NL July 2021

Our Master's Voice

After many months down in Cornwall, I am spending increasing periods back in London.  This will be my penultimate contribution to OMV and I write it in the afterglow of our Summer Celebration on 27th July. It was simply lovely to meet and catch up with so many Members and spouses. Somehow people look different in the flesh now, compared with the image one has from innumerable zoom calls. We have all grown, in one way or another(!), through this pandemic experience.
Obviously, this was the first time that we could get together for about 18 months. About 60 people attended, including five new Members with their friends and family, two existing Freemen being clothed, one Junior Freeman and one re-admission, and the Sea Cadets’ recipient of the Satjit Cup. (See the full report elsewhere in this newsletter). The Ceremonial Court was consequently the longest in recent memory, but we were catching up after lockdown. Nevertheless, I believe it was a memorable occasion for everyone involved.  (Ed: The synchronised oath taking of the five new Freemen was impressive!).  
Outside for the celebration, the weather was kind, and the air was warm as we enjoyed an excellent buffet in the Tallow Chandlers' Courtyard. What a way to catch up and meet new people, including prospective Members.  Each family group went home with a souvenir from Cornwall provided by the Pulfords: traditional Cornish Saffron cake and buns.

In the February 21 Newsletter we reported that IPM Denise Fellows had been nominated on behalf of the Company for a Lord Mayor’s COVID Award. I am pleased to report that Denise has indeed received it at a Mansion House event where she was presented with a certificate by Alderman William Russell, The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor. Congratulations to Denise and thanks again to her for steering us through the early stages of the pandemic back in 2020.  Denise was not the only Management Consultant to receive an award. Past Master Mike Jeans MBE was nominated by the Haberdashers (of which he is also a past master) for fundraising for the Imperial Health Charity at St Mary’s Paddington. 
This is quite a packed newsletter as we prepare for our summer recess. Look out a couple of voluntary roles that may be of interest. 
I do hope that you and yours can enjoy some of our restored freedoms during our summer break. I look forward to seeing you at our Annual Church Service and Reception on 16 September.

Move of the Company’s Office

Many of you will know that the Company has had an office in Skinners’ Hall for a number of years, which has provided a City of London base for our Clerk and Assistant Clerk, along with storage facilities for archives, gowns, treasure and many other items including some of the Company’s wine.  However, Skinners are about to embark on a major refurbishment, and we had to leave by the end of July 2021.  After a review of options, which took account of the increasing proportion of time spent by our Clerk’s office working from home, it was decided that a continued physical presence in the City was required.  After a search of possible locations, we eventually decided to relocate to Plaisterers’ Hall on London Wall, where we will share a larger space which has been taken on by the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.  In addition to office space, it will also give us access to rooms for meetings and possibly social events.
There has been a significant effort over the last few weeks by Julie and Walter, assisted by a few volunteers, to sort out and pack up the Company’s possessions. The move took place on 29th July, although it will be a few weeks before the office is fully reinstated and operating smoothly so, please bear with us.  While the office email addresses will remain unchanged, the postal address and landline number will change, so please use current mobile telephone numbers until you are notified of the changes.

Admissions

The Master has already referred to the Admissions Ceremony.  For the record, the names of those admitted/clothed/award recipient are as follows, and their photos can be seen in the left-hand margin.
Junior Freeman: Tudor Baron
Freeman: Ajay Chhabra; Luca Collina; Alan Greenwood; Paul Kelly; Hugh Tinsley
Liveryman: Tom Jenkins; Chris Wilson;
Re-admission: Richard Beevers
Satjit Cup Recipient: Sub Lt. Tony Peers RNR

Congratulations to one and all and we look forward to seeing you at future events.

Recent Events

MMIW #8
“Boards are not comfortable places, and they shouldn’t be. The two key qualities of a Board Director are courage and integrity.”   So said Ian White at our My Most Interesting webinar on 10th June.  Ian shared his experiences of Board reviews, from FTSE100 to smaller charities and you can read Simon Davey’s excellent summary of Ian’s session here. 
CMCE Showcase 23rd June: 
Mastering the Complexity of Client-consultant Relationships
Guest speaker at this event, Dr Szilvia Mosonyi of Queen Mary University of London, had succeeded in condensing the entirety of academic research into management consulting – over 200 published papers in fact – into a simple framework. Last year the judges of CMCE’s Research Awards deemed it so impressive that her paper Management Consulting: Towards an Integrative Framework of Knowledge, Identity, and Power (Ed: not such a catchy title, though) won the Client/Consultant Relationships category.  You can read a full report of proceedings here.  You can also find a condensed 30-minute video version here on our Vimeo site. (Ed: I missed this session, and the video is worth a look.)
MMIW #9
On 14th July, some 19 members joined our latest MMIW virtual event where Malcolm McCaig regaled us with further tales of the “Naughty Bank”.  In part 2, as well as picking up the story of Allied Irish Bank from his previous presentation Malcolm looked at the wider context and the recurring issues which demonstrated the need to tackle the underlying cultural issues.  (Ed:  I was left thinking “they got away with it”). There was a good discussion after Malcolm's excellent presentation covering issues such as whistle blowing, tribalism, the responsibility of independent directors and the welfare of the team working on such a high-pressure engagement. 

The programme of these events is likely to continue as we return to more in person events, perhaps on a quarterly basis. Several speakers have already been lined up for such events so please watch this space.  Malcolm has volunteered to take over sponsorship of these events in future.  Thank you Malcolm!
Quaich Lunch
Having learned how to pronounce “Quaich” properly at the Scottish flavoured MMIW#9 event, your editor attended the “Quaich Lunch” on 19th July.  While this is not a formal Company event it was the first face to face event of any kind since the easing of Covid restriction so it’s worth recording here. Last held in January 2020, this annual event was initiated by Gordon Stoker many years ago and has been organised in recent years by PM Alan Broomhead.   A good time was had by all, that included drinking Scotch via a straw from the Quaich itself.   Simon Davey illustrates how it used to be done and the current method:

Future event programme

The event programme for the next 6-9 months is beginning to take shape as we emerge from 18 months of lockdown and other covid-related constraints, and as people get used to travelling and meeting up again.  Several of our traditional major Company events are already confirmed, so please put them in your diary:

• Our Annual Church Service will be held on Thursday 16th September at the Company’s church St James Garlickhythe, and will be followed by a wine and canapes reception in the church.
• The Installation Ceremony and Dinner will take place on Wednesday 20th October in the delightful surroundings of Saddlers’ Hall, where we will hear from Sheriff and Honorary Liveryman Professor Michael Mainelli. 
• Our Christmas Lunch will be held on Monday 13th December in the historic Ironmongers’ Hall.

We expect to offer a mix of in-person and virtual events over the next year, so there will be plenty of choice for everyone.  After cancellation last year, the Lord Mayor’s Show will take to the streets of London again on Saturday 13th November.  We will have a Company contingent marching with the Sea Cadets, and we have once again booked the upstairs rooms at The George in the Strand for lunchtime refreshments and for those who prefer to watch the parade rather than march.  For Company Members who have not participated before, make sure that you tick it off on your bucket list.

The Lord Mayor’s COVID-19 Livery Awards

In the February newsletter we announced that Denise Fellows had been nominated by the Company for the Lord Mayor’s COVID Livery Awards.  As the Immediate Past Master of the Company, it was felt that Denise represented the very wide scope of activities undertaken by Company Members during 2020 in response to an increasing need for support during the pandemic. 
Denise recently attended an event at The Mansion House where she was presented with a certificate by Alderman William Russell, The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor.  
In his speech during the ceremony, The Lord Mayor congratulated all those who had been nominated by their Companies and gave honour to the very many Liverymen who had stepped up and contributed so much for the benefit of those impacted by COVID-19. The Lord Mayor cited some of the major projects undertaken including the NHS Livery Kitchen Initiative and our own Securing Future Prosperity project, with which Denise has been heavily involved.

An opportunity - Centre for Charity Effectiveness Advisory Board membership

The Company was instrumental in establishing the Centre for Charity Effectiveness (CCE) at Cass Business School (to be renamed Bayes Business School on 6 September) by providing start-up funding and subsequently by funding programmes and projects through our Charitable Fund. 
In recognition of the long-standing and significant support that CCE has received from the Company we have been invited to nominate a member to the newly established Advisory Board, which is chaired by Sir Stuart Etherington . They are particularly seeking those with major donor, trust and foundation experience and contacts, together with an obvious and strong interest in creating social change. 
Members who would be interested to be nominated and who meet the above criteria should contact IPM Denise Fellows (denise.fellows@wcomc.org). Appointment will be subject to an interview with Sir Stuart Etherington.

Mastering Mentoring

One of the strands of the Company’s Philanthropy strategy is to provide mentoring to senior executives in Not for Profit organisations. With this purpose, the Company is offering mentor training on Zoom. The two 2-hour workshops will outline our approach to mentoring, provide tips, techniques and tools, and offer an opportunity to apply your skills. 
If you are interested in attending the workshop on the mornings of 5th and 12th of October, then please contact David Glassman (david@glassman.com) or Nanette Young (mail@youngscott.co.uk) for further information.

Get to Know... Malcolm McCaig

(Ed: There’s Scottish flavour to this Newsletter so we’re going all in here with a GTK piece in which Malcolm McCaig introduces himself):

Malcolm joined the Company in 2014, and became a Court Assistant in 2017. He was appointed Chair of the Education Committee in late 2019, just in time for the start of the global pandemic. Until recently, he was part of the founding core team that worked with Calvert Markham on setting up the Centre for Management Consulting Excellence.
After graduating from the University of Glasgow in 1977, Malcolm started his career as a Physicist working on top secret MOD contracts before joining Unisys, initially as a Software Engineer and then latterly as a Senior Systems Training Instructor. His consultancy career took off when he joined the consulting practice of Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC), based first in London, then Nigeria, then Edinburgh. After seven years of gaining a solid grounding in consultancy, Malcolm’s career became a repetitive cycle of working in the financial services industry, returning to consultancy, and so on. He held senior executive roles in Prudential, Clydesdale Bank, and Cigna. He was also an equity partner in Deloitte and EY. One intriguing aspect of Malcolm's career is the functional specialisms in which he became proficient. It included strategy, IT, business process engineering, project management, risk management, corporate governance, external and internal audit, financial services regulation, financial management, corporate transactions and restructuring, and organisational development. Not a master of all trades, but certainly a master of many.
At the end of 2006, Malcolm retired and immediately went back to work full time. In addition to undertaking Board effectiveness reviews and setting up his own consulting company, he started his career as a Non-Executive Director. The latter ramped up quickly during the global financial crisis, as Malcolm’s risk management expertise came into high demand. By mid-2016, his consulting work had tapered off, but his list of directorships (past and present) developed and now runs to several pages.  It includes numerous Chairman or Committee Chair roles, and several very challenging opportunities. One of the highlights was being the first external member to be invited to join the Board of the House of Lords. His portfolio today includes Board roles with a fast-growing retail bank, three global insurance firms, a top tier metals broker, and Chairman of one of the UK’s largest charities.  More information on Malcolm can be found here.

Livery Schools Link - Careers Showcase

How do you explain management consulting to teenagers? It’s less difficult than you think with a passionate team of Company Members and a handful of IBM apprentices, especially when you pitch it as “solving problems, making the world better, travel, making money and having fun”. 
A small team lead by Simon Davey (Steve Cant, Collette Stone, Nick Bush, Ron Cruickshank, and Malcolm McCaig). (Ed: That’s enough about Malcolm in this edition!) took part in a virtual rendition of our ‘stall’ in the latest Livery Schools Link Careers Showcase. By the power of Zoom, we found ourselves in our own break out room with schools rolling up to join us.  Read more about this Showcase in Simon’s blog: “Sharing the passion for management consulting - inspiring a generation”. 

Our Learned Clerk

Our learned Clerk, Julie Fox, has resisted previous attempts to include her in our regular “get to know” feature but she cannot avoid this!

Julie has recently been elected as Master of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and will be installed as Master in October. Congratulations Julie.

She is likely to be busy, and accordingly arrangements have been made for her to reduce her hours as our Clerk during her year as Master, while our Assistant Clerk, Walter, will increase his.  Normal service is assured. The Events Committee will be working with the new Master of WCCSA on the possibility of hosting a joint event during the coming year. 

Internal Volunteering Opportunities

Rumour has it that your editor has a decent chance of being elected Master in September. Like Julie I expect to be busy.  The Wardens and I are now looking for some volunteer support to re-energise our Fellowship and Philanthropic endeavours. We see several possible roles as follows: 

• Help to produce the bi-monthly Company Newsletter over the coming months.  This would involve commissioning and producing copy, collecting and creating images, grappling with the vagaries of HTML emails and generally helping to get the newsletters out on time. Full training and support provided.  
• Help to produce the “Get To Know Philanthropy Newsletter” – much as above
• Work with the events committee to plan and arrange our events programme as we get back to a new normal with a combination of in person and virtual events.  This might include designing and organising a programme of pro bono workshops.
• Work with the pro bono committee to capture and share the wealth of experience gained by our pro bono volunteers. That Committee is thinking in terms of the wider use of video technology to record a series of short, illustrated talks by our colleagues on a limited range of topics, and is linked to the programme of pro bono events referred to above.

We’ll include more about these opportunities in the Get to Know Philanthropy Newsletter in August, but before then if you feel you could contribute or are interested in any of these opportunities, please do contact me, Bob Harris or Patrick Chapman.

City Livery Yacht Club and Other Stuff To Do In The Livery!

PM Edward Sankey provides and update on City Livery Yacht Club and other Livery Opportunities:
I have always thought of membership of our Livery Company as a gateway. It is a gateway of course to the valuable and satisfying initiatives of our Company, such as pro bono work, the Centre for Management Consultancy Excellence, Securing Future Prosperity and not least to good times in good company! It is also a gateway to a wide Livery community well beyond WCoMC. 
Take the City Livery Yacht Club. I’ve been a member for some 15 years.  Members come from across the Livery Companies and particpate in activities including sailing events, evening dinners in London and the South Coast, and daytime visits. It is at the front of my mind because I’ve been elected Commodore for the year. 
We have just had a Club Lunch at the Thames Motor YC, Hampton Court at which our guest speaker was Aldermanic Sheriff Professor Michael Mainelli. 
Ownership of a vessel is not needed. Members include users of motor yachts and river and canal craft. The principal sailing event is the Annual Regatta at Cowes. The members gather on Friday evening, race on Saturday, and have a prize-giving dinner that evening at the Royal Yacht Squadron looking out over the Solent. Our guest speaker this year is the Chair of the Royal. Yachting Association and a distinguished yachtsman himself. 
The Yacht Club is just one way the Livery can provide new opportunities to pursue interests. 
The most prominent vehicle is the City Livery Club. Its regular meeting place is the City University Club in Crutched Friars. 
With a membership over 900, the Club provides a broad programme of events both formal and informal, with various special interest Sections, e.g. Motoring, Women in the Livery, Golf, Aerospace, History & Antiques, Investments, Music, Wine, Photography, Under 40s. Members can use the premises to meet, talk and dine. 

The Other Stuff: Outside the City Livery Club there are various other events and interest groups for members of the Livery. These include Ward Clubs (City Ward Clubs - Livery Committee ), which offer social activities. Several WCoMC members belong to the Dowgate and Vintry Ward Club.
A new institution is the Brigantes Liverymen in the North. 
Rather than meeting in London it holds events in cities in the north. Membership is open to all liverymen who have some connection (residence, once lived there, work) to “the north”, which reaches further south than you might think! Its gatherings attract a large numbers. I declare an interest – I’m a member! 
There are several specialist events run by individual Livery Companies but open to all in the Livery. For example:

• Bridge organised by the Playing Card Makers
• Croquet (by the Glovers)
• Skiing (Ironmongers)
• Clay Pidgeon and Rifle Shooting (both by the Gunmakers)

The list goes on. For any pan-Livery body, it is likely one of us here is already involved – ask around. Get the best out of being in the Livery!

And Finally ....

Your editor was not exactly swamped with responses to my cartoon caption competition in the last issue.  Special thanks then to PM Edward Sankey for his winning entry which is shown below (right) alongside the original (left). 

Thank you for reading this far and to all those who contributed.

I'm pleased to report that Mark Fox who has resumed his informal role as our excellent photographer.   Thank you Mark.

Keep those ideas and contributions coming and stay safe. 

Steve Cant

Editor