The Court is essentially the Board of the Livery Company. It consists of the Officers, plus a number of Court Assistants. You can read more about the Court here.

The Court of WCoBM is essentially the Board of Company and consists of the Officers plus a number of Court Assistants. The Bylaws attached to our Royal Charter stipulate that the total membership of the Court must be no fewer than 12 and no more than 27 persons. Past Masters can remain on the Court as full voting members for 15 years after they have been Master, or longer if they are continuing to serve on a Committee. After that time, they may still attend Court meetings but do not have a vote.

New Court Assistants emerge from among the Liverymen: following discussion in the Court, Liverymen (usually of some years’ standing) may be invited to join the Court. In agreeing to do so, they are also agreeing to progress to be Master at some point. We have recently also introduced a category of fixed-term Court Assistants, who serve on the Court for a period of three years without embarking on the progression towards being Master.

The Court meets four times a year, usually in January, March, June and September. In addition, there are two ‘Courts General’, to which all Liverymen and Freemen are summoned. One of these is the Election Court General, usually held in April, at which officers for the ensuing year are elected; the other is the Installation Court General, held in October, when the elected officers are duly installed. Courts General are also the occasions when Freemen can be made up to Liverymen, having been admitted as Freemen at an ordinary Court meeting.

To help facilitate the governance of the Company, there are a number of Committees, each chaired by a Court member, which report at Court meetings:

The Master’s Committee
The Master’s Committee consists of the officers and one or two Past Masters and is designed to support the Master, offer advice when requested, and generally act as a sounding board. It provides a forum for the Master to explore ideas and to discuss any particularly confidential or difficult problems that might arise before they go to the Court.

Charities
Donations by our Charitable Fund are dealt with by the Charities Committee, under the chairmanship of the Almoner. Current Chair: JC Moore

Development
This Committee looks ahead to consider the future development of the Company and considers the strategic implications of any suggested new initiative, as requested by the Court. Current Chair: GJ Hopkins

Education & Training
Actively promotes career opportunities and career development within our industry. This includes close involvement with various educational initiatives, such as the Livery Schools Link, Building People and Construction Youth Trust, and industry organisations such as the BMF and NMBS. This Committee also oversees the Bursary funding that supports individuals and companies in need of financial support to develop their careers or businesses. Current Chair: LM Di Stazio

Election
Selecting new members and monitoring their progression from Freemen to Liverymen. If you have suggestions of possible recruits into the Company, please do not mention to the individual concerned that you are going to recommend them, but first speak to the Chairman of the Election Committee. Current Chair: AB Williamson

We are looking for people who have achieved distinction or have achieved senior roles within the industry, and who we believe would be keen to embrace the objectives of the Livery movement. If agreed by the Election Committee and endorsed by the Court, the individual concerned will be approached. Current Chair: AB Williamson

Events and Marketing
Responsible for the overseeing and planning of the programme of annual events, as well as having oversight of the marketing and PR work undertaken on our behalf by JKW PR & Marketing. Current Chair: SM Boyer

Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Committee
The objective of this Committee is to provide the Company with clear guidance as to how we should evolve/adapt in a changing environment with regard to any areas associated with ESG. The Committee has developed and will continually review the Company’s ESG Policy and Climate Action Plan. Where necessary, it will recommend actions to the Court on how the Company can reduce its carbon impact. Current Chair: S Dunkley

Finance
The over-riding objective of this Committee is to assist the Court and the Bursar in ensuring that the Company continues to grow and evolve on a sound financial basis with proper adherence to financial regulations. Current Chair: JE Langford

 

The Chairmen of each Committee are appointed by the Court and can serve for up to seven years (two terms of three years each, with the possibility of serving for one further year).

Besides Court Assistants, each Committee includes a number of Liverymen and the Terms of Reference also include the possibility of co-opting other members of the Livery as need arises. All the Committees are directly responsible to the Court, much of the business at each Court meeting being taken up with reports from the various Committees.

Individual Court members are also appointed to oversee and report on our various affiliations and external liaisons – such as with the Third Battalion of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, the Beckenham and Penge Sea Cadets’ Unit, HMS Forth, The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and the Construction Liveries Group.

Trustees
The Trustees, who must abide by charity law, are responsible for the financial health of the Company’s Charitable Fund; this includes overseeing its investments, which currently stand at over £2,100,000. The current investment advisers are Quilter Cheviot. The Trustees are appointed by the Court, but the Charitable Fund is a separate registered charity and the Trustees must act in its best interests. The Master is appointed as a Trustee for his/her year, and the other Trustees are usually Past Masters.

Honorary Liverymen
We currently have three Honorary Liverymen: Dame Fiona Woolf and Alderman Dr Sir Andrew Parmley, both former Lord Mayors of London; and General The Lord Dannatt, former Constable of HM Tower of London.

Ward Connections
Our postal address at Cutlers’ Hall is within The Ward of Farringdon Within. Various Liverymen are also members of the Candlewick Ward Club (our Honorary Liveryman Dame Fiona Woolf having previously been the Alderman of Candlewick). Ward Clubs run various interesting events and offer another way of being involved in the life of the City. Company members who would like to know more about membership of either or both of these Ward Clubs should contact the Clerk.

If you would like to get involved in any of the Committees, please contact the Clerk, Master or one of the Wardens.

Website and Members-only Area
Most of the information about the Worshipful Company of Builders’ Merchants and the wider Livery movement is housed online at www.wcobm.co.uk and can be viewed by both members and the general public.

There is also a members-only area, to which access is granted on becoming a Freeman. Members can either register directly or contact our Clerk for a password.

In the members’ area you are able to, among other things, complete/update your Member profile and find details of and make contact with your fellow Liverymen and Freemen. The Company’s full accounts are also posted to the Members’ area.

 

As a member of the WCoBM you will receive a monthly eBulletin, sent directly to your email, which includes the latest Livery and City news. The emails will be sent to the address listed on your Member Profile on the website, so please make sure you keep this information up to date.

The Company also issues a bi-annual Newsletter in the Summer and Winter of each year, which includes more information on the Company’s most recent activities.

The News page on this website will also be regularly updated with more information. 

The support of good causes is a key part of any Livery Company, and all Liverymen are asked to make an annual donation to our Charitable Fund, via an annual personal Standing Order which, along with a completed Gift Aid Declaration, enables Gift Aid to be claimed from the government to enhance your generous donation.

You may also have ideas for events, items to be included in the Newsletter, charities you would like to see supported. If there are particular charities you are connected with and that you would like to be considered for a donation from the Company’s Charitable Trust, please contact the Clerk in the first instance.

The Annual Programme of events for the next 12 months is published in December/early January, and Liverymen/Freemen are encouraged to attend as many events as they can to support the Company.

As a Liveryman, it is expected that you will attend the Election and Installation Courts (held in April and October respectively), and the City and Awards Luncheon – the latter being a particularly good opportunity to invite younger colleagues in the industry and introduce them to our Company.

In addition, there is the ever-popular Carol Service and Supper in early December and the annual Choral Evensong (also known as the Annual Divine Service) in April/early May, both being held in the ancient surroundings of the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the HM Tower of London.

‘Common Hall’, when the two Sheriffs and the Lord Mayor are elected on two separate occasions each year, are big Livery-wide events which Liverymen are welcome to attend; likewise with the United Guilds Service at St Paul’s Cathedral, when the Cathedral is packed with members from every Livery Company in the City.

In practice, few Liverymen are able to attend these day-time events every year, but you are encouraged to attend whenever you can and it is certainly worth making the effort to do so.

In order to qualify for inclusion on the Common Hall Register and thus to vote at elections in Common Hall, a Liveryman must have been a member of our Company since before 31 May 2021.

In addition to the main Livery events for each Master’s year, each Master also organises a number of smaller visits to interesting places, and during their year will also invite Liverymen to a Master’s Weekend, which is held at a venue of their choice, usually in the area where they are based.

Details of the Company’s full annual Calendar of events can be viewed on the Events section of our website. Initially the information will be limited to the date/time/place of the event, with more information being added nearer the time, once a Calling Notice has been issued and tickets can be booked.

Booking tickets to Events
You can book tickets to any of our events online via our website.

Appropriate dress at events is a question that often arises. The guiding principle is to err on the side of the formal.

Unless it is specifically cited as a casual event, the appropriate dress code will involve wearing a jacket/suit and tie (for men).

For the assistance of members, the dress for functions is also indicated in the Annual Programme of events, with dress varying between Evening Dress (white tie), Dinner Jackets (black tie) and Lounge Suits and ties, depending on the occasion.

‘White Tie’ for men means a black cut-away tail coat, black trousers, white bow tie, stiff white wing-collar shirt, and stiff white waistcoat. Cummerbunds are not worn. Black patent leather evening shoes should be worn if possible.

‘Black tie’ for men means black dinner jacket and trousers, black shoes, white shirt and black bow-tie.  If a cummerbund is worn, it should be black.  Coloured bow-ties or waistcoats should not be worn. 

‘Mess Dress’ for those to whom it is applicable & decorations.

For ladies, ‘white tie’ generally means long dresses, though mid-calf length is also acceptable.  It is not necessary to wear black dresses; indeed, colour is encouraged.  It is usual in the City to have shoulders covered.

All Liverymen and Freemen are expected to wear their Livery badge whenever attending a Livery event, or when attending an industry event on behalf of the Livery.