Tag Archives: city of london

The City and me

By Merlene Emerson | Tue 16th October 2018 - 8:55 am

Last week (9 October) I stood for the first time in the City of London elections in Castle Baynard ward that stretches from Fleet Street to Blackfriars, taking in St Paul’s Cathedral. It was a 3-week whirlwind of a campaign. The by-election was called as one of the Common Councilmen in the ward was elected as an Alderman elsewhere and created a vacancy. There were 8 of us contesting one place.

My fascination with the City started way back when I landed my first real job as an articled clerk in the City firm of Norton Rose and then working as a solicitor involved in securitisation and cross border finance. My renewed interest in the City came about when I tried to get on the board of governors of my sons’ independent school. No parent governors there. It was all in the hands of the Worshipful Company of the Mercers. This then led me to investigate the intriguing world of Livery Companies, only to discover that membership of the Mercers was closed (at least to me).

I persisted in my enquiry and 6 years ago joined a newer and more welcoming livery company, that of the World Traders in the year that Mei Sim Lai OBE DL became Master, the first Master of Chinese heritage in the City’s 800 history! Yes that would be the livery company for me.

Posted in Op-eds | 20 Comments

Jeremy Browne to tour Europe ahead of Referendum

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 2nd January 2016 - 10:45 am

I was lucky enough to visit Guildhall in London a couple of months back and spent a very enjoyable afternoon being shown round and hearing about its fascinating history. I had a lovely lunch, too. While in the dining room, I saw Jeremy Browne having a big lunch meeting. It wasn’t long after he’d been appointed as the City of London’s representative to the EU, a role which is right up his street after his stint as a foreign office minister during the Coalition.

Sky News reports that he’s heading off on a tour of EU capitals to showcase the importance of the city of London to the EU.