Dearest Gentle Reader*, 

Welcome to the latest edition of the Company newsletter, just in time for the summer break. There are no recent admissions to report, but there is plenty of news. In this edition you can read about: the Summer Celebration, the Armed Forces Covenant, two articles on Ethics, the new Fellowship Forum, and a new social media channel. The centrepiece of this edition is an update on governance, as promised. Enjoy!

Summer Celebration

After the long hot summer (so far), the sunshine continued for one of the most enjoyable events in our Company calendar — the Summer Celebration! This was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the warmth of good company, great conversation, and genuine fellowship with members and their guests before the quieter weeks of August draw in.

Around 60 members and guests gathered at HMS President (“a stone ship”) on the Thames in Wapping, with a superb view of Tower Bridge. The evening began with a Piper — not the Master this time — pictured in the left hand column.

Our honoured guest was Hon. Col. Gary Langley, Mayoral Consort, who spoke briefly about his time as a Management Consultant with Price Waterhouse in the 1990s at No.1 London Bridge, where he met the Lady Lord Mayor, Dame Susan Langley. Gary made two presentations on behalf of the Lady Mayor: a silver spoon to our Clerk, Julie Fox, and a very special paperweight for the Master.

The weather was kind, the food was good, and after a champagne reception there was a variety of wine available, comprising end of line stocks from our Company wine cellar. Past Master Patrick Chapman was finally able to present the Matheson Cup to this year’s winner, Mark Collins, who was unable to receive it at the Charities Supper in February. Congratulations to Mark, whose pro bono case study featured in the last Get to Know Philanthropy newsletter.
The Master asked me, as Chair of the Charitable Fund, to say a few words about our work. I was able to reference both the Sea Cadets, whom we support regularly, and World Heart Beat, whom we have supported in the past and who provided a fantastic jazz backdrop to the evening. It was great to see and hear them again.

It was a splendid evening for socialising, networking, chatting, and indeed gossiping. There was plenty of gossip, in fact — and I had better stop there before I turn into Lady Whistledown*.
Special thanks to all those involved in planning and organising the excellent event, especially our Clerk Julie Fox and Assistant Clerk Walter Gill.

Armed Forces Covenant 

Discussions about our Company signing up to the Armed Forces Covenant have been ongoing since I was Master in 2021. Finally — thanks mainly to the efforts of Immediate Past Master Andy Miles — the Covenant was signed on HMS President during the Summer Celebration on 22 July.

The London Livery Companies’ Armed Forces Covenant is a collective commitment made by many of the City’s historic guilds and modern professional companies to support the UK’s Armed Forces community: serving personnel, reservists, veterans, and their families. It formalises a relationship that has existed for centuries, through long standing affiliations with ships, regiments, squadrons, and military establishments.

For Livery Companies, signing the Covenant typically includes commitments to:
•    Support serving personnel, reservists, veterans, and military families.
•    Offer flexibility for employees who serve as reservists.
•    Recognise military excellence through awards and professional development.
•    Maintain and strengthen affiliations with military units.
•    Provide charitable support to serving and retired personnel.
•    Promote understanding of the Armed Forces within the Company and the wider City.

A record number of City Livery Companies have recently signed the Covenant. The City’s deep and enduring relationship with the Crown’s Armed Forces remains strong in the twenty first century.
A short ceremony was held at the start of the Summer Celebration. The Master welcomed guests from the Armed Services and highlighted members who had served in the military — great to see them wearing their medals.

Immediate Past Master Andy Miles and Master Malcolm McCaig signed on behalf of the Company, and Hon. Col. Gary Langley, Mayoral Consort, signed on behalf of the Services, together with Commander James Nisbet, Head of London Area Sea Cadets. 

The signing ceremony was overseen by an honour guard from the Sea Cadets at Feltham.

Update on Governance

Regular readers will know that we occasionally publish updates from the various Committees active in the Company. There have been none recently because of changes to our governance arrangements over the past year. This article brings you up to date.

Strategic Review
The first major review was a complete refresh of the Company’s strategy. Commissioned by PM Chris Sutton, led by Collette Stone and Geoff Berridge, and signed off by the Court in December 2023, it identified three key themes:
•    increasing the Company’s influence in the City and the management consulting profession;
•    improving long term financial sustainability;
•    enhancing inclusion in how we attract and engage members.

Governance Review
The second review examined governance arrangements to better support implementation of the refreshed strategy. Commissioned by IPM Andy Miles, led by Ian White and PM Patrick Chapman, it was presented to the Court in September 2025.

Implementation during Master Malcolm McCaig’s year has not been as smooth as everyone would have wished, but most changes are now in place and we are in the “tidy up” phase. First Warden Collette Stone provides a summary of the revised arrangements.

Court and Executive Structure
The Court of Assistants (“the Court”) is the uppermost decision making body. Reporting to it is the Court of Wardens (Master, IPM, and Wardens). Together with the Treasurer, Clerk’s Office, and Committee Chairs, they form the executive team known as Finance & General Purposes.
Two significant changes support the strategy refresh:
•    increased attention on Company finances;
•    tighter oversight of committee performance and delivery against strategy.

Principal Committees
There are four principal committees: Membership, Fellowship, Pro Bono, and Education.
Membership Committee
Responsible for identifying and recruiting new members, raising awareness, managing the pipeline, vetting candidates, and working with the Clerk’s Office on admissions. Their remit now includes Junior Freemen, Corporate members, Honorary members, Companion members, and progression from Freeman to Liveryman. Chair: CA Leon McPherson.
Fellowship Committee
A new committee focused on member engagement, retention, and the value proposition of membership. It includes Chairs of the other principal committees and the Events Coordinator (Lin Wong), who manages the consolidated calendar. It oversees the buddy system (led by Olga Croft) and works closely with the Wine Committee on events. Chair: Master Malcolm McCaig (with CA John Blackburn to take over in due course).
Pro Bono Committee
Responsible for pro bono consulting work and skills training (e.g., mentoring). It operates as a small consulting company delivering the fee equivalent of £1m annually. Key measures include number of engagements, quality of introducer channels, and consulting days delivered. Chair: CA Steve Mayhew (recently succeeding PM Patrick Chapman).
Education Committee
Promotes educational endeavours, including the annual lecture and supper, oversight of CMCE, and participation in wider livery initiatives such as the Sheriff’s Challenge and Livery Schools Link. Chair: CA Nick Bush. Director of CMCE: 2W Jim Foster.
Supplementary Committees
•    Governance Committee retained, responsible for rules, terms of reference, and governance calendar.
•    Company Livery Committee stood down; responsibilities moved to the Clerk’s Office.
•    Nominations Committee reinstated, ensuring a suitable pool of candidates for succession.
•    Livery Impact Committee replacing Livery Links, aligned to increasing influence in the City and profession; launching in September.
•    Wine Committee now responsible for preparing wine accounts for journal posting.
•    MarComms continues under PM Steve Cant, supporting marketing and communications.

(Ed: We hope to do a deeper dive into each of the main Committees over the next year. A start has been made below with Social Media.)

Business Ethics

On Tuesday 30 June 2026, several members — including Jim Foster, Olga Croft, Nick Bush, and your editor — attended the Financial Services Group (FSG) of Livery Companies for an evening of insight and networking. The event was hosted by AutogenAI at their Pentonville Road offices.

The keynote speaker was Pablo Lloyd OBE, drawing on his recently published Financial Times Guide to Business Ethics. The book and its toolkits are based on interviews with 50 leaders and founders across sectors, plus 400 reference materials. Members of the FSG community — particularly Entrepreneurs and Chartered Secretaries — were among the contributors, including Veronica Heaven (CEO, The Heaven Company) as a panellist alongside Lauren Branston (CEO, Institute for Business Ethics) and Peter Cheese (CEO, CIPD). Mark Huxley, Chair of the DSG, introduced proceedings and chaired the panel.

Pablo shared insights about leadership, culture, regulation, and the deeper roots of ethics in moral philosophy and psychology. A key takeaway: individuals rarely set out to be unethical, but organisational cultures can allow or even promote unethical behaviours.

A thought provoking and enjoyable evening — and then, just two days later…

Urwick Lecture 2026

On 2 July at 09:00 on Zoom, this year’s Urwick Lecture was delivered by Alan Blackman, Associate Professor at Griffith Business School in Brisbane. He issued a compelling call for the consulting profession to confront an escalating ethical crisis.

Against a backdrop of rapid technological change and declining trust in institutions, Alan reminded us that consulting is built on a single fragile asset: trust. Knowledge, skill, insight, and objectivity form the profession’s pillars, but ethics is the foundation.

He explored consequentialism and deontology, showing how they shape real world decision making. He examined recent high profile failures — Enron, the opioid crisis, breaches of confidentiality in Australia and the UK — revealing a troubling pattern: commercial pressure overriding professional duty, weak independence, and cultures rewarding revenue over integrity.

Consequences are severe: careers end, firms collapse, clients suffer, and public confidence erodes. Governments also bear responsibility for over reliance on consultants without adequate oversight.
Alan called for mandatory registration, universal membership of recognised institutes, and stronger enforcement of standards. He believes consulting can become a fully regulated, trusted, ethically grounded profession within a decade.

His closing challenge was simple: ethics must be the consultant’s moral compass.

Fellowship Forum

On 28 July, the Fellowship Committee introduced something new: The Fellowship Forum, an online community space for members. The intention is to help members catch up with existing friendships, create new bonds, and learn more about the Company’s history and plans.

The inaugural Forum was moderated by Freeman Amarjeet Hans, who has recently joined the Company. Amarjeet has led a similar forum for five years at AICPA/CIMA, where it has grown into a thriving community with several subgroups. We are adopting that successful model.

Amarjeet explains: “One of the greatest strengths of our Company lies in the depth of experience and genuine camaraderie across our membership. We want to create more opportunities for Members to enjoy it and benefit from it.”

Around 20 members joined the inaugural launch. For 90 minutes we enjoyed a free flowing conversation ranging from discovering a plethora of PwC alumni to the idea of forming our very own WCoMC rock band. It was an evening filled with laughter and fellowship.

If you could not join, don’t worry — the next Forum will be on 25 August 2026, anytime between 7pm and 9pm. Details to follow.

And Finally ... Social Media News 

Our LinkedIn account continues to grow strongly. We have added around 300 followers each year for the past five years. There is scope to do more with this channel, and we hope the incoming Master and Wardens will generate content.

Meanwhile, hot news: the rumours are true — we now have an Instagram account, offering a fresh, visual window into Company life. You can follow us by searching:

worshipfulcompanyofmanagementconsultants

Go on — follow us from day one!

---000---

Dearest Gentle Reader*, thank you for reading this far. Many thanks to all who contributed to this edition, especially the Master, to Mark Fox for the excellent photos, and special thanks to two relatively new Freemen for “getting stuff done”: 

• Belinda Brown, for setting up the Instagram account
• Amarjeet Hans, for launching the Fellowship Forum

Yes, your editor has been watching Bridgerton. Enjoy the summer break!

Steve Cant - Editor