The year as a Master Entrepreneur

Last event of my Master's year, where I handed over to Judy Hadden.

The Master Salter, Timandra Nichols, very kindly invited me to an excellent dinner at Salters' Hall.

Very interesting speech and silver exhibition at Clothworkers' Hall.

Wonderful dinner at Mansion House with the Coopers Livery Company.

As part of the Lord Mayor's and Sheriffs' Committee, I had the pleasure to walk the Lord Speaker and the late Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress to be presented to the new Lord Mayor.

I had the pleasure of walking the outwards route with the Wardens of the Company of Entrepreneurs.

An evening service of thanksgiving in St Vedast-alias-Foster.

Livery companies linked to the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs presented gifts.

Traditional service to install the next Lord Mayor, Vincent Keaveny.

Lecture on Globalisation, with seven schools contributing to the discussion.

The Horners' Annual Ralph Anderson Memorial Lecture was held on the topic of plastic-eating enzymes. Very interesting lecture.

A very moving reception at Mansion House, hosted by the Lord Mayor William Russell and Lady Mayoress Hilary Russell.

Wonderful dinner at Goldsmith's Hall, with Master Clockmaker Mark Levy and Consort Wendy Levy.

As part of the Lord Mayor and Sheriff's Committee, I was asked to attend the Lighting up dinner.

Dinner at Goldsmith's Hall for the installation of the new Master World Trader, Mary Hardy.

Reception at Guildhall for the retirement of David Parrott from St Lawrence Jewry.

World Traders lunch at Bleeding Heart Tavern to remember our foundation.

Rowan Jackson, Freeman Entrepreneur, spoke to London Business School students about "getting the right people on the bus".

Upholders Dinner at Mansion House.

Talk to students at University of Westminster's Venture Creation course.

Launch event on Zoom.

Meeting followed by lunch at Home Grown.

Dinner with the Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights at Apothecaries Hall, as guests of the Master, David Mortlock.

The ancient ceremony of Quit Rents at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Dinner at Saddlers Hall organised by the Guild of Human Resource Professionals.

Visit to the College of Arms.

First lunch with the 20/21 Past Master Association, the Unmuteables.

Marketors Dinner at Haberdashers' Hall

Visit to RAF Brize Norton to meet the RAF Mobility Force.

Lecture on murders in medieval London by Manuel Eisner.

Presentation to Entrepreneurs by Rathbones on Financial Awarenes.

Alderman Vincent Keaveny was elected to serve as Lord Mayor from November 2021.

Admission of Sheriffs followed by lunch in Guildhall.

Dinner at the National Liberal Club organised by the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters on Glass.

Church service and dinner organised by the Worshipful Company of Educators.

Presentation of Chain and Badge to Alison Gowman at Plaisterers Hall.

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do.

Lunch at Regents Park Barracks, organised by the Worshipful Company of Carmen.

Webminar featuring Annilese Miskimmonur, organised by the Needlemakers.

Participated in the launch of the City Giving Day with the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen and Masters.

As the Election Agent and Hon. Secretary to Nicholas Lyons' Chain Appeal, it was great to see so many people at his presentation.

We had numerous activities around London for my Master's Weekend.

Alderman and Sheriff-Elect Nicholas Lyons very kindly invted Jenifer and me to the Sheriff's Ball.

It was great to see so many friends at the garden of St Margaret Lothbury.

Having joined the Guild of Freemen some time ago, it was great to be formally admitted by Master Ann-Marie Jefferies.

Dinner at Butchers' Hall organised by the Tax Advisers.

We were happy to host Sir Charles Bowman, the former Lord Mayor, at our first white tie dinner in a long time.

Great visit to Blue Bear Drones.

Delightful lunch hosted by Master Baker Christopher Freeman

Monty and his dog gave a tour of Aphotecaries Hall to a group of Entrepreneurs.

First dinner at Mansion House since reopening

Aldermen Nicholas Lyons and Alison Gowman were elected to become the next Sheriffs. I am honoured to be the Election Agent and Hon Secretary for Alderman and Sheriff-Elect Nicholas Lyons.

Sheriff Chris Hayward told us about the re-opening of the City, at a lunch at Leander Club.

The Lord Mayor presided over a meeting of 20/21 Masters, and we decided to form a Past Masters Association named Unmuteables. I was honoured to be elected Chairman of the Committee for the PMA.

Interesting talk on the history of "Gresham's Bourse" that became the Royal Exchange. The talk was done by the very knowedgeable Peter Cave, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers and a Consort Glover.

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do.

Brief Extraordinary meeting for Broad Street Ward Club to extend the time to have a proper AGM.

Informal drinks with 20/21 Masters, on the day we were supposed to be at Mansion House.

Sheriff Chris Hayward kindly spoke to Freemen of the Company of Entrepreneurs and Home Grown members about the Corporation of London, the City and the support for entrepreneurs.

Supper for Masters and Consorts organised by the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists

The Worshipful Company of Security Professionals held their annual lecture online this year.

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do.

Company of Entrepreneurs Virtual Magic Show with Guy Park.

Updated the Magistracy Sub-Committee on the progress of the Company of Entrepreneurs

Interesting talk on Samuel Pepys and 17th century London.

In the Ask an Entrepreneur series, in collaboration with London Business School and the Company of Entrepreneurs, Rita Bologna gave us an interesting talk about how to cold call and hustle.

The Worshipful Company of World Traders ran their annual Tacitus lecture virtually.

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do.

The City Consorts organised a knowledgeable and interesting tour of the Clockmakers Museum, located in the Science Museum, by the Curator.

Fun event organised by City Consort, where we had to look for treasure around our own house. Very entertaining.

Andrew Marsden very kindly talked about the history of the City and the livery to the Company of Entrepreneurs. The talk was very interesting, and helped us all better understand the livery.

The RAF Air Mobility Force is the newest affiliation of the Company of Entrepreneurs. Thank you to Air Commodore Manning ("Manners") for telling us about the AMF. We are very much looking forward to visiting in person in the future.

Interesting overview of how schools can work together.

Guided tour of the beautiful stained glass windows of the City, organised by Michael Dalton, the Master of The Worshipful Company of Glaziers & Painters of Glass. Very interesting.

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do.

Spoke to students of the University of Westminster about dealing with failure.

The Lord Mayor launched the Culture & Commerce report for the City. You can read about it here

Podcast coming soon.

Alderman Alison Gowman gave us a very interesting insight in the life of an Alderman, as well as her journey.

The Lord Mayor, Mark Carney, Liv Garfield and Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE highlighted the Green Finance projects and aims for the City of London.

Interesting Q & A with selected speakers around the topics of woodlands and farming.

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do.

Air Commodore Holmes and Past Master Hon Group Captain Peter Hewitt organised an interesting breakfast briefing for the Freemen of the Company of Entrepreneurs.

The outreach partners of the Company of Entrepreneurs presented what they do. We saw presentations from a number of brilliant organisations that work with the Company of Entrepreneurs. Watch the full Make an Impact 2021 video here

Thank you to the participants
Irene Brew-Riverson, Westminster Business School
Claud Williams, Birkbeck
Rubina Kalra, London Business School
Aimee Bryan, Crisis venture studios
Bayo Adelaja, Do it now now
Alderman Alastair King, Samuel Wilson Loan Trust
Pervin Todiwala, Honorary Dame d’ Escoffier of the Les Dames d’Escoffier

Interesting event with City Consorts, looking at the silver treasures of the Chartered Accountants Livery Company.

Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL and the great charity Learning for Life UK organised a "Cook Along with Cyrus" event, with all proceeds going to benefit the work of Learning for Life UK. The event raised nearly £3000 which Learning for Life will use to support the floating schools in Bangladesh and Dan's school in Nepal. We cooked Eggs Kejriwal and Easy peasy chili chicken.

Livery Masters, Prime Wardens and Masters-Elect met online to talk about events in 2021, at a seminar titled "Will we meet again in 2021?".

Thank you to the speakers
Lord Mayor Alderman William Russell
Col Richard Winstanley OBE, Clerk to the Drapers Company
Mark Grove, Founder Cook & Butler catering company
Alan Simpson, IT/Zoom guru from Information Technologists

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do.

The Company of Entrepreneurs support the hospitality sector in the City, in wider London and beyond. As part of this support, we hosted a roundtable with people from the hospitality industry, specifically to talk about the upcoming 11 January discussion in Parliament about the need for a Minister for Hospitality. This discussion was brought on by a petition garnering more than 200,000 signatures.

Thank you to the participants
Jon Hammond, Chair
Kate Nichols OBE, CEO UK Hospitality
Claire Bosi, Editor and Founder Chef and Restaurant Magazine London & New York, also instigator of the petition
Tony Matharu, Founder and Chair of Blue Orchid Hotel Group and Integrity International Group and co-founder of Central London Alliance
Andrew Richardson, MD Home Grown Private Members Clubs
Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL, Celebrity Chef, Deputy Lieutenant of London and Proprietor of Café Spice Namaste and other establishments
Pervin Todiwala, Honorary Dame d’ Escoffier of the Les Dames d’Escoffier

Sir David Wootton, Master Woolman, kindly invited a number of Entrepreneurs to join the Woolmen in a cheese tasting. Rennet & Rind provided 5 excellent cheese samples for us, Evenlode, Stithians, Rachel, Ducketts and Sparkenhoe Blue. Perry from Rennet & Rind gave us interesting explanations of each cheese, and ably answered all questions. As part of the chat, we even learned that there was a Worshipful Company of Cheesemakers that received their Charter in the 17th Century. The two clerks, both Duncans, finished the evening by sending us off into breakout rooms. A huge thanks to the Woolmen for a great evening!

Wendy Shorter-Blake, Master Upholder, very kindly invited me to join their gin tasting with Hayman's gin. We tried London Dry gin, Old Tom and Sloe Gin, very ably led by the Hayman's team. Thank you!

A number Masters and Masters-Elect met by Zoom to chat and to raise a glass to a better year in 2021.

Click here to listen to the podcast on Soundcloud. Thanks to Junior Warden Mark Huxley for doing the interviewing as well as all the technical work to make this happen.

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do. It was great to see Rita, one of our newest Freemen, join our zoom.

Mad bingo evening with a mix of Basketmakers and Entrepreneurs, that saw Judy, the Senior Warden Entrepreneurs and I balance After Eight on our noses (amongst other hilarity). Roger, the Senior Warden Basketmakers, was a brilliant Bingo host, teaching us all the bingo lingo. Thanks to all who participated.

Very enjoyable virtual dinner with the Clockmakers, full of horological fun. Thank you to Master Joanna (Lady White) and Clerk Camilla Szymanowska. It is not every day you meet a Turret Clockologist!

Regular informal drinks for Company of Entrepreneurs Freemen, friends and people interested in what we do.

Virtual briefing by the Lord Mayor Alderman William Russell, Chair of the Pan-Livery Committee Alderman Charles Bowman and Chair of the Livery Committee Victoria Russell.

A wonderful event where I was honoured to be installed as the 7th Master of the Company of Entrepreneurs in the City of London, supported by the Lord Mayor and Alderman and Sheriff Professor Michael Mainelli. Thank you to all who made this possible. You can find the link to the Youtube prerecorded Installation Ceremony here.