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The Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers welcomes you to its website and hopes you will find the information to be of interest to you. This page includes our latest news and activities. The other pages will enable you to learn more about the Company and its activities, as well as information about membership.

Cadets demonstrate their skills

12 Aug 2010

The Wardens and Clerk visited Beckingham Camp in Lincolnshire on Wednesday 11th August, the location of City of London & NE Sector (COLNES) ACF's Annual summer training camp. The Officers of the Sector briefed us on the objectives and activities of the Camp and we then saw the cadets in action doing a variety of exercises including shooting. A presentation of prizes and awards by the visiting Brigadier was followed by a drill competition. We were most impressed with the turn out and efforts of the cadets and the dedication of the adult instructors and are delighted to have been provided with this opportunity to learn more about the excellent work being done in the Army Cadet Force and look forward to developing a long association with COLNES.

The Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers was greatly honoured to be presented with its Royal Charter by HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO at a reception in the historic Great Hall at St Bartholomew’s Hospital on Thursday 13^th May.

Almost 200 were present at the evening reception including Liverymen and Freemen of the Tax Advisers Company, Masters and Clerks of some 20 City Livery Companies and other distinguished guests.

The Master Tax Adviser, Nicholas Woolf, welcomed the guests and thanked the many present who had assisted the Company in various ways towards this attainment and Barts and The London Charity for their assistance with the arrangements.

The Representative Lord Mayor, Alderman Ian Luder CBE, who had been one of the original founders of the Company back in 1995, and served as Master from 1999 to 2001, welcomed HRH The Duke of Gloucester who formally presented the Royal Charter to the Master. Afterwards, the Duke spoke to a good number of the guests. A stair guard was provided by the Company’s affiliated cadet unit, City of London and North East Sector, ACF (The Life Guards).

“We are extremely honoured and privileged that HRH The Duke of Gloucester has been kind enough to present the Royal Charter to us. This has been a great occasion for the Company and reflects the esteem in which it is held within the City Livery Companies. It acknowledges the considerable work done by the Company in preparing tax briefings for successive Lord Mayors for their overseas visits and it has been particularly pleasing that the Representative Lord Mayor today is Alderman Ian Luder who, as well as being a founder of the original Guild and a Past Master of the Company, served as Lord Mayor last year.”

The Company's annual Budget Banquet was held on 9th March at Plaisterers' Hall and attended by some 180 members of the Company and guests. The speakers included the Master, Nicholas Woolf and the Commissioner of the City of London Police, Mr Mike Bowron QPM. Distinguished guests included the Master Plaisterer and the Masters of several Livery Companies in the Financial Services Group. Lord Howe of Aberavon, Honorary Liveryman, was among those present.

The Company is pleased to have formed an affiliation with the City of London & North East Sector of the Army Cadet Force (ACF). To mark their links with the Company, our affiliated cadets provided a Stair Guard at the Installation Dinner at The Mansion House. Their turnout and professionalism on that occasion were commended by many attendees at the Dinner.

Our first Tax Advisers Prize has been awarded jointly to Alicia Thomas and Sarah-Jane O’Regan who both received the best overall results in the LLM in Tax Law, as determined by the School of Law at King's College, London. We are delighted to mark their success with this award and offer our hearty congratulations to each of them. At the Company's recent Budget Banquet at the Plaisterers' Hall, they received Certificates from the Master to record their achievements.

We are very pleased to have agreed with King's College, London to establish an annual prize to be awarded by the Company to the King's School of Law student who attains the highest overall results in the LLM in Tax Law. King's is ranked in the top 25 Universities in the world and has a prestigious school of law which interestingly is due to be relocated into the East Wing of Somerset House once it has been refurbished having been occupied for many years by the Inland Revenue. The first prize winner is due to receive their award at the Graduation Ceremony in January 2010.

The Master and Wardens are extremely delighted to announce that the Company has now received its Royal Charter which was approved by the Privy Council in July and subsequently sealed on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen on 9th October. Appropriate arrangements are being made to celebrate this special privilege. More information is contained in Issue 2 of our newsletter, The Owl, available to view in the Home page section of the website.

A small party of members were given a thrilling opportunity in wonderful clear weather to experience an air to air refulling flight in a VC10 of the Company's affiliated RAF unit, 101 Squadron RAF and saw at first hand the skill and professionalism of the aircrew of both the VC10 tanker and the Typhoon and Tornado aircraft being refuelled as well as the close-up sight of the large AWACS aircraft practicing the refuelling procedure. Some excellent photographs are included in the members section of the website.

One intrepid member braved the North Sea and spent a day on board the Company's affiliated Navy vessel, HMS Bangor carrying out training and calibration duties in her mine-hunting role. That the transfer from ship to shore had to be by RIB and wearing a full immerson suit sharpened the experience somewhat! Another member with a previous naval background was better at choosing good weather and an easier passage around the Isle of Skye and this is clear from the photos in the members section !