I have, like many Londoners, been tracking the plans to build a super sewer to update the Bazalgette Victorian sewage system and create a resilient system for the future of this great capital City.  Thames Tideway working with Thames Water and numerous local authorities, including the City of London, and the PLA have completed the actual tunnelling and there is a lot to shout about as we await the final completion and opening in 2025.  The project is to build 25 kilometres of tunnelling to intercept, store and transfer sewage waste away from the regular dumping that happens direct into the River Thames. 
 
The tunnel runs from Acton to Beckton and about the mid-point is Blackfriars in the City of London.  I was invited to visit the site and took colleague, Juna Margariti, with me from the Livery Climate Action Group. The site is largely behind hoardings, but elements are visible from the road, Blackfriars Bridge and the River. Roger Bailey, the Chief Technical Officer, took us around with his colleagues. What is special about Blackfriars is that it is at the confluence of the Rivers Fleet and Thames and is creating a new element of the Embankment that will provide public realm and green open space for the use of all visitors. 
 
The tunnel is an engineering feat of that there is no doubt. Roger’s explanations of the issues to be overcome at Blackfriars were impressive. Not least, the decision to float an element of the superstructure into place and thus avoid the risk of cracking two major gas mains - a true feat of ingenuity.
 
I was most impressed with the sustainability credentials of the project and annex their Sustainability Report 2022.  https://www.tideway.london/media/5689/tideway-sustainability-report-2022.pdf Aligning the project to the Sustainable Development Goals and measuring the impact in terms of carbon, health and safety, people and economy as well as community investment shows commitment. This project was funded by a sustainable finance framework and followed the International Capital Markets Association Green Bond Principles. The first green bond was issued in 2017 with a further seven following.  The London Stock Exchange has moved the bond series to the LSEG Green Segment, confirming that they are accepted as part of the Sustainable Bond Market.
 
As we see the need to improve our infrastructure in order to meet the pledge to net zero and the need to bolster our economy through green and clean growth , this project is an example on our doorstep of just what can be done. At the same time the views from the new public realm will be exceptional atop the new Bazalgette Embankment. 

One of the most frequent questions that I was asked in my last few weeks as Sheriff is what happens next?
Whilst I am not intending to continue my monthly newsletter sent out via MailChimp, I thought it would be informative to answer that oft asked question and unpick the work of an Alderman or this Alderman.
My immediate plan, post Shrievalty, was to have a good two-week holiday in Italy- where the sun shone, and I had a very relaxing time ( no photos).
The diary, however, did not stop and in the last couple of weeks I have been able to engage with the many organisations and interests that I hold dear.
The work of the Livery Climate Action Group https://liverycag.org.uk/  that I lead has been going for just one year since its launch in October 2021. The core group met to have a full review of its work to date and consider strategy for the year to come.  We now stand with 54 Livery Company members and another 25 in the pipeline and at various stages of commitment. Where do we go next?  The meeting was stimulated by an opening talk from Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli who has great expertise in climate and scientific issues and solutions.  He set us a challenge! The outcomes were many, but we want to widen our reach across the Livery and so will be engaging further here and we need to recruit a few more volunteers to help in communicating and guidance.  We will be holding an in-person conference in July 2023,
Earlier in the day the LCAG visited the first net zero carbon Church in the City – St Andrew by the Wardrobe. See my LinkedIn piece on this.
Board and committee meetings are a consistent part of my life and one of the most invigorating and challenging that I sit on is the Museum of London Board where I also Chair the Audit and Risk Committee.  The Board met on 19th October and tackled an exciting array of topics including the need to close the galleries at London Wall prior to the move to West Smithfield together with issues of fundraising and presentations on branding and collections. We welcomed four new members of the Board who all added to the views and understanding around the table. Don’t miss a visit to the site before 4th December. https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/whats-on/last-chance-visit-us?series=Last%20Chance%20to%20See
The Mansion House has hosted two great lectures that I was able to attend. The first in honour of the late Sir Roger Gifford and given by Mark Carney UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sGF15Pleog
The second by the Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Tony Radakin with the transcript here. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chief-of-the-defence-staff-lord-mayor-of-london-defence-security-lecture
Both underline the convening power and connections that the Lord Mayor and City Corporation have in creating events that are headed by the leaders in their fields and with an audience that is equally distinguished. Following on the topic of defence I was pleased to take part in a roundtable with the IBDE chaired by Sir Roger Carr and attended by many Ambassadors and business leaders. As the Dutch Ambassador stated about the event that it was a “working session on political diplomatic and economic implications of Russian military aggression against Ukraine.”  A very enlightening discussion.
With my road safety interests and expertise I attended the National Courier Awards at the IOD.  I was delighted to congratulate so many of the logistics and delivery industry who were recognised by their peers for exceptional work - be it in transformational leadership; individual couriers or the special prize this year called EIIR Merit that recognised work around the late Queen's funeral and mourning period. The City of London Police were given an exceptional award for their engagement and communications with the business community that allowed deliveries to continue and provided a very vital service. I was honoured to present this to City officer, Superintendent Patrick Holdaway from the National Business Crime Centre. https://instituteofcouriers.com/news/general-news/item/2206-national-courier-awards-2022
Connected to issues of road safety and ease of travel, I chair the City Corporation’s Active City Network.  A group of businesses interested in active travel that is safe and efficient for their businesses and staff. We met on 20th October and discussed the new plans for the City’s Transport Strategy.  We will be having a focussed feedback session to critique the proposals and give vital feedback to the City’s officers in their planning.  https://www.activecitynetwork.com/.  The City regularly consults on these matters that are critical to the ease of access across the City. The current consultation is about pedestrian priority streets and you can access it here.  https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/streets/pedestrian-priority-programme
November is on the horizon is dominated by the Lord Mayor’s Show. The new Lord Mayor will be Alderman Nicholas Lyons who served with me as Sheriff at the Old Bailey. Part of the process involves obtaining the approval of the Monarch and this is given in a wonderful ceremony at the House of Lords in the Robing Room. The approval is given by the Lord Chancellor on behalf of the King.  The Lord Chancellor at the time was Brandon Lewis.  The City will be well governed for another year.

A visit to Sheffield for the Cutlers’ Forfeit Feast hosted by the Master Cutler of Hallamshire is a highlight of the year for the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs. It might sound like a traditional Livery event – which is it – but the Master Cutler made it very relevant this year by providing an additional briefing and visit about the modern Sheffield economy.
 
Made in Sheffield is such a familiar phrase, seen mostly on cutlery and flatware, that it is overlooked as to the implications that the term bears. The manufacturing might of Sheffield has driven a trade around items with a cutting edge for many centuries, with the Company of Cutlers of Hallamshire being established in 1624. The location of the City with a source of water power, stone for grinding wheels and iron ore – as well as engaging entrepreneurship meant that the businesses grew in a cluster around the City. Innovation such as the invention of the Bessemer Converter meant that the City was synonymous with steel throughout the world.  The words Made in Sheffield were seen to be key to the quality mark and a Sheffield Defence Committee was set up in the 1900s to protect the name. The term is still boldly defended as a registered trademark and with a licencing arrangement that allows and regulates the use of the phrase. You can rely on it if it is Made in Sheffield.
Against this background the Sheriffs met a great group of businesses for lunch and a conversation around the issues of today. The businesses included many that are still closely connected to steel, knives and allied trades. Other businesses had a more tech focused angle with engagement in AI and education, including the energetic University of Sheffield. Professional firms also attended as they are an important part of the business ecosystem alongside people from the heritage sector and civil society.
Some of the themes aired were common across the businesses and have echoes throughout the nation – the cost of energy going up (in one case by 450%)  and some of these are very intensive energy users. Supply chain issues were very urgent.  Some of the businesses were setting up new buildings and expanding – key here is staffing and training as well as the good use of apprenticeships. A recruitment business reminded us of the number of job vacancies that held back such expansion as well as the right kind of education and guidance.  Businesses were looking to expand internationally and efforts collectively to engage were appreciated.  Climate and ESG issues were clearly a consideration with businesses ensuring that there is no waste in their processes and many were directly involved in this area via electric vehicles and similar products.
In the afternoon we visited ITM Power who make electrolysers for green hydrogen and showed us around an expanding business park.  The reach of their distribution and partnerships showed how important the use of green hydrogen will be for the future of energy.
It was clear that Sheffield has a vibrant and innovative business and manufacturing community. We were privileged to meet them and share some thoughts and understand so much more about the economic drivers and industry needs. Thank you to Master Cutler, James Tear. 

A break from business meetings in August has meant that I have been able to experience some of the wider community work of the City Corporation.  I  spent an afternoon with the City Corporation rough sleepers outreach team that is provided by the charity Thames Reach. I was warned that on a hot City afternoon I was not likely to meet many people sleeping rough but I was keen to learn more about the work and the City’s plans. Rough sleepers are not necessarily the street drinkers nor those found begging. They are perhaps more likely to be secretive and tucked away in quiet corners of buildings and alleys finding a quiet and safe place to sleep.  My walkaround was to look at the HIRSS, the high impact rough sleeping sites and see where the regulars bed down and find out a bit more about the work. My walk around the City took us down by the River and through my own Ward of Dowgate and Steelyard Passage a regular spot to find people asleep in dry covered conditions. We returned via Aldgate and Liverpool Street.
 
I have had a long term interest in homelessness since I spent 6 months as a volunteer with the Cyrenians in Durham. I had finished my degree and went to live alongside a changing population of rough sleepers in a Cyrenian house/hostel. The model was that I would act as the “house mother” earning the same as the resident men who were on a basic benefit and I would buy food and cook for them. With a local support group we tried to give stability and some connection for the men as well as a domestic setting for companionship and sharing. It certainly helped me to understand something of the life on the street and its dangers as well as the problems arising from family and marital breakup, drinking and criminal activity. Since then I have been involved with my own Church, the West London Mission, and their long term work with homeless people and more recently have been a member of the Corporation’s own Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Subcommittee.
 
As it happens we did meet three men and one woman.  They were each ready to engage with us and clearly trusted Thames Reach https://thamesreach.org.uk/  and the City as people to whom they could confide their current position and issues. One had lost his phone and a promise was made to replace it. A phone is a vital communication aid for anyone on the street in order to claim any benefit or be in touch with a nominated worker, GP or other help. You need a phone to keep track. Otherwise Peter (as I shall call him) was upbeat, had water and provisions in his rucksack and in fact had accommodation - but liked being out on the street and chatting to lots of passers-by. He was well known to the worker and so we had an easy conversation about the location and changes to it over time. Peter had had a job and might get one again with the right support.  Hamid was sitting down with his girlfriend sleeping alongside.  Whilst not known to the worker they visited the Dellow Centre run by Providence Row in Shoreditch. I was pleased we could help when he asked for some food and happy we could get his preferred tuna toasty from a local café.  We agreed to put him in touch again with the Dellow and offered help from the City as well. The last man was found at the bottom of a stairwell and the worker just chanced a shout down that reverberated with a response and a request for help. Mike had come off drugs for a while but relapsed and was using again. He had accommodation but was not living there as the environment was hostile. He wanted help to change his accommodation to another area and to get off drugs. He was anxious to sort this out and after we left him he rang the worker to check that he would not tell anyone on the street where he was. There are clearly undercurrents around the community.
 
The recent annual centralised count of rough sleepers from 2021 showed that there were 20 people rough sleeping in the Square Mile on the one October night that is used as a data comparator across the UK.  The number has varied from a high of 67 in 2018 to 23 in 2021 during the pandemic. It is an ok figure if one accepts that it would be difficult to be zero. The number of individuals sleeping rough over the month of October 2021 was 108 and so that is the number that the outreach workers are roughly in touch with.  The Thames Reach outreach team walk the City both in the early morning and at night in order to engage with all those sleeping rough with a view to finding out and connecting with them and offering help. They will refer them to an assessment centre run by Thames Reach and the City if they are willing to engage. It might be a long process to gain trust and establish the right help that is needed.  If you see someone sleeping rough you can report this to Streetlink that alerts the outreach team who can then connect with the person.  There is a website https://www.streetlink.org.uk/StreetLinkLoginvf  and an App.
 
During the pandemic the City opened the Carter Lane Assessment Centre in the Youth Hostel that normally operates there. This service was part of the Government’s programme of “Everyone In” and during the two year period it supported 159 individuals. 106 individuals moved positively on from the service and 72 of these individuals moved into sustainable long-term accommodation. Of the numbers 138 were men and 21 women.  89 were UK Nationals and the next highest nationality was Polish (16) and Romanian (15). The many needs of the occupants were dealt with around health care, psychotherapy, drug and alcohol abuse and immigration issues. It was a considerable success and built relationships with the other agencies and is shaping the work of the City’s department still. The City now uses an hotel in Shoreditch as an assessment centre and has a dynamic plan to provide more help and assistance to this part of our City community.
 
I was pleased to see the City through the eyes of a rough sleeper, spying out quiet and secluded spots out of the rain or sun and away from prying eyes and potential trouble.  At the same time I would not want the issue of homelessness and the surrounding mental health and addiction issues to be hidden away. These are really serious aspects of our capital’s wellbeing. In New York, on my recent visit in July with the Lord Mayor,  I was told how the rise in rough sleepers on the streets and in the subways is such that people are not using public transport due to the disruption that those with mental health issues are causing and many are returning to their cars to commute. The Lord Mayor commented that the same was true in San Francisco when he visited earlier in the year.  We do not want to create a City with people rootless and disengaged. The Corporation’s strategy of engagement and plans for purposeful work to provide assessment and follow up help is a great contribution to help the individuals, and our City, thrive.
 

It was my pleasure as Sheriff to host a lunch in the Old Bailey with a small group from the UK leather industry. This industry is easily characterised as narrow and old-fashioned and of little relevance in Modern Britain. This is far from the truth. The material remains of major importance in footwear, garments, upholstery, gloves and bags and plays an important role in sectors such as luxury, automotive, fashion, sports and interior design. The UK retains a small number of globally leading tanneries and brands such as Mulberry, Dr Martens and New Balance who still manufacture in the UK. In the City of London there are about nine Livery Companies whose origins lie in the production and use of leather.
 
Our discussions soon found a focus on recruitment, careers and education. The leather industry as it exists in the UK today has an opportunity for further growth. The raw material – essentially cattle hides, sheep, goat and pigskins – is a by-product of the meat or dairy industries and is currently mostly exported or thrown away. The nature of the industry also means a regular supply of finished leather offers significant numbers of secure jobs in the production of a wide area of product manufacture. 
 
The leather industry has worked hard on getting apprentice schemes and specialist training programmes working with considerable success. The Scottish Leather Group in Renfrewshire, Pittards in Yeovil and Mulberry in Somerset, who spent some years successfully expanding the workforce while dramatically reducing the average age, evidence excellent schemes.
 
But while making use of the recent government Kickstart programme for 18-24 year olds Pittards have been told that their experience of only 20 per cent retention is about normal. They are pleased with those who have stayed, but worried that so many who entered the scheme had little awareness of manufacturing and what it would look like when they first arrived.
 
The general feeling was that the education system needs to more carefully consider the opportunities to move through training into worthwhile employment for all levels of ability. With children from an early age being focussed on University this can exclude other immediate job opportunities and careers. The message in schools needs to change. This is not to gainsay that the leather industry does need more graduates and in the Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) at the University of Northampton, the UK has a world leading teaching tannery, but it needs even more young entrants for a wide range of jobs at all levels, where skills will be learned and opportunities for advancement will exist. ICLT offers many short courses, and a new online short course, to support life-long learning at many levels.
 
Some employees are attracted by promoting the fashion or luxury aspects of leather , or by a “cool” brand like Dr Martens about which an excellent TV programme has recently been shown, but the wider leather industry was not seen as a good prospect by younger people or career advisors as it was often viewed as a sunset business. This needs to be countered.
 
The small leather glove maker Chester Jeffries from Dorset has recently announced closure based on an inability to find new staff to replace those retiring, and the UK was in danger of losing significant skills.
 
It was argued that the 16–18-year-old age group were being failed by the current system. Often young people appear to be steered only towards the more “high tech” or “advanced engineering” types of industries while what are thought of as more “traditional” industries are not considered.
 
It is clearly positive that over the summer the University of Northampton merged leather and fashion within the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology. The University considers that linking science and technology with the arts is important and would prefer the push on STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) to now include arts and to be termed STEAM to make room for design and material science to link together in various ways.
 
The wider leather industry does have significant areas of advanced science through biotechnology, pyrolytic burning, multiple circularity streams, non-woven fibre networks, collagen chemistry and structures, fireproofing while making a material whose beauty is in the way it ages, and its patina when used in some types of product. Yet as a natural material its handling cannot escape the need for assessment by the human eye and hand and forming into articles by the attentive use of simple equipment like a sewing machine)
 
The modern leather industry does range from quite leading-edge product engineering to traditional craft with some glove companies, for example, retaining a facility to make gloves that are entirely hand cut and sewn and has traditional sectors making Goodyear welted footwear using oak bark sole leather tanned carefully for a year as was required by statute in the 17th century. Historical equestrian leathers are also still produced with a notable industry still producing in Walsall although the leathers are now more extensively used in the production of leather goods. Many luxury brands have evolved out of the equestrian and travel business.
 
Alongside this there is employment in engineering, testing, process auditing, environmental management and many areas of manufacture and design.
 
Such jobs should not be denigrated and considered inappropriate for today’s youth. They work at different levels from making more basic products, often in emerging markets, as Pittards are doing in Ethiopia to making the “cool” or luxury products in mature markets. It was noted how the footwear manufacture in Portugal has been growing since China became more expensive and recognised that leather footwear of higher quality could not be further automated.
 
City and Guilds, and similar Awarding Bodies, are important players in the training of younger workers, and while many of our political influencers and decision makers do appear to understand this, across the spectrum more has to be done to intervene and support them into suitable training channels.  
 
Often the best of UK industry closely links design and craft with engineering as exemplified by items from the Olympic Torch to Morgan cars. While Government and other bodies should be pushing advanced technologies, they should not ignore the wealth of employment opportunities arising from older industries that have found a role in contemporary society. Leather remains relevant in many sectors from aviation, automobiles, sport, defence, luxury goods and fashion while leading back to being a useful way to use the hides and skins from our livestock industries.
 
Bearing in mind the location of the conversation (in the Old Bailey) it was concerning to hear of the increasing number from young age groups who are in the courts charged with knife crimes; if we could capture them early and direct them down appropriate routes, businesses like the leather industry is keen to offer them employment.
 

The Lord Mayor of the City of London will always visit China during their year of office. China is a major trading partner and inward investor in the UK. This year due to Covid restrictions this is not possible but the Lord Mayor made a virtual visit between March 21st – 24th. I accompanied  him as Sheriff as might have been the case if the visit were in person. This all took place in the Mansion House via brilliant technology and simultaneous translation. The purpose of the visit was to showcase the depth and breadth of the City’s offer as a leading international green/sustainable financial centre, to promote the UK as a leading investment management hub through the Global Investment Futures campaign and provide an update on how the UK is faring post Covid and post Brexit. The engagement ranged from seminars to fireside chats and engagement with a range of businesses and political leaders.
 
A summit on the Global Investment Futures campaign https://www.theglobalcity.uk/global-investment-futures   allowed me to remind the audience of the fundamental strengths of the City: a global outlook, a world-class business environment and a skilled and entrepreneurial workforce. In this regard the UK and China  have complementary strengths. Most important areas of note are the reach of UK Regulation and the way that UK regulators address new approaches resulting from disruptors in a way that does not stifle innovation but protects consumers – it is agile and coherent. As a lawyer, I was also keen to mention the strength of the UK for arbitration and its strong legal environment.  The UK also thrives with a multicultural talent resource which aids business set up and development. Our working environment is culturally and educationally strong. Another key element is the prominence of ESG in the minds of companies. It requires new ways of working and thinking and innovation. The UK and China have a very strong record of working together in innovation in sustainable and green finance. The UK leads in Asset Management globally in incorporating ESG considerations in metrics and disclosures. I did not fail to mention the Green Finance Institute and its ground-breaking work, where I sit as a non-executive director.
 
We met the Vice Mayor of Beijing YIN Yong at an important dialogue on sustainable investing in the UK. There was great representation from the Beijing Asset Management Association and the Beijing Financial Service as well as the main Chinese Banks.
 
Our last stop was with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and a three way conversation with the Chairman of Britcham HK Peter Burnett, the Lord Mayor and myself. We touched on sustainable finance, COP26, FinTech and Central Bank Digital Currencies. The Britcham HK is a very vibrant association and provided a chance to talk more extensively about the work of the City and liaison with Hong Kong. https://www.britcham.com/
 

I was delighted to be part of the Lord Mayor’s party to visit Liverpool on 25 February. The Lord Mayor’s year includes many visits overseas but also a growing number of regional visits to those UK cities that are closely involved with the Financial and Professional Services sector. I know well how connected Liverpool is. The legal firm that I first joined as an articled clerk, then known as Alsop Stevens Batesons & Co,  was a Liverpool/London firm, in that order. The business started in Liverpool in the mid-19th century and came to London in 1954. The work of the firm was rooted in the maritime and insurance world with some major banking clients as well.  That same mix of maritime and wealth management is strong in Liverpool today. The visit provided a great insight into that sector and into the education and research being carried out at the University of Liverpool and the innovation and growth happening on a major scale.
Any Mayoral visit hopes to meet the main leaders of the City and we were pleased to have meetings with the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram and the Civic Lord Mayor, Councillor Mary Rasmussen. Mayor Steve was keen to talk about the digital connectivity of the Liverpool area which would be a real driver for the region. Further links with London and potential private financing of new businesses and innovation could build a positive partnership. The Lord Mayor showed us the Town Hall which was built just 10 years after the City's Mansion House. It is not surprising that Liverpool's Georgian architecture has been much lauded. 
Our day started on the Waterside and coffee with Stephen Cowperthwaite of Avison Young and a member of the Professional Liverpool Board. He was very upbeat about the positive developments in the city including the Spine - said to be the UK's healthiest building. We were lucky enough to visit this landmark later in the day and see the accommodation that the Royal College of Physicians has taken as a second location outside London.  Such a good choice with the Knowledge Quarter burgeoning with medical and pharma occupiers. The new  Pandemic Institute is a global first and will stand alongside the work of  iiCON, the infection innovation consortium, that we visited.  This is led by Professor Janet Hemingway of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. We were shown state of the art facilities and learned about their development of products that will help reduce the burden of disease worldwide.
The University of Liverpool was also a key partner and we could see the benefit of this campus site in the centre of the City and the Knowledge Quarter.  The Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy was very much my interest and the science research here is just the sort of innovation needed to be financed to help mitigate rising carbon emissions. Solar power and a more efficient way of collecting and transmitting this with the possible use of perovskite solar cells was one lesson I learned ( hoping that I got the science right in this case).
I do not want to miss mentioning our visit to the Tate Liverpool to see an amazing range of works that included a hill village built of couscous and wallpaper paste as well as an image of our own City’s  London Bridge in Arizona.  The Tate has a significant outreach programme that clearly helps to build community links and provides education, job experience and employment.
Liverpool struck me as a very cohesive City, confident of their way forward and with strong leadership and aims.
 

Here you all are my Livery Companies - the Magnificent 7 and here am I YOUR SHERIFF. 
I don’t think that following the story line of those Magnificent 7 movies will bring much of a theme for my speech tonight. The Sheriff was corrupt and ends up dead like all bad sheriffs should do. I hope I am proving to be a good sheriff. 
​
As you will all know I love this City of London. I first visited for the anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society when I was about 11 or 12 and taken with my best friend Jane by my Sunday school teacher Mr Barnet to the Guildhall and it was packed with people, mainly children as I recall and there was an enormous cake that was cut to celebrate the anniversary. Childhood bliss. The cake that is and not the splendour of Guildhall What is entirely incredible is that the Ward of Dowgate that I have represented for the last 30 years was in fact  the location of the founding of the forerunner of the Bible Society and so a circle of links begins to turn.

That is one of the reasons that I love this City and that I chose the mobius strip or loop as the background to my shrieval badge. The continuity of that shape and the energy that such activity it embodies ;  I hope is a symbol or emblem of the way that I have tried to act in my professional,  personal and civic life.
So what is it I love?

It strikes me that however you arrive in the City on foot train bus or plane or helicopter  - it’s exciting

Coming over one of the City’s 5 bridges owned by the City Corporation trustee of the Bridge House Estates of which I am now the Deputy Chair again – you cannot but look up from your paper or iPhone and see the river flowing majestically beneath you – the tide coming in and out like the commuters and the renewing of the foreshore and the purpose as they arrive each day be it for work play or business.

Arriving from the north – down the hill just like Dick Whittington –That’s another link to my ward as he lived there and founded almshouses and the church and he left funds to create 64 long drops - equal numbers for men and women – he is my sort of hero-  although we all know that women need more facilities in order to avoid the queuing which I am sure happened even in medieval times

Once in the City who can but wonder at the eclectic mix of buildings crammed into such a small square mile.  Every variety of financial and professional service and supporting businesses; the churches with towers and spires pointing heavenward and, of course the Livery Halls that so many pass by without notice of their purpose or what or who  is happening inside. 

The spaces between are just as important - the roads and pavements parking bays cycle racks and e scooter and taxi ranks, the piazza and squares and the wonderful gardens and lawns under our feet or flying high in the air above us – public or private. The flora and fauna and precious buds and burgeoning bursts of life that amaze us.  The ponds ornamental water features lakes and drinking fountains.  Yes we have Hills – Ludgate and Cornhill and they are not artificial such as some neighbouring boroughs want to build and then demolish pretty smartish. 

And I haven’t even started on the people who are at the heart of this buzzing City.  They too reflect so many different backgrounds and purposes of this great metropolis.  I use the word reflect rather than represent as there are many not present or not in the profusion that they should be and that is a challenge we all need to address and a purpose we need to pursue together. 

And the Livery companies are part of the warp and weft of this City and not just a manufacturers label on the garment of the City. All of you are my Livery companies because you get the relevance of the Livery to our professions crafts and trades; our potential and outreach and our love of the Mayoralty and ceremonial. This runs true for the companies and for the added work such as that of the Livery Climate Action group.  No I have not missed the opportunity to discuss the need to protect this precious environment – a word that I use in its widest possible meaning. 

I do want to give huge vote of thanks to the members of the Livery Climate Action Group who are here “outwith” the Magnificent 7 and deserve all my thanks for all their hard work and positive response and assistance to the founding of the group and the bringing together of now over 40 Livery Companies as members.  Thank you and well done. 

Do you love this City? Can we all work together to make it better? Do we have arms wide enough to throw open to bring in and nurture the best talent? To lead the way in responsible business and creative and innovative solutions? To ensure we keep our place as the global financial centre with the ability to cascade the jobs and financial benefits throughout the UK.  Can we believe this?  I do and that’s what I love about this City and these people. 

So I return to the theme of the western – I do reckon that I could have been a good Sheriff then and prevented all those duels that start off   “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us.” You just need better town planning.