Installation Dinner 2017 - Master's perspective ....
A full Vintners Hall enjoyed an Installation Dinner which has been commended for its good food, good wine, and exceptionally good company...
The first speaker, Liveryman & Fourth Master, Sir George Cox, reflected on how the Company came to be
formed on 27 October 1992, from a meeting of six people; all then very influential in the Profession.
He mentioned their carefree approach to Livery tradition. We are a little more subdued and observant now.
The main speaker, Anna Manz, CFO of £12Billion turnover FTSE 100 firm Johnson Matthey, - and niece of the Master - emphasised the importance of 'family'.
firm Johnson Matthey - and niece
of the Master
and 'livery heritage' to the Master.
His three surviving brothers were present, (Anna being the daughter of his late elder brother). As both businesswoman & Haberdasher, Anna wished the Company well and gave the toast from the visitors.
The Master responded to the toast in the usual manner and then considered the relevance of the 'Change through Wisdom' phrase, originally supplied by Sir George Cox, which adorns our Coat of Arms. Speaking in the presence of executive leaders from the Chartered Management Institute and the Management Consultancies Association, he congratulated the trade on achieving Government recognition for the Junior Management Consulting Apprenticeship and Chartered Management Consultant qualification, and set an aspiration of working with both bodies to promote and link these elements, both of which will support the identity of the professional in the coming years.
There were several personal touches introduced by the Master to the Dinner -
The dessert contained honey from the personal stock of the Master Vintner, from his hive on Vintner's Hall; and from the Master's personal stock, which he had helped his father extract from their own family hives, some years before.
The Harpist , Anne Denholm, was the first harpist who received a bursary he awards annually in memory of
recipient of the Master's annual
bursary
his Mother, Olive Jenkins. The idea arose from a project he launched to bring back into service an Erard pedal Harp built in 1854. He’d found this in a cupboard in the Welsh Centre, at Grays Inn Road! To get the harp looked after he put it into the care of the Royal Academy of Music, and the bursary supported the harpist who looked after it for a year.
Maria Engwell, a highly regarded professional gardener, raided her and Husband andLiveryman Simon's tudor estate to produce 130 posies of herbs. Reminiscent of the nosegays no Liveryman would have been seen out and about without , in the times when horses were the polluting power in front of carriages...
Chaplain Bill Penney, with the Faith Group, constructed a special grace reflecting on the 25th anniversary,
Assistant Drewe Lacey, of the music group, introduced Anne Denholme and accompanied her in a song; 
and the 'Company Choir' led the sung grace at the end..
glittering as hostess, with her Uncle
Robert and fellow Shropshire Society
in London member, Tim McAndrews
and The Mistress, Mrs Mary Johnson
