Welcome to the latest edition of the Company newsletter, back after an extended break. In this edition we celebrate  many new admissions and include a roundup of recent events.  Firstly, a couple of reminders; 

• The Annual Report for 2024-25 was published in February 2026 and can be found here;
• Please do not forget to follow us on our LinkedIn page. 

Honours

Congratulations to Dr Wilf Eaton (pictured) and his wife Elizabeth (Liz) who have both been awarded MBEs in the King's Birthday Honours List, for “services to Child Welfare in Kenya and to UK/ Kenya relations”. 

Wilf is a Founding Member of the Company and was Master in 1999-2000.  Both Wilf and Liz have been honoured for their efforts as  the driving force behind “Kenya Children Centres” (KCC). Wilf is Chair of the Trustees and Liz a Trustee and this prestigious honour recognises more than twenty years of dedicated service to vulnerable children and families in Kenya. Through KCC's work with abandoned babies, teenage mothers, residential care, counselling, education support and feeding programmes, thousands of lives have been transformed.  Wilf and Liz have devoted countless hours, energy and personal commitment to building an organisation that brings hope and opportunity to some of the most vulnerable people. Kenya Children Centres supports extremely disadvantaged children in Kenya, keeping them safe, healthy, educated and, ultimately, self-sustaining. More information here.

Congratulations too, to new Freeman Ian Joseph. He received an OBE for services to the voluntary sector.  His citation reads: “Co-Founder, Trustees Unlimited and Step on Board, and Joint Managing Director, Russam. For services to the Voluntary Sector.”

New Admissions 

There was an Admissions Ceremony on 25th March which were not reported at the time. (Ed. Your editor was in Australia).  There were four new Freemen, three Members taking the Livery and one returning Member. See photos...  New Freemen:

New Liverymen...

There was another Admissions Ceremony on 17th June, when six new Freemen were admitted. 

Congratulations to each and every one and a warm welcome to the Company.  Congratulations also, to Leon MacPherson and the Membership Committee – all their hard work is really paying dividends. As ever, thanks to Mark Fox for all the brilliant photos. 

Master's Musings 

Master Malcolm McCaig has committed to keeping Members actively engaged in his campaign to “Get Stuff Done”, via a series of regular “Bulletins” – so no spoilers here.

Meanwhile the dust is still settling on the “Governance Review” initiated last year and your editor's hope is to be able to provide a comprehensive situation report in the not too distant future. 

Education Lecture and Supper

Our guest speaker at our annual Education Lecture and Supper, held at Bakers’ Hall on 17th June, was Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein, President of City St. George’s University. His address was on The Future of Higher Education.

With management consultancies traditionally recruiting graduates with 2:1 degrees or higher from elite universities, higher education has been a major contributor to our profession. However, the model that has emerged over the last 30 to 40 years is proving to be unsustainable: the ‘graduate premium’ is declining, graduates are saddled with expensive student loans and are finding it increasingly hard to land jobs which are, it is suggested, increasingly being automated by AI.  Given these pressures, and with student fees that do not cover the costs, how can the higher education sector respond and what should higher education look like in this increasingly dynamic and challenging world?

Professor Finkelstein’s assertion was that we are at an inflection point and that we will need to think creatively about how higher education can help create a better future for all of us.  The problem, he said,  was one of success. Over the past 30 years the proportion of young people attending university has increased from about 15% to more than 50% now. While on the face of it this is a great success it has led to problems.  One major consequential problem has been the consolidation of universities and colleges of further education into a somewhat homogenised centre with very little differentiation across the sector. This is turn has led to a less diversified set of graduates with less diversified skills.  AI was merely one driver of the challenges facing new graduates but not the only one and not the greatest.  

Professor Finkelstein’s proposed solution was not wholesale reengineering of the sector, but the establishment of a set of incentives that would drive diversification across the sector over a period of years. He also emphasised the value of life-long learning, which is, coincidentally, the overriding theme of our work in Education.

About 70 people enjoyed the lecture and the discussion afterwards as well as the drinks reception beforehand and a rather good supper to go with it. The evening also included the award of the Quaich to PM John Watson and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with London Scout Region to initiate our relationship with the Scout movement.  An enjoyable evening of thought-provoking discussion and excellent networking especially with many newly admitted Members.  The Lecture and Supper was organised by Nick Bush, Chair of our Education Committee, who deserves hearty congratulations for pulling off an event that combined erudition and fellowship to deliver a thoroughly enjoyable evening.   (Ed: Those that preferred the World Cup missed a good one). 

Updating our Information Systems

In the November ‘25 Newsletter we provided an update on progress with the Company website upgrade project. Since then, a lot has been going on, much of it behind the scenes, and this short article is an attempt to bring you up to date with where we are and where we are going with our Information systems.
 
The website upgrade itself was successful and well received.  We learned some valuable lessons, the main one being that using “user personas” to plot journeys through the website was valuable and delivered good results. By "user personas” we mean putting ourselves in the shoes of users with very different reasons for visiting the website  - a charity seeking pro bono support, a prospective member wanting to find out more about us or a member wanting to book onto an event.  Our approach to cleaning and tidying up the content was “vigorous and rigorous”, but we have plenty still to do. We envisage a rolling programme of content upgrades over the next 12 months or more, but the first step in that process will be to understand and map who “owns” what content. Early work in this area is focused on the work of the Clerk’s office and on the Membership pipeline, in support of the Membership Committee.
 
The next major challenge has been around our e-mail system and, while changes here will not be visible to many, it will affect those few account holders that use a WCOMC.ORG e-mail address for Company purposes. In short, we are switching supplier and as a result should have a simpler and, more importantly, a cheaper system. Saving some money here is important because we need to invest elsewhere in having some professional technical support in place, rather relying on one or two key individual Members.
 
Beyond this there is ongoing work on the technology stack generally and on the security of our “Civi” system (our CRM system) but that is all way too technical for an article such as this.
 
The team involved in all this is Jonathan Shepherd, Steve Cant, Bob Harris ably led PM Patrick Chapman, and excellently managed by Freeman Dr Simon Davey. Many others have been involved in consultation and review so far and will continue to be so engaged going forward.  Thank you for all your help and support.
 
Finally, some reassurance. Any changes that will directly impact users will be notified separately and we will keep you abreast of general progress here every six months or so.

Social Wine Tasting 

John Blackburn (pictured below) reports: Thank you to everyone who joined me on Wednesday 15th April for the latest event in our Taste The Company Cellar series. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening of conversation, discovery and shared appreciation, featuring some outstanding wines from the Company’s cellar.

I was delighted that PM Patrick McHugh helped me host the tasting and am very grateful to Clarasys Consulting for so generously providing their stunning riverside offices overlooking Southwark Bridge and the Thames. The setting was both elegant and relaxed, making it the perfect backdrop for such a sociable occasion.

It was a pleasure to welcome both Company Members and non-members, and to see so many people enjoying the opportunity to taste good wine, chat and connect in such a friendly atmosphere.

The evening began with Petijean Pienne Champagne Grand Cru, a classic and celebratory opening. We then moved on to two characterful whites: Kvaszinger Boraszat Hatalos Furmint and Von Winning Grauburgunder, both new additions to our cellar from The Humble Grape. A particularly enjoyable part of the tasting was the side-by-side comparison of Bruinac 2020 and 2022, which prompted plenty of discussion. We finished with a volcanic finale: Graci from Etna, sourced on our recent Sicilian trip. Each of the six wines was tasted and discussed in turn, with light food served alongside and plenty of time for conversation throughout the evening.

Thank you again to everyone who came and helped make it a wonderful evening. I very much look forward to raising a glass with you all again soon.

Livery Schools Link  

Members of the Company (first Warden Collette Stone, Jonathan Shepherd, PM Kanan Barot, Julie Fox and Dr Simon Davey, who organised the effort) provided a presence at this event on 3rd March. Some 1,800 students had registered to attend and WCoMC’s table provided puzzles, problem-solving exercises and the ever-popular "Lifting the Mace Challenge", allowing for good interaction with the students. We believe this is an important way of raising the profile of the profession and initiating conversations about career directions so plan to continue to support the event. We may consider adding some skills mapping exercises next year.

Shrieval Relections 

CA Ranil Perera reports:  On Thursday 29th May 2026, I was honoured to attend an unusual City event.  Two recent Sheriffs of the City of London  -  Gregory Jones KC and David Chalk - gave their reflections, reminiscences and learnings from their time serving as Sheriffs in 2024-25. 

The event was organised by ‘Reflections of The Lord Mayor’, an organisation run by Christopher Seow as a civic platform focussed on preserving the legacy of the Lord Mayors of London. Christopher is a Liveryman with the Worshipful Company of World Traders and, (by a strange coincidence), he also created the Annual Reflections Gala Evening, now a notable event in the City’s Civic calendar. (Ed: more on this below). Those invited to speak at Christopher’s events are individuals who serve not only as ceremonial leaders but as global ambassadors for the City’s values.

Those attending the Shrieval Reflections enjoyed some socialising, beforehand, on a City rooftop where I was delighted to bump into PM Steve Cant (Ed: Yes, I was there too!).

As to the Sheriffs themselves:
David Chalk brought his wit and wisdom to bear on his many reflections on the delights, or otherwise, of living in the Old Bailey, lunching with the Judges and sitting in on some very distressing trials. (Apparently, he was known to the Old Bailey staff as SF2). I was fortunate to be able to chat with David over refreshments after the event about his longstanding policy and social care work. 

Gregory Jones is a Kings Counsel, and he was the first KC to be a Sherrif. (He was SF1). His most notable anecdote was about being successful in enticing well known Hollywood actress Sigourney Weaver, who was then starring on the West End stage, to attend a lunch at the Old Bailey. He managed to do this by simply writing her a handwritten note and adding a (possibly dodgy) wax seal.

Overall, it was a fascinating, entertaining and memorable evening.

And Finally ... Making an Impact 

News reaches me of new Freeman Belinda Brown, (see above)  who was recognised at the 2026 London Gala celebrating role models from across industry. The evening centred on two prestigious "Role Model" lists, and Belinda earned a place on both: the HERoes Executives Top 10, where she was placed at #5, and the EMpower Executives Top 10, where she features at #1.

The two lists recognise different but complementary strands of inclusive leadership. The HERoes list celebrates those advancing gender inclusion - challenging bias, opening pathways for women, and sponsoring them to progress and succeed. The EMpower list celebrates leaders driving ethnic-minority representation, championing diversity and helping to build workplaces where talent from every background can rise. To feature on both, and to top one of them, reflects the breadth of Belinda's impact.

Congratulations to Belinda, whose characteristically modest reflection was simply: "It was a lovely evening focused on leadership, inclusion and impact."

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Thanks for reading this far.  There will be a "Get To Know Philanthropy Newsletter" along shortly!

Steve Cant

Editor