60. 29th March 2020 MESSAGE FROM THE MASTER

Dear Colleague,

We are living through unique and challenging times. It is clearly disappointing that our Company and the wider Livery movement have had to cancel so many events in our calendar extending well into the summer, but the health of our Members and guests has been, and continues to be, our first priority.

Livery Companies have a long and distinguished history - the Woolmen for example, can trace their roots back to the year 1180. Whilst the Water Conservators have a shorter history, our relevance to key environmental issues facing the world is paramount. These issues are not going away in the current crisis and when we return to some sort of normality, our work in providing environmental leadership will continue unabated.

In the meantime, Judy and I wish you and your families continuing good health and I look forward to us all meeting up later in the year.

Keep washing those hands and stay safe.

With best wishes

Mark

59. 16th March 2020

COVID 19

Many of you will have observed from our website that during the current COVID 19 crisis, several of our forthcoming events have either been postponed or cancelled. Whilst this is very disappointing, the health and well-being of our Members and their guests is our first priority. 

I very much hope that we will be able to reinstate much of our programme of events in the coming weeks and months, but in the meantime we will endeavour to keep you all updated via our website.

In the meantime, stay safe and keep washing those hands!

58. 9th March 2020

To Vintners’ Hall this evening for the Modern Livery Companies Dinner, kindly organised and hosted by the International Bankers. Vintners offered a warm welcome from the chill, blustery rain (yet again!) outside. It was good to see so many of the Modern Companies‘ Masters there, and we all enjoyed an excellent evening, albeit with less handshaking than has been customary up to now!

57. 5th March 2020

This evening I had the pleasure of re-visiting Painters’ Hall – the first time that I had been back there for a Dinner since our own Banquet in November 2019. So there were plenty of memories as I took my seat in the Dining Hall as a Guest of the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers at their Spring Court Dinner.

I arrived at Painters’ Hall on a bitterly cold, wet and windy evening – winter seemed to have returned with a vengeance! But my spirits were soon rising as we enjoyed a convivial Reception before dinner. This was followed an excellent menu, wines and two very well composed and amusing speeches from the Guest Speakers for the evening. The company in my immediate vicinity at table was on good form, and it seemed that the evening passed in a trice!

And as an added bonus, when I left Painters’ Hall, the day long rain had actually ceased!

56. 4th March 2020

Today, I had the pleasure of being a Guest of The Master Mariners at their Court Lunch onboard HQS Wellington. With many Masters and Clerks in attendance, it was an excellent opportunity to catch up with some good friends, as well as meeting some new ones.

55. 3rd March 2020

This evening I attended the Chartered Accountants’ Hall for the Chartered Accountants True and Fair Lecture , which this year was given by Paul Johnson , Director of The Institute of Fiscal Studies.

Paul Johnson delivered a most interesting Lecture focusing on five macro trends in the economy. On the subject of Wages , Growth and Productivity, he pointed out that productivity and wages have been flat-lining since 2008.

The second trend was In-Work Poverty. Here Paul Johnson pointed out that in 1997/8, 41% of those working were in In Work Poverty, whereas in 2017/18 the figure was 58%.

On home ownership, homes were owned by 55% of 25 to 34 year olds in 1997. Whereas in 2017, the figures of home ownership for 25 to 34 year olds was 35%.

His fourth point was Lack of Fiscal Headroom . in this connection, he pointed out that Health Pensioner benefits and long term care costs will continue to rise.  Taking a view to 2066/67, other spending by Government will need to decrease from approximately two thirds of total government spending to nearer one third in order to accommodate the increase in long term care costs unless taxation rises.

The fifth point that Paul Johnson made is that the Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Target for 2050 will be enormously challenging.

It was a thought provoking lecture!

54. 28th February 2020

Today Judy and I drove to Treloars College to accompany, along with many other Masters and their Consorts, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress on their annual visit to Treloars College.

And what a humbling and uplifting day it was.

Humbling because, in truth, it was a reminder to us all of our own good fortune in life ; uplifting because the caring love and professionalism of the 800 staff at Treloars who nurture and develop the 170 severely disabled children who attend the College was inspirational to witness.

We visited a class for Primary age children, and a Residential House for Secondary School age children.  It was very interesting to have an opportunity to talk over lunch to members of the  teaching staff about their work at the College.

This was followed in the afternoon by a performance by some of the children of an abridged version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the theatre. We were hugely impressed by the achievement of the pupils in the production.

I am very pleased that, as Water Conservators, we support such a worthwhile charity

53. 27th February 2020

This evening Judy and I attended the World Traders’ Tacitus Lecture at The Guildhall. This is the Company’s main annual contribution to the subject of education in World Trade.

The Speaker for the 2020 Tacitus Lecture was Mr Kitack Lim, Secretary General of The International Maritime Oragainsation ( IMO ).

The Lecture took place in The Great Hall and was an interesting review of the development of Sustainable Shipping for a Sustainable Planet . Two issues raised of particular note were the rapid development of technologies that will allow for autonomous ships, and also the development of technologies that will attenuate the underwater noise of ships’ engines thereby preventing damage to the mammal populations of the oceans through excessive noise.

The Lecture was followed by a well attended Reception.