Page 11 - A4 Journal 2020

The Company

On Tuesday 14th July 2020, Diana Chrouch and Paul Singh held an urgent virtual public consultation entitled ‘The impact of
COVID-19 on Young People in Construction: Rebuilding the Construction Industry’. The event, kindly supported by
construction lawyers Silver Shemmings Ash, was organised by the Company due to concerns that young people were being
underserved and had only received government support relatively late on. Over 150 people signed up to hear a number of
accounts and experiences from a mixed panel of experts and diverse young leaders in the construction industry.
The discussion was facilitated by Caroline Gumble, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and
a number of leading industry experts were also included in the panel including Ann Bentley of the Construction Leadership
Council. The public were also invited to take part via a number of polls administered at different times during the virtual
event.
The findings from the event are currently forming the basis of a report for policy makers which will be published during the
Autumn.

LOCKDOWN – A “CLERK’S EYE” VIEW
Well, we have all had many changes to deal with over the past 6 months. As someone who predominately
“works from home” as a matter of normal daily routine there was initially little noticeable change to my life,
except, of course not having to enjoy South Western Railways and the tube. At first my time was spent trying
to reorganize as many events as possible and to push them to the right in the hope that Covid would be like
SARS and effectively over in a matter of months.
The day to day running of the Company has not changed noticeably. Election Committee interviews went
ahead, as did General Purposes Committee, Privilege’s Committee, Charity Committee, the Company’s
Executive Committees and Court. In the period since lockdown 13 people have joined the Company and all this has been
facilitated by a pretty steep learning curve on “Zoom”. We have missed the face to face meetings and the personal fellowship
which is such an important part of the Livery but here too, Gary Jackson, Stewart Owen and their “VINE” meetings every two
weeks have proved invaluable in providing a mix of practical support and general contact.
Also in this time the Company has selected its first three “Junior Court Assistants” (Stewart Owen, Paul Singh & Ruth
Wilkinson) who will be installed during the December Court. This is a big change for the Company in the make up of Court
allowing Liverymen to serve for three, years before either going on to a permanent position or returning to the Livery and
perhaps being asked to join Court in a permanent position later as their careers allow. Another three will be selected in 2021
and a further three in 2022.
This in its own way led to a review of Court robes badges etc. In this we discovered that 3 Honorary Court Assistants (HCA)
had the wrong robes and thus I had to get an HCA robe to Oxford for Walters to Copy. This was done as soon as restrictions
started to relax. We now have all the gowns and badges that we will need to implement the new Court structure through to
2022.
Once it became obvious that even the delayed SCW Banquet and Master’s Weekends were lost, it was necessary to look
closely at how we can save as much of the next Master’s programme as possible and how we can install the New Master with
due ceremony.

As you will have seen the Installation will now be just involving the Master, Master Elect, their Wives, the Hon Chaplain, Beadle
and myself with a few personal guests of the Master Elect (we are limited to 30 max in the Church). The Company will be able
to view via Zoom. The Installation dinner will take the place of the Livery & Awards dinner in February 2021 and the L&A will
move to 7 April 2021.
So as you can see, whilst certain events have not taken place others have stepped in to ensure that the Clerk has had less
time than you might image to enjoy a quiet G&T in the sun!

Event Feedback

As those of you who attend our various events will already know, we always seek your opinion on how well the function
meets your requirements and wishes. However, the feedback activity has been somewhat curtailed this year due to the
cancellation of many of our events, so there is really insufficient data for a meaningful analysis to take place. Hopefully this
will not be the case next year.
It is, however, probably worth saying that the various on-line events have been well-supported, albeit with by perhaps a
different group of people, and have done much to further fellowship during these stressful times.
Readers may rest assured that the Company remains committed to providing a broad ranging, stimulating and enjoyable
social programme for its members. Measurement and discussion of feedback is key to understanding the reaction and
wishes of the membership, and DOES influence the future programme.

Autumn 2020 | The Journal of the Worshipful Company of Constructors | Page 11