* FULLY BOOKED *

Installation Dinner

Thursday 31 October 2024

The Installation Dinner will be held on Thursday 31 October 2024, which will immediately follow and celebrate the installation of Elena Oderstone as our new Master.

Our Principal Guest is The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, who was installed as the 133rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral on 12th May 2018.  Bishop Sarah is the first woman to hold this historic office.  She will be speaking on 'Sustainability: The importance of connectivity and relationships in building a sustainable future'.

She sits in the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spirituals, was sworn as a member of the Privy Council on 14th March 2018, and became Dean of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal on 11 July 2019.

Bishop Sarah is a late ordinand.  Before ordination she was Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Patient Experience for England - she was the youngest person to ever hold these positions - and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for her contribution to nursing and midwifery.  She trained for the ministry at the South East Institute for Theologian Education and served her first curacy at Battersea Fields in Southwark Diocese from 2001 to 2006. From 2006 to 2012 she was Team Rector at Sutton in Southwark Diocese. From 2012 to 2015 she was Canon Residentiary and Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral before taking up her role in 2015 as Suffragan Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter.

Bishop Sarah is married to Eamonn and they have two children. She has continued her interest in the health service having been a non-executive director at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust then at Salisbury NHS Foundation Hospital. She is a novice potter.

Also speaking will be Alderman Alastair King DL, who will become the 696th Lord Mayor of London in November. He will be outlining his thoughts and plans for his mayoralty.  He will be accompanied by his wife Florence, the future Lady Mayoress.

Following his early career as a City of London lawyer, Alastair has had an entrepreneurial career in financial services. After a period working in early-stage Venture Capital, he started a successful Buy-Out vehicle with a colleague and then founded his own asset management house, specialising in global fixed income. Alastair serves on the board of five City of London-based financial services companies, four of which he chairs (he is the founder of two of them).

In his civic career Alastair has served as an elected representative for the Ward of Queenhithe continuously since 1999. He was appointed Deputy in 2006, elected as Alderman in 2016 and elected as Sheriff of London (2022-23). Alastair also has substantial involvement in the Livery movement, as well as serving as Chair of the British Liver Trust – the national liver charity - and supporting other charitable interests. Of proud Scottish heritage, Alastair was educated at Oundle and at the Universities of Bristol and Kent, the College of Law in London and the London Business School. His interests include boxing and hill walking in Scotland with his wife and their Italian Greyhound.

Grace will be said by The Reverend Canon Thomas Woodhouse, who is Chaplain of The King's Chapel of the Savoy within the Duchy of Lancaster, Chaplain of the Royal Victorian Order and Deputy Priest-in-Ordinary to HM The King.

The Mercers have occupied this site since 1347 when they acquired a meeting place in the Hospital of St Thomas of Acon, buying the rest of the buildings in 1542 following the hospital's closure in 1538. These buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, and the second hall was built in 1672-82 by John Oliver using plans drawn up by Edward Jarman. The Bank of England rented the Hall in 1694 as their first place of business and The East India Company used it as their head office in 1702. The Hall was destroyed on the last night of the Blitz in May 1941 and subsequently rebuilt in 1954-8 as part of an office block by E Noel Clifton of Gunton and Gunton, with Sir Albert Richardson as consultant. The current Hall incorporates fittings from the old Hall. with the mahogany-panelled Large Court Room and Dining Room containing carvings attributed to Grinling Gibbons.  The Mercers' Company is the only City Livery Company to have its own private chapel.

The Four Piece Salon Orchestra of the London Banqueting Ensemble will play during Installation Dinner and round off the evening with the ever popular Post Horn Gallop.

TIMINGS
1815        Reception
1850        Installation Dinner
2200        Stirrup Cup
2245        Carriages

BOOK NOW
Tickets cost £139 and you can now book places for yourself and your guests.
You are advised to book early due to the capacity of Mercers' Hall and please note that Pour Memoires are no longer sent out.

Liverymen are able to claim Tallage, which Court has increased to £50.
Any Freemen interested in becoming a Liveryman should contact the Clerk.

DRESS CODE
Black tie, Decorations, Livery Badges.

BOOKING DEADLINE
Please book your places by Friday 18 October.

LOCATION
Mercers' Hall, Ironmonger Lane, London  EC2V 8HE
View location

CEREMONIAL COURT
There will be a Ceremonial Court immediately before the Reception to formally admit new Freemen and enrobe new Liverymen.  At the end of Ceremonial Court our new Master and Wardens will be formally installed.

Ceremonial Court follows Installation Court and will start promptly at 1745.  All members and their guests wishing to support our new Freemen and Liverymen and see our new Officers being installed are welcome to attend.

If you are expecting to be admited as a Freeman or enrobed as a Liveryman please contact the Clerk to ensure that you are included.

FULLY BOOKED
Installation Dinner is now fully booked.
If you have not yet booked and would like to attend then please contact the Clerk.