Master’s message February 2026

Dear fellow Coachmakers,

February has been another busy, but fascinating month, and a productive one I am pleased to say.

It started well as Zoë and I, with the Clerk and the Senior Warden, on 2nd February attended the annual Saddlery Showcase at Saddler’s Hall. It is a great reminder that there are still a surprising number of craftsmen and women, in many cases quite young, in the business of making saddles, bridles and other harnesses in this country and beyond. It was a very impressive show, generously hosted by the Prime Warden of the Saddlers, and for the Senior Warden in particular, a good opportunity to have conversations about support other Liveries and the harness world may provide in our 350th year.

On 5th February we had our next candidate dinner at the Guildhall, organised by the Membership Committee chaired by Sir Kevin Leeson together with the Clerk. Once again, the calibre of potential Liverymen the committee is putting forward is excellent, and as a result of the dinner we proposed six very impressive candidates to the Court for election, including three under 35.

The next day I had the pleasure of joining the Motor Centenary Awards team at the Royal College of Art in Battersea to interview candidates for the award, and for the Sir William Lyons design award. Committee Chairman Giles Taylor, himself a past winner of the award, had looked through portfolios of potential candidates in advance, so we had presentations from three RCA Masters’ students, two from Coventry University and two from Swansea. We decided on a winner from the RCA and recognised strong presentations from the other two; Liveryman Michael Quinn, grandson of Sir William Lyons, confirmed a winner from Coventry and we also were pleased to confirm a winner from Swansea. They will receive bursaries to help them on the next stage of their studies and careers, and I look forward to presenting the three winners with their awards at the Automotive Dinner on 25th March.

This allows me to segue nicely into reminding you that one of our major dinners of the year, the Automotive Dinner, will take place on 25th March in the impressive surroundings of Vintners’ Hall. The calling notice went out some time ago, and I am happy to say that bookings have been coming in fast, so please don’t miss this annual highlight of our automotive industry connection. Our guest speaker will be Liveryman Duncan Wiltshire. Duncan is the Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club (RAC). He is also an engineer, Chairman of the pre-eminent historic race series organiser Motor Racing Legends and a highly respected figurehead in the historic motor racing scene. He is a former President of the Bentley Drivers’ Club (BDC).

As I keep reminding you, I think it is appropriate that every liveryman attends at least one dinner each year, so if you are a ‘car person’ this is the one for you!

I hope to see you at an event soon,

Richard