The Worshipful Company of Actuaries installed their 40th Master, Nick Salter, on 12 July 2018.
For obvious reasons, Nick had selected Salters' Hall for the occasion. At the end of the ceremony, he stood, fully robed, on a set of Salter scales for a weigh-in; in his speech, Nick explained his 'spread bet', whereby he will match charitable contributions to the Company of Actuaries Charitable Trust should he 'spread' too much over the year!
After a drinks reception, dinner was served at 7.30pm. The procession into the dining hall was accompanied by two trumpeters, playing the march Scipio. After the starter, the Master welcomed two new freemen who had been admitted that afternoon. This was followed by a presentation by liveryman Bill Harris on the work our charitable trust is doing for Narcolepsy UK.
After dinner, the new junior warden, Julie Griffiths, welcomed the guests. Our principal guest was The Rt Hon Earl Howe, deputy leader of the House of Lords. Earl Howe spoke humorously about the House of Lords and the importance of have a second chamber to provide 'checks and balances'.
Finally, our new Master entertained us all with a witty speech and set out plans for his year ahead, which involve raising the profile of the Company's charitable contributions within the existing membership and more widely within the actuarial profession, as well as fulfilling his duties to speak, eat and drink on behalf of the Company (hence the weight challenge!). All in all, a very enjoyable evening to welcome our 40th Master - a Salter in Salters' Hall.