The Merchant Taylors’ Company is very excited to announce the launch of this year’s Livery Academy Awards competition.
Jane Hindle, Education Manager for the Taylors said,
Former Master Grocer and competition founder Henry Colthurst was the star guest at last week’s kick-off meeting, which brought together our mentors, judges and school leads to hear how the competition works. The next day, our mentors – all young Freemen and Liverymen from the Company – met their teams for the first time. Among much fun and friendly rivalries beginning, there was serious discussion of this year’s climate change theme, and of the ideas for a product or service that each team must present a compelling business case for.
Despite the geographical spread of the three schools taking part – Foyle College in Derry/ Londonderry, St Saviour’s & St Olave’s School in Southwark and Wallingford School in Oxfordshire – we hope that our mentors will get to meet their teams in person over the coming weeks. The impact of these meetings and this mentoring will continue well beyond the competition, doing exactly what our Engage with Education scheme, through which our mentors and judges volunteered, is designed to do: strengthen the links between the Company and education, and harness the power of our members’ experience and expertise to benefit pupils and schools.
Talking of judges, we have a formidable team standing ready to assess the three presentations at our Merchant Taylors’ Heat. Their backgrounds range across many aspects of business, from the UK’s largest trade association for financial services to the forensic analysis of start-ups on The Apprentice. Our teams will be ready to pitch with confidence and tackle the judges’ questions with aplomb!
Merchant Taylors’ first took part in the Livery Academy Awards last year, and realised then what a fantastic opportunity it offers for everyone involved. The logistics weren’t entirely straightforward – like fellow participants the Grocers’ and the Drapers’ we had to shift quickly between live and hybrid events and ultimately to a fully virtual, daytime Heat – which is why we’re particularly excited to be planning a live Heat at the Hall this year, during the evening of Monday 22 November.
Among the guests will be the teams, mentors and judges, of course, as well as many Company members and last year’s winning team from St Saviour’s & St Olave’s School. We’d love to open our doors to fellow Livery Companies too, especially those curious to explore the awards perhaps with a view to joining the competition in future years. If you would like to attend, please contact our Membership team.
For further information, visit the Merchant Taylors’ website.
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