28 September 2011
New City of London Sheriffs admitted
The two new Sheriffs of London took office today (28 September)
at the Guildhall following their election in July this year.
Alderman Alan Yarrow and Wendy Mead CC will preside at the
election of the Lord Mayor next Monday (3 October), after taking
over today from Alderman Fiona Woolf and Richard Sermon.
Alderman Alan Yarrow was elected Alderman for the Ward of Bridge
and Bridge Without in 2007. After starting in the City in 1972 with
stockbrokers Grieveson Grant, he became a member of the Stock
Exchange and a partner. The company was subsequently taken over by
Kleinwort Benson, where he joined the Group Board in 1995 as Global
Head of Equities. Following a number of takeovers, he left in 2009
as Chairman of Dresdner Kleinwort Ltd. In addition, he also
represented the bank at the top policy forums in the City as
Chairman of LIBA, a member of The Takeover-Panel, Vice Chairman of
the FSA Practitioner Panel and on the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s
High Level Advisory Group, and the Board of the BBA.
Sheriff Yarrow also has a number of Non-Executive roles:
Chairman of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment
2009, Chairman of the newly reformed Kleinwort Benson Group 2010,
and Director of both Turquoise and Fixnetix 2010. He is also a
Governor of the City of London Freeman’s School and an Almoner of
Christ’s Hospital School.
Wendy Mead CC, who ran a successful catering business, began her
service to the City of London twenty years ago when she commenced
her Chairmanship of The Save Bart’s Campaign, which successfully
halted a Government plan to close a 900-year-old City institution.
As a result, she was made an Honorary Alumna of Bart’s Medical
School.
In 1997, she was elected to the Common Council for the Ward of
Farringdon Without. She is also Chairman of both Housing the
Homeless and St Bartholomew the Great Heritage Trust; Vice-Chairman
of Bart’s League of Friends; and a member of the City & Guilds
of London Institute and Trustee of the City Arts Trust. She has
served nine years on the City of London’s Policy & Resources
Committee and is the immediate Past Chairman of Epping Forest
and Commons Committee. She also serves on Barbican Centre,
Guildhall School of Music and Drama and City Bridge Trust
Boards.
While the office of Sheriff dates back to the 7th century and is
of long-standing importance in the government of the City of
London, its holders also take an increasing role in supporting the
Lord Mayor and the City of London in promoting and sustaining the
Square Mile and the wider UK-based financial and related business
sector, for example in meeting senior business and political
leaders from overseas. Sheriff Yarrow and Sheriff Mead’s duties
include carrying out official and ceremonial duties, attending the
sessions at the Central Criminal Court in the Old Bailey and
presenting petitions from the City to Parliament at the Bar of the
House of Commons. One of the conditions to be a candidate for Lord
Mayor is to have served as Sheriff.
Ends
Notes for editors
About the City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse
organisation. It supports and promotes the City as a world
leader in international finance and business services and provides
local services and policing for those working in, living in and
visiting the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to
London and the nation. These include the Barbican Centre and
the Guildhall School of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library
and Art Gallery and London Metropolitan Archive; a range of
education provision (including three City Academies); five Thames
bridges (including Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the
Central Criminal Court at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open
spaces (including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three
wholesale food markets. It is also London’s Port Health
Authority and runs the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow.
It works in partnership with neighbouring boroughs on the
regeneration of surrounding areas and the City Bridge Trust, which
it oversees, donates more than £15m to charity annually.
Press Enquiries
Sanjay Odedra, Media Officer, City of London Corporation
Tel 020 7332 1835 / Mobile 07831 542856
Email
sanjay.odedra@cityoflondon.gov.uk