Managing Company business can be complex, time consuming and often specific to the meat industry. Delegating decision making and actions to a range of committees is the most effective way of ensuring business is conducted efficiently given the level of resources available.
Members of Court are nominated, annually, to serve on specific committees bearing in mind individual areas of expertise. The rotation of responsibilities between the individual committees is designed to ensure a breadth of experience for Assistants and Wardens as they progress within Court.
Liverymen with particular subject matter knowledge can be co-opted depending on the needs of the committee.
Monthly reporting ensures the Court is aware and is able to ratify committee decisions.
In anticipation of the variety of new challenges and changes we face as a business we restructured and refocussed the committees during a series of Court Away Days in 2018 and these were endorsed and introduced at Common Hall in September.
The Executive Committee
Chaired by The Master
The Executive Committee is responsible for managing and directing the Company in all aspects of Livery and Commercial business.
Our focus is to guarantee the sustainability of the organisation, generate a profit from the refurbished Butchers’ Hall, underpin our position at the heart of the meat industry, maintain respect within the City of London while actively supporting charities, education and the Armed Services.
As the name suggests it is the organisation’s senior committee and all engagement with Court first flows through it. The Clerk attends, as CEO of the Company.
Nominations Committee
Chaired by The Master
The Nominations Committee comprises the senior leaders of the Company, including a senior Past Master. Its purpose is to ensure the Court receives the best talent available from qualifying Liverymen to ensure it remains an effective governing body for the Livery.
Annual appraisals of Court members ensures performance is consistent and maintained.
Its responsibilities include ensuring correct procedures and documentation for nominations and elections are followed. The annual process for nominating qualifying Liverymen, those who have served as Liverymen for 13 years to become Court Assistants, begins in January and completes in early July every year when the successful nominees’ names are advised to Court for election at Common Hall in September.
Finance Committee
Chaired by Warden Tony Stanton
The Finance Committee is responsible for the finances of the Livery, including expenditure by other committees, and of Butchers’ Hall.
We don’t enjoy the wealth of many other Livery Companies and our focus is very much on monitoring expenditure to get optimal value for money, structuring budgets and maximising income from the Hall.
Our role, from the Livery perspective, the essence of the Worshipful Company of Butchers and its Liverymen, is to ensure that all the functions we hold are financially viable and that charges including subscriptions, fines and ticket prices are at a sustainable level for the Livery Company and for Liverymen. We seek to ensure that all costs are controlled and challenged where necessary.
The commerciality of Butchers’ Hall is vital to the future of our Livery Company. Responsibility for negotiating the loan for the re-development, monitoring costs and, going forward, for the financial sustainability of the Hall rests with the Finance Committee. Maximising the rental income from office space on the 3rd and 4th floors and the revenue from our venue management contract are also a major focus.
Enterprise Team
Chaired by Warden Steve Chick
The role of the Enterprise Team is to generate funds for the development of the Livery and Butchers’ Hall, and to seek to rejuvenate the important Fellowship aspects of the Livery. Meeting, in the main, virtually, the team actively generates, manages and implements ideas for generating funds while seeking to add to the unique fellowship our Livery Company prides itself on.
The Events and Engagement team are a sub-committee, led by Warden Steve Chick, which creates and manages a programme of events of differing sizes, providing Liverymen with opportunities to enjoy a range of activities together. Ensuring Liverymen are engaged and participate is vitally important and so everything is closely monitored to maximise attendance and promote fellowship in the City of London and nationally.
Events are advertised through emails, the Company website and Newsletter with a broad range of activities ranging from unique and spectacular one-off events in venues such as Guildhall, The Museum of London and Warwick Castle, alongside our annual events which include a Company race day, a Charity Golf Day, Poker Championships, Livery Croquet Matches, a Master’s Charity Banquet in early Summer, the special and unique Boar’s Head Ceremony with the Lord Mayor and a special private guided tour of St Paul’s Cathedral. During the current pandemic, the focus has moved to hosting virtual events.
Keep an eye on Company invitation emails and the website for dates and details.
House and Fine Arts Committee
Chaired by Junior Assistant Bill Thurston
This Committee, the successor to the Interior Design Committee, undertakes largely the same role but has a wider remit. Firstly House is monitoring carefully not only the expenditure of maintaining the Hall but reviewing the many issues that arise. This has proven not to be an easy thing to accomplish following the Hall refurbishment combined with the pandemic and inflation.
The Fine Arts section dovetails with above but focus is on looking after the usage and placement of Company artefacts and paintings in the Hall carefully and tastefully maintaining the balance between being the spiritual home of Liverymen and an attractive, top class conference and events venue in the City of London. Additionally the Fine Arts Committee have developed a digital database ensuring all items in the Hall have a pictorial and written description and where possible proving historic background.
Should any liveryman reading this be interested in helping us with the next long term stage of archiving starting with The Metropolitan Archives could you please let the Clerk's office know.
Butchers' Hall Venue Management Board
Chaired by Warden Tim Stone
This committee is responsible for the day to day running of the venue management aspects of Butchers’ Hall. Meeting regularly the committee is responsible for the trading aspects of the relationship with Bovingdons, our venue management partner. Activities include reviewing performance, bookings, the development & management of the marketing and communication strategy with a view to maximising revenue from the Hall.
The venue management website is accessed as a part of the existing butchershall.com site while other specific, targeted activities, designed to appeal to and capture the existing commercial market in the City of London, continue to help promote Butchers’ Hall as the venue of choice.
We are seeking to develop relationships with organisations in the meat industry with a view to becoming the preferred supplier in London for conferences and meetings, as well as Lunches and Dinners. The return of our famous Carvery Lunches has been well received by Liverymen and members of the public.
It's very important that Liverymen remember that this is very much our Hall and we urge all to help generate business, either personally, or company related - we need your help to secure our future.
Charities and Education Committee
Chairman Warden Gwyn Howells
Charity is one of the key areas the Worshipful Company of Butchers engages with. This Committee is responsible for the important task of managing the funds donated within the Livery structures to those charities and good causes selected against a range of established criteria and objectives. It also coordinates our important Armed Forces’ engagement activity.
Revenue is derived from the separate Charities and Education funds which is administered by the Worshipful Company of Butchers and allocated on an annual basis. A reserve is held to cover interim requests for assistance.
We aim, wherever possible, to involve ourselves further with the recipients adding experience, expertise and business contacts to add extra value to the financial contribution. The Committee appoints “Champions” to manage the relationships who then work closely with our recipients.
As a trial, we added a Children’s Hospice to the range of charities and the Noah’s Ark Hospice was the beneficiary. Such was the success of the venture that we aim to support a different Children's Hospice each year. Liverymen are being invited to nominate a Hospice for selection.
In early 2019 the three year Major Charity Review commenced. We had eight applications all sponsored by Liverymen. This number was reduced to a final four after an intense first round vetting session.
Each Charity supported by their Liveryman made a presentation to the Committee towards the end of September 2019. All four made strong applications, with the unanimous winners being Teach First alongside Meningitis Now.
The new three year cycle started on 1st January 2020.
The two main charities currently receiving funds are Farms for City Children and Teach First.
We currently support:
Charities
- Farms for City Children
- Teach First
- The Poppy Factory
- The Lord Mayor of London’s Appeal
- Treloar Trust
- The Parish of St Bartholomew the Great
- St Paul's Cathedral Foundation
- Kings School Bruton
Education
- FTC - Trailblazer Apprentice Scheme
- Institute of Meat - Prize Giving
- International Young Butcher
- Defence Catering Competition
- Livery Schools Showcase - Guildhall
- Harper Adams University Summer School
- Harper Adams University Food Lab
- Nuffield Scholar
- World Butchery Challenge
Recruitment and New Membership Committee
Chaired by Warden Peter Allen
The lifeblood of the Worshipful Company of Butchers is its Liverymen and this Committee is charged with attracting new members and creating a structure that is relevant to today’s industry. Be it events, PR, communications and marketing, we have a compelling proposition to anyone connected with the meat industry. Our job is to make sure it is heard.
Our Committee members are also focussed on providing a framework that will appeal to and attract younger members. The new Young Butchers' Club has been set up to help young professionals working in the meat industry become more involved with the WCB and to form a pathway to becoming Liverymen in the future. In turn, our aim is to support those looking to progress in their chosen careers through mentoring and education.
Interviewing potential new members after they have been proposed by a Liverymen and seconded by a member of Court is also one of the Committee’s key responsibilities.
Marketing and Communications Group
The team is responsible for providing the marketing and communications input into specific, large scale projects to improve the image of WCB through effective communications with Liverymen and third parties.
Subject matter experts are co-opted on an ad hoc basis with actions and outputs being agreed and presented virtually.
Industry Engagement Committee
Chaired by Junior Assistant Stuart Roberts
This Committee comprises a working group of Court members, Liverymen and Freeman of the Company, appointed by The Master. The purpose of the group is to promote, encourage and engage with a wide meat industry audience; in order to place the Livery at the heart of its industry.
A virtual and physical events programme will feature key industry speakers to stimulate discussion and instigate topical debate, which is both relevant and important to all that work in the meat trade.