A letter from the Editor November 2025

Dear readers,

For the first time, as your Editor, sitting at my desk, staring at the fantastic line-up of all these articles for this month, I find myself speechless. What shall I write about?

What a month it has been. The Lady Mayor’s Show, Audit Court, Aerospace Industry Dinner, Remembrance Day Service – you name it. And soon, landing fresh on your doorstep, will be the new edition of our Company’s annual publication The Coachmaker – Our Livery Year 2025/26, a reflection of who we are and what we have achieved together during the past Livery year.

Also, I’m very pleased to inform you, at the Audit Court, the Communications Committee’s proposal for the Company’s official Instagram account was approved, and preparations are already under way for our “Road to 350” social media campaign on both LinkedIn and Instagram. A busy month indeed.

As if that weren’t enough, beyond our own walls the nation is poring over the newly announced Chancellor’s budget, while across the Atlantic, friends and family are gathering for Thanksgiving.

There’s a story I often think about when the Company moves into its busy season – one about a small Swiss village high in the mountains. Life there was rarely simple. Snowstorms arrived without warning, paths vanished overnight, and the only way people made it through the winters was by relying on one another. Not because they always agreed – but because they understood something deeper: progress comes not from perfect alignment, but from shared trust.

The Swiss call this “governance by consensus”. It’s consensus shaped by patience, mutual respect, and a deep understanding of the importance of preserving unity even when views differ.

In many ways, as a community of people with varied talents, temperaments and characters, our Livery is not so different from that mountain village. I see the same spirit every day.

It appears in the guidance offered to new members, the encouragement shared freely, the time gifted without ceremony.

It lives in the way disagreements are handled: with civility, generosity, and the confidence that trust matters more than triumph.

We don’t thrive simply because we have committees, events, or charitable aims, but because people show up – steadily, reliably, generously. That is what binds us. The Master in his message this month has very much emphasised this sentiment.

So, as we wrap up this exceptionally busy month and step into the next (can you hear the jingle bells?), let us remember that our strength lies not in perfect alignment, but in shared purpose. Not in unanimous agreement, but in mutual trust. And, fittingly in the week of Thanksgiving, not only in what we accomplish, but in the gratitude we hold for those who help us accomplish it.

Thank you for being part of that journey.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Your grateful editor,
Lyn