Master Water Conservator

The Worshipful Company of Constructors held its Awards Dinner at Haberdasher’ Hall on 9 February. This is normally an annual event when Awards are given for outstanding work by young people in the Constructors’ Armed Forces affiliates and in the construction community. Candidates for affiliate Awards are nominated by the respective Commanding Officers of: 101 Engineer Regiment (EOD), the Shafting and Shoring Cup ; HMS Lancaster Award, and 5001 Squadron RAF, Air Commodore DOW Trophy. Constructors’ awards were made to Lauren Webster (David Tong Cup (LSBU)) and Mariella Springford (the Constructors Prize). The keynote speech and Toast to the ‘Company’ was given by Suzannah Nichol MBE, CEO Build UK. The Master Constructor, Arthur Seymour, concluded the evening with a Toast to the Guests. My thanks go to the Master and Constructors’ Company for a very enjoyable evening.

  Our first visit this year was to the Oxfam Supply Centre , located in a warehouse in Bicester. The Centre has a team of dedicated staff and provides Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) technologies, procurement, warehousing and export logistics. Oxfam takes the international lead for WASH in Disaster and Emergency Services (DES) and Emergency Management, a collective effort to help prevent and minimise the seriousness of emergencies and disasters. The Supply Centre is registered as a Known Consignor and the facility and staff have been pre-cleared to enable the cargo to be dispatched at short notice by airfreight, without the need for further security checks. It purchases, stores and distributes emergency humanitarian equipment for Oxfam programmes and other charities. Visits are made under strict supervision. Justin Hartree (see above) met us and explained what the facility does and illustrated this by showing Oxfam’s (and his) role in bringing sanitation to the vast Rohingy

  Present and future Livery Company Masters and Consorts were invited to the Drapers’ Hall on 7 February for a get-together dinner by Erica Stary, inter alia , Past Master Plumber and Sheriff contender. The purpose was to allow people to meet and discuss how they were managing to recover from the pandemic, and to get to know one another. The Principal Guest was Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli who pointed to the strengths of the Livery, when working together, and the opportunities opening up in the future. He was followed by Erica Stary, now Upper Warden of the Tin Plate Workers Company, who thanked everybody, over 200 guests, for coming and demonstrating the will to move on. The Master Draper was thanked for hosting the event. The event was extraordinary and welcome, as we move forward to a full year of City engagement.

The January 2022 webinar drew a large audience from the Company, City and beyond, as Water Conservator Professor Simon Spooner, Principal Consultant, Infrastructure at Atkins, presented The Future Potential Of District Heating Systems For Major Cities - how new and existing cities can deal with the Climate Change challenges of supplying water and energy and achieving net zero. Simon discussed a number of options drawn from practical experience overseas that may have possibilities in the UK. He described the potential for district heating and cooling systems to help the City meet its climate change target of Net Zero by 2040, pointing out that a start had already been made. Hidden behind the attractive, listed facades of the Port of London A uthority and the Central Cold Store, are tri-generation networks, like E.ON’s Citigen . This hidden power station supplies decentralized district energy, a lower carbon and cost-efficient source of energy, right in the heart of the City. This