Hands-on WCB has a lot to be proud of, liverymen are told

- have been told.

The Company is one of the seven oldest livery companies and has a unique relationship with the industry insofar as butchers have knowledge, a craft and skills very much needed in today's world, incoming Master Douglas Brydges said

The livery had been behind the establishment of the Institute of Meat immediately after the Second World War then the Meat Training Council.

"...it just illustrates a practical way in which our livery promotes professionalism in our industry," the new Master said. The merging of the Company's education committee with the Guild of Butchers - the idea of outgoing and immediate Past Master John Edkins - had given a clear direction to its education responsibilities in the broadest sense.

Brydges said that during his year he would seek to ensure a spirit of enjoyment flourished and that the Company continued to be at the very centre of the industry. His charity for the year, usually a tradition of the incoming Master, was the Company's own 400th anniversary to help Treloars School for handicapped children and the pre-natal clinic at St Barts Hospital.

Reporting on his "unforgettable year" as Master, John Edkins said there were a number of notable memories in the 202 engagements he had attended. The Company was "bang on target" in its tough objective of raising £400,000 over four years for its 400th anniversary appeal, having raised £150,000 so far.

His chosen charity, the Caron Keating Foundation, had also been well supported.

Elected to the Company Court

Master - Douglas Brydges

Wardens - Brian Wheatley, Jonathan Wheeler, Jeffrey Cedric Davies, Bernard Raymond Woodhouse, George Christopher Mark Adams. Assistants - William Joseph Parker, Colin Stuart Cullimore, George John Edkins, John Tuckwell, John Richardson, Ian Kelly, Robert John Charles Ensor, Nicholas John Anstee, Patricia Jane Dart, Stuart Peter John Thompson, Emma Mary Elizabeth Maybery, Geoffrey Michael Gillo, John Bryan Lloyd Cockburn, Mark Twogood, David John Westgate. Standing down - Michael Richardson, Peter Imison, Nicholas Franks.

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