Today  July 4th was my Installation and my wife Lis and I are so proud and honoured by this .The ceremony and lunch all went smoothly . I was especially pleased that Pamela Taylor CEO of Water UK gave an inspiring after lunch speech . I really do recommend that you read it on the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators  or Water UK websites .We really do need to build our connections with the water sector and we look forward to doing more things with Water UK . Rather than repeat all my ideas and thoughts I think that it might be more efficient if I just reproduce my speech . But before I do so , can I say quite genuinely that I would not be doing this today if it had not been for a wide circle of friends in the Company . Thank you .Together we can  do some great things .

MASTERS  INSTALLATION  LUNCH SPEECH TALLOW CHANDLERS HALL JULY 4^TH 2012

Wardens,Mr Alderman Liverymen, Ladies & Gentlemen

Thank you Pamela for a most insightful speech and for your kind words.  The resonates very well with the aspirations of  our company .

I invited Pamela to speak to us today  because  one of my objectives is to strengthen the link between our company and the water industry.  I hope that you will agree with me in saying that this was a very  successful first step.

We will publish her speech on our website and other locations.  If you want to read it at your leisure  you can do so.

May I thank our Deputy Master Barry Dennis for his leadership over the past year.  I am sure that you will agree with me that he will be a hard act to follow.  His generosity in his gift of a Master’s Goblet is deeply appreciated and provides a lasting reminder of his year.  I acknowledge that Barry and his wife Jan are true water conservators having been on the River for many hours in our cutter in the Jubilee Thames Pageant.

May I now welcome the Wardens installed today , Ivor Richards who is the Thames Warden, Roger North as Fleet Warden and Peter Hall, the latest recruit to the Wardens team as Walbrook Warden.  I know that we are going to make a great team working together.  Teamwork will be one of my key objectives for the year. 

I think that water management  has much to offer the wider business and social  communities. We should not just to be good at what we do, but we should be role models. Water has always been at the heart of society and indeed our motto – without water there is no life- demonstrates this.  Never has a time felt so right, when we have the subjects of flood and drought in  people’s minds, for us to be at the forefront of society championing the virtues and benefits of water conservation.

A second objective is to draw together tradition and innovation. Creating new traditions to add to the old  if you like, and this was an underlying theme in Pamela’s speech.

A third objective is to engage with the membership to create new ways of working together and this resonates with my second objective  of teamworking. I want as many members as possible to be active in my year.  Not only  do I hope that  members of the Company will  feel satisfied by this, but  that it will act as a beacon of attraction for new members .

I will develop and elaborate on these themes at future events.  I will not be accounting to you for all of my activities on your behalf in luncheon speeches,  but in the spirit of moving forward I have taken a deep gulp and Lis and I will be using modern social media and we will  keeping a blog going through our  year – but not beyond. The address is http://masterwaterconservator.blogspot.co.uk.

We  are planning some great events this year . We have the visit to the Globe theatre in Sept. , a Carol Service on Dec 11.  But much more important,  please let me know what you would like to do and if you would like to be involved in the planning.

We will be having a great time in Cromer the weekend after next if you want to come at this   stage we will try to fit you in but we cannot guarantee it .

The retiring collection  today will be for the Hackney Carriage Drivers Disney trip – so please give generously.

The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers organise a trip to Disneyland Paris on a three-day trip of a lifetime for children with life threatening diseases. A convoy of over 100 London taxis, escorted by the Police, London Ambulance Service and A.A. assist throughout the trip.

They are  planning their nineteenth event to Disneyland Paris, and it is by the support of the Livery, general public and corporate sponsors that they  are able to undertake such an event. 

The families involved are unable to take holidays alone because of the children’s health.  This  support to gives them peace of mind and allows them to  enjoy a break from treatment and therapy. The drivers give their vehicles and time freely and the event is organised by unpaid volunteers.  3500 children have benefited from the trip.

You heard from Court Assistant Keith Tozzi in his welcome that we have the winner of our Company Dissertation Prize with us today.  Please can   Lucinda Gale  come forward to receive her prize for the  dissertation: 'Empowering individual carbon footprint reduction:  Development of a tool to assess the impact of lifestyle choices on carbon footprint and to personalise emission reduction alternatives” - which she submitted in fulfilment of her degree of Master of Science in Climate Change Impacts and Sustainability at Brunel University Institute for the Environment. Congratulations .May I take this opportunity to Welcome Alan Kay the MD of Costains who was admitted to the Freedom of the Company this morning.  Alan was instrumental in arranging sponsorship for the Brunel Lectures which are now one of our annual highlights in our programme.

It is an honour for me to offer congratulations to Past Master Colin Drummond for the award of an OBE in the Birthday Honours list. Unfortunately he cannot be with us today.   It is well deserved and brings credit to us all.  And whilst on the topic of congratulations please can you join with me thanking and congratulating Court Assistant Sue Paterson who did a sponsored City abseil down the Lloyds Building  recently.  However I think that in being our webmaster she found it easy to spider her way down the side of the building. 

Thank you to the Company for electing me . Lis and I are deeply honoured and we will do everything we can in our year for the Company.  Finally thank to all of you for coming today and in particular thank you to Pamela once again.

May God go with you and may we wish you all a safe journey home.  See you in Sept at the Michaelmas Court and lunch.