The Court of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers endorsed the Livery Committee’s Diversity Charter in 2020. The Charter was produced by the Livery Committee of the City of London Corporation with the support of the Fellowship of Clerks, and can be viewed here.

Our Membership Committee, chaired by Renter Warden-in-Nomination Jennifer Rolls, has considered the Diversity Charter in detail and the Company has adopted its recommendations. Together with Liveryman Clare Banks, who sits on our Communications Committee, we are working hard to appeal to a wider pool of talent as we believe that will assist in building a Company fit for the future.

We are proud to have elected our first female Master, Lesley Day, in 2018, and to have elected our first Master from an ethnic minority background, Dr Michel Saminaden, in 2019 and again in 2020. We have also recently appointed our first female Clerk in over 450 years, Heather Smith.

The Company’s Charitable Trust, to which many members of the Company contribute on a regular basis, supports a wide range of charities and individual beneficiaries from diverse backgrounds. The Company is proud to have sponsored two presentees at Christ’s Hospital School, Ms Onyinye Udokporo (now a Freeman of the Company) and Kiyan Rahman (who is still at the School), and we have recently raised funds to enable us to sponsor a third presentee.

The Company values diversity and promotes inclusiveness, but we recognize that there is more which can be done. The building trades with which we are associated are also becoming more diverse over time, with women becoming more widely represented. We were delighted that Liveryman Emma Simpson, a member of our Craft Committee, was awarded an MBE for services to heritage conservation in the New Year’s Honours list in January 2022.

We welcome expressions of interest to join the Company from individuals from any background.