News Archive

Thursday 27 January 2011- RAF Letters of Association signed

It was very much a Royal Air Force occasion at the Court meeting and luncheon on Thursday 27th January 2011.  The principal guest and speaker at the luncheon was Air Marshal (retd) Ian Macfadyen CB OBE, now Constable of Windsor Castle.  At the Court meeting before lunch:

Air Commodore Colin Smith, Assistant Chief of Staff A1 at Headquarters Air Command, was admitted as the new Honorary Freeman (RAF) vice Air Commodore Nigel Beet OBE; and

Thursday 16 December 2010 - Ambush Launch

The Master and Mrs. Cherry Jackson, Senior Warden Ian Richardson, Liverymen John Galpin and Christopher Hallam, and the Clerk, Colonel Mike Dudding, attended the launch of HMS AMBUSH, the Royal Navy's latest nuclear-propelled submarine of the Astute class. A formal affiliation between the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators was approved earlier in 2010. 

Following the launch ceremony in Barrow-in-Furness, presentations were made including a WCCSA plaque, which will be followed in due course by a more substantial object, yet to be decided upon. The Company wishes HMS AMBUSH and all who serve in her the best of luck in the years ahead.

28 September 2010 - Sheriffs

On 28 September 2010 Alderman Fiona Woolf CBE and Mr. Richard Sermon MBE were admitted to the office of Sheriff of the City of London by the Lord Mayor. The public ceremony took place in Guildhall, and was followed at 1.15pm by the Sheriffs' Breakfast (a name that no doubt dates back several hundred years for what is nowadays a formal luncheon) in Drapers' Hall attended by some 260 prominent members of the "City Civic".  Richard Sermon is a Past Master of The Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, and a significant number of Liverymen of the Company were present at the two functions.  The photograph shows Mr. Robin Eve OBE, Deputy (Master Chartered Secretary and Administrator) and Sheriff Richard Sermon.

For more information about the City of London Corporation and the office of Sheriff see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

5 August 2010 - Daphne Durban Award

On 5 August the Master presented the Daphne Durban award to the RN (Fleet Air Arm) officer who was the best Military Aviation Studies Degree Student in 2009/10 - Lieutenant Mark Gilbert RN. The presentation was made as part of the annual Wings Parade at the Royal Naval Air Station, Culdrose, near Redruth.

Pictured l-r: Mrs Sue Thornton (daughter of Daphne and Past Master Donald Durban), the Master, Lt Mark Gilbert RN, Mr David Durban (son of the above).

29 July 2010 - Royal Charter Luncheon

134 Liverymen and guests attended a luncheon at Fishmongers' Hall to mark the anniversary of the Company's Royal Charter. Two presentations were made to the Master, the first announced by the Clerk:

'On this day exactly four years ago, Liveryman Stuart Carmichael and Miss Elizabeth Scott were due to be married. Many guests had arrived at their hotel the night before. In the morning it was discovered that Stuart had died during the night. In his will he left £5,000 to the Company to be spent on a piece of silver.
'It so happened that we already had a design for a silver candelabra, commissioned by Founder Master John Wedgwood. But he had he died in 2004, before the piece could be made. Its cost in 2009 was found to exceed the £5,000 left to us by Liveryman Carmichael, and the balance was made up in equal measures by former Court Assistant Richard Pugh to mark his standing down from the Court, Mrs. Jeanette Wedgwood (who died in January this year) and Miss Scott.
'Today we are privileged to have lunching with us Richard Pugh, John Wedgwood’s son David and Elizabeth Scott. The candelabra has been completed and it is engraved with the names of Stuart, John, Richard and Elizabeth. Master, with your permission, Elizabeth will now present it to the Company.'

The second presentation was made by Mr. Ian Richardson, Chairman of the Charitable Trustees, who presented the Trust's donation to the Master's charity, the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

L-R The Chief Commoner Mr Robin Sherlock, Deputy; Mrs Ann Eve, The Master, Mrs Caroline Sherlock.

12 July 2010 - visit to HMS Richmond

The Master and a number of Liverymen were the guests of Lt Cdr Andy Wagstaff RN on a visit to HMS Richmond, a type 23 frigate, in the pool of London. A donation was made by those attending to the Royal Naval Benevolent Trust.

The previous evening the Master and Clerk had been guests of Rear Admiral David Steel CBE, Chief Naval Logistics Officer RN aboard HMS Collingwood in Gosport; the First Sea Lord was the principal guest.

The Company has an affiliation with the Logistics Branch of the Royal Navy.

Derek Bartlett, the Clerk, the Beadle, Mrs Erica Lee, Lt Cdr Andy Wagstaff, and the Master aboard HMS Richmond.

24 June 2010 - Common Hall Election of Sheriffs

On Thursday, 24th June 2010 Past Master Richard Sermon MBE was elected as a Sheriff of the City of London for the ensuing year (starting at the end of September 2010).  He qualified as a Chartered Secretary in 1972 and joined The Chartered Secretaries and Administrators’ Company in 1977 when it was founded.  He had earlier become a Liveryman of the Wheelwrights’ Company.  He joined the Court of The Chartered Secretaries and Administrators’ Company in July 1991 and served as Master in 2006/07.

Commenting on his election Richard said “To be elected to serve the ancient office of Sheriff is an enormous privilege and I look forward to working with the Lord Mayor to promote and protect the interests of the City. Integrity and trust are crucial to our long term competitiveness – never has the motto of The Chartered Secretaries and Administrators’ Company ‘Service with Integrity’ been more critical to success.”

The office of Sheriff of the City of London dates back to the Anglo-Saxon Laws of the 7th century.  After 1066 the Sheriffs exercised the King’s authority over the citizens, and they still maintain links with the judiciary.  Today the two Sheriffs of the City are elected annually by the members of the several Livery Companies of the City on Mid-summer’s Day.   They serve for one year and perform duties at the Central Criminal Court and in support of the Lord Mayor.  With the Lord Mayor, they take part in many civic functions within the City, some of which are very colourful, and enjoy enormous prestige.

Richard Sermon MBE

12 June 2010 - Queen's Birthday Honours

Mr Robin Eve (Master 2009-2010) was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the City of London Corporation.

February 2010 - Liverymen sponsor teams from Rokeby School in City Dip

Eleven boys from Rokeby School raised over £500 for the Lord Mayor's Appeal in a sponsored swim in the City. The two teams each swam 5,000 metres to raise funds for the Appeal which this year supports Pitch Perfect, a joint initiative of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Cricket Foundation to encourage young musicians and cricketers from London's most challenged boroughs. The boys and their sports teacher, Martyn White, were thanked personally by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Nick Anstee, who himself swam the first 1,000 metres. The sponsorship for the Rokeby teams came from members of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, which has had a long association with the school.

Air Commodore Nigel Beet OBE,
Liveryman Air Vice-Marshal Andy Burton OBE,
Sergeant Donny Reynolds,
The Master, Past Master Richard Sermon MBE.

Sir Michael Snyder, Deputy with the Master, Wardens, and Clerk.