities took over responsibility for weights and measures.

Modern Companies are so called because they came into being from the twentieth century onwards. After the Fan Makers were granted their Livery in 1809 no new Companies were formed for over a 100 years until the Master Mariners in 1926. There are now 38 'Modern' Livery Companies. 20 of them sat down to dinner last night.

Sitting on the top table I found myself between the Lady Master of the Constructors, and the Upper Warden of the Chartered Architects. Both are architects and if you think economics is the 'dismal science' it has little on architectural practice in the current recessionary times. More uplifting was the after dinner speaker Alderman David Wootton. But it's tricky speaking to modern Livery Companies as only a very small number of them are directly or indirectly related to that huge engine which drives the square mile -financial services. It was clear from the questions that David Wootton fielded afterwards that modern Companies, all made up of practising members of their profession, largely non-financial, all supported the City and Mayoralty but felt a little out of the frame because of the overriding importance of financial services as the lifeblood of the City. Something on which the Livery Committee, or higher bodies, might usefully reflect. Particularly as there are more non-financial guilds now moving up to modern Livery status.

The Second Day of Lent

2011-03-11T21:26:00.000Z

The second day of lent was last Thursday and whilst Lent is supposed to be a time of fasting and self denial I confess that on that evening I was eating handsomely as a guest of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisors at Stationers Hall. They are the nice people who, hopefully, one can turn to to mitigate the predations of HMRC. Getting money back from the Revenue by way of a refund is of course always joyous until you realise it's not a windfall it's your own money you're getting back. Maybe getting money back influenced the design of the Master's badge, pictured below, which shows money tumbling out of a bag, perhaps towards a happy recipient.

It was a very full hall with many Masters and other dignitaries all of whom, over 20 in number, the Middle Warden managed to mention individually in a welcome to the guests, in probably not more than 5 minutes. A tour de force I thought. It was to a degree a female centric event as the Master is a Lady and the Guest Speaker was Dame Barbara Mills QC, probably best known for having been in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service as part of a glittering career. The speeches by both were engaging and thoughtful but I was somewhat stunned to hear expressed the aphorism 'taxation is a matter of law not of morality'. Indeed taxation is a matter of law and there is a clear line between avoidance and evasion. But the suggestion that taxation legislation is completely devoid of any moral dimension is at best disheartening. Admittedly the law makers in Parliament are sullied by the expenses scandal of last year but to suggest that they have no moral compass when making taxation law is a lowering thought.

However on a happier note I leave you with my favourite taxation quotation which should become the recruitment roll call of what is, to us lesser mortals, an arcane profession:

    'The avoidance of taxation is the only intellectual pursuit that still carries any reward'
                                                                                                          John Maynard Keynes

Third Time Lucky

2011-03-10T11:38:00.001Z

I don't know if there is an International Men's Day but Tuesday was International Women's Day. Somewhat over-shadowed by it also being Pancake Day, or more correctly Shrove
Tuesday.

In 2004 the Poulters Company inaugurated the annual Inter-Livery pancake race which takes place in Guildhall Yard. Each team comprises four entrants--Master; Liveryman; Lady; and Novelty. There are many heats and a final in each category.Traditionally the Gunmakers start each heat and the finals with a bang; the Clockmakers are responsible for the accuracy of the timing; the Glovers provide the white gloves which all competitors must wear; the Musicians sing a specially composed pancake song and the Poulters provide the essential pancake ingredients: the eggs. All competitors must wear a special hat which must not fall off.

The Marketors have a good history in this classically eccentric event with PM Peter Goudge two years ago winning the Wooden Spoon race (not for loser but for Companies who could not get into the main event). Last year Liveryman Simon Campbell-Davies won the Liveryman's race and by great good fortune I was able to make it third time lucky wining this year's Masters' race.

Vociferous support was provided by a band of valiant supporters urging their representatives on. Afterwards there was a delicious buffet lunch and wine in the Guildhall Crypt. We now have an engraved winner's copper fying pan in our office in Plaisterer's Hall. If you want to see how the race was won see below!

A Company with a history

2011-03-03T19:43:00.000Z

If you want to know anything about Snaffles, Pelhams,Curbs, Lip Straps, Gags, Bits or Bitting then the Loriners are your people. There is nothing they don't know about such things and more besides in the world of essential equinine accoutrements. If you have been going long enough you do have a lot of accumulated wisdom. Last night was a major celebration of the Loriners' 750th anniversary. A prodigously old Company with its Ordinances originally granted in 1261. A wonderful service was held in St Pauls, it was that ancient English blending of Compline and Vespers which we call Evensong. The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs with their spouses were there as were the Masters and Clerks of 102 other Livery Companies and a great number of other people. We made a considerable sight proccessing in.

Flicking through the Order of service, as one does, I could see we were due a sermon from the Bishop of London. What on earth, I wondered do you preach on such an occasion. The Bishop took as his theme some of the thoughts of the thirteenth century religious philosopher Thomas Aquinas, the man who tried to square the circle of reason on one hand and faith on the other. I thought he would use one of Thomas Aquinas's famous dictums :'Nothing is, everything is in a state of becoming' (becoming something else that is). It's a simple but profound sentiment well suited to the occasion I thought. But no, the Bishop launched into the three cardinal aspects of man defined by Aquinas : his appetites; his rational self and his spiritual self. These in turn, he explained, needed respectively temperance, prudence and courage. Then came the analogy--these three virtues, just mentioned, should discipline a man's life in the same way that the Loriners products disciplined a horse and enabled the correct direction to be taken. Smooth.

After St Pauls we all went to Stationers Hall for a drinks reception which with 450 people there was very much standing room only.It was rather like being in a theatre crush bar. Which was a great pity since the Master Loriner during the Reception spoke for a few moments and then gave out Awards to the total of £80,000. But so great was the general hub-bub and press of people such munificence was not adequately recognised in my view.
It's nice as a speaker however to be able to say that the Company greatly looks forward to 2061!

Marketor's Outreach Goes 'Techno'

2011-03-01T22:58:00.000Z

Last year the Marketors delivered over £420,000 worth of pro bono marketing support and advice to many charities, Educational Organisations and other Livery Companies-as part of our Outreach programme.

One such ongoing project is at Hammersmith Academy, a new school opening in September 2011, jointly funded by the Mercers Company and the Information Technologists (it's a strongly digital based Academy).

A number of Marketors have been involved in the school's marketing and communication plans. The following video, designed for a youth market, has sound and vision composed and produced by Court Assistant Peter Rees. It announces a video competition with a number of digital video cameras to be won.

Open to all who will be 18 or under on September 1st 2011, it is designed to raise the profile of the school and drive student applicants from the borough.

See the video below--a real example combining the 'ancient and modern' values of the Livery movement

Or for more information visit http://ow.ly/41eyV

Reflections of a former Cabinet Secretary

2011-03-01T19:27:00.001Z

The annual lecture of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Adminstrators, The Rivers Lecture, was held last night in the magnificent opulence of Drapers Hall. It was a quite excellent occasion.

It was excellent for a number of reasons : a wonderful environment, a brilliant speaker and a very good buffet to finish. Principally however it was the speaker who made the evening : Lord Richard Wilson of Dinton.

Lord Wilson is a distingushed Civil Servant and an Honorary Freeman of the Company. He entered the Civil Service in 1966 and held progressively more senior positions until he rose to become Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service. Such a career, dealing with Cabinet Ministers and P.Ms Thatcher, Major and Blair provides a rich vein of stories. And did we get them. Not just fascinating insights into the top level of politics and the characters who inhabit that level but jokes and anecdotes galore. To use a vulgar phrase it is true to say he had the audience 'rolling in the aisles'. This man is wasted he could easily be a stand up comedian at the Comedy Store.

And then into dinner. I was seated in the Court dining room which is every bit as grand as the other roms at Drapers Hall. I couldn't help noticing a beautiful fresco on the ceiling of Jason holding aloft the golden fleece whilst his helpmate and wife, Medea, simperingly clings adoringly to him. Here is a small part of the fresco.

Yes, I know, it looks like a dead dog. Why the Drapers would want this picture on the ceiling of their Court dining room who knows, not least because the lower part of the fresco, sadly not shown here, features the obligatory recling nude lady--very undraped I'd say.

A Memorable Museum

2011-02-28T14:41:00.000Z

Last Saturday saw a fine body of Marketors assembled for a memorable private tour of the London Museum. This is the world's largest urban history museum with over 1.1 million exhibits

The Roman Gallery

The Museum has been completely redesigned and extended and now has nine galleries of which five were opened in the summer last year. With only a morning available we did not see all 1.1 millon exhibits! But split into two groups with a guide each we were taken to see hand picked exhibits beginning with London before London; then Roman London, Medieval London; through the plague and great fire of London on through the expansion of the City in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries until we reached Victorian London and then from the turn of the last Century up to today. An absolutely fascinating tour leaving everyone wanting more.

In traditional style we then repaired for sustenance after such an arduous morning. A private area had been reserved for us in the Concerto Restaurant within the new New Exchange complex round the corner from the Museum, where a splendid lunch was consumed leaving those free for some retail therapy to explore the rest of New Change.