4. 01-10-20 Horners’ Company Virtual Banquet

Tonight I attended the Annual Banquet of the Worshipful Company of Horners. An event normally held in Mansion House, it was for the first time held virtually, but otherwise followed the normal protocol of a livery dinner with all attendees suitably attired. Master Martin Muirhead welcomed everyone to the event and said one of the advantages of zoom was that they had invited the Master of every livery company at zero cost. A total of 49 visiting Masters were present.

This was followed by a speech by the Lord Mayor, Rt Hon William Russell. He thanked the livery companies for their resourcefulness throughout the pandemic in supporting communities and he would be making a special award to recognise this contribution. Having been recently re-elected as Lord Mayor he pointed out that he was the first Lord Mayor to serve a second term since William Cubit in 1860. He also announced his theme for this year “Global UK The New Future” which included creating innovative environments, helping new business startups, bringing a new audience to the workplace and being more inclusive.

Attendees then split up into breakout rooms for dinner and the opportunity to converse with other Masters. After dinner we reconvened to the main room for a speech by Sheriff and Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli who spoke about the importance of technology in improving the environment. In particular he focused on the plastics industry stressing that it could thrive in the future with responsible disposal and extensive recycling.

Finally, attendees again split up into breakout rooms for stirrup cup and conversation. Although the splendor of Mansion House was unfortunately absent due the current pandemic restrictions, the engaging conversation and fellowship, more than made up for this, and the event was extremely well organised by the Horners’ Company.