The Lord Mayor gave the following speech:

Master, Wardens, Sheriffs, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Astonishment is not a word often associated with the granting of a Royal Charter, but for a Guild to achieve a Royal Charter in ten years, six months flat must be one of the, if not the, quickest journey in the history of the modern livery.

In January 2004 the Guild of Security Professionals’ petitioned the Court of Aldermen for recognition as a Company without Livery, the intermediate stage in becoming a full Company. And already you had begun to work on meeting the stringent requirements, not least the obligation to have £300,000 in the Company’s charitable trust fund and £50,000 for the General Fund.

You did all that by February 2008 when your petition to become a Company in the Livery was fully recognised by the Court of Aldermen. And now, more success as in record time your petition to receive a Royal Charter has been before the Privy Council and today’s ceremony is the culmination of that process.

Master, you lead a remarkable Company, of tremendous relevance in the 21st Century when security is of such importance to us all.

You have supported my overseas programme, initiated innovative charitable activities in education, bravery, and community awards as well as social care with the Whittington Course, the Sheriffs’ Awards and the Security Benevolent Fund.

You are also very supportive of your linked military units recognising the sacrifices these men and women make for the country, and I know that you, Master, have had to write far too many letters of condolence.

Now Master, as the Queen’s representative in the City of London, it is my pleasure to hand to you your Royal Charter with the earnest hope that you will continue to live up to your objectives to glory of your Company, the Livery and the City.

Master, congratulations.

The Master then gave the following speech:

My Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Alderman, Warden, My Lord, Visiting Masters, Prime Wardens, Liverymen and Freemen of the Worshipful Company of Security Professionals, Ladies and Gentlemen.

My Lord Mayor, an enormous thank you for presenting us with our Royal Charter here in Mansion House tonight.

Thank you also for so graciously allowing us to be in your home for this important occasion in the history of our Livery Company.

On behalf of the Worshipful Company of Security Professionals, I am delighted to present you with a cheque for your Lord Mayor’s Charity Pitch Perfect. Music and cricket are also very dear to my heart.

I welcome many friends and supporters of the newest Livery Company in the City of London, The Worshipful Company of Security Professionals.

I am very pleased that so many Livery Masters are here to support this special occasion.  I am delighted to welcome the Masters and Prime Wardens  of Many Livery Companies including the:

• Master Arbitrators 
• Master Barbers 
• Prime Warden Basketmakers
• Prime Warden Blacksmiths 
• Master Broderers 
• Master Builders Merchants 
• Master Butchers 
• Master Carmen 
• Master Chartered Secretaries 
• Master Chartered Surveyors 
• Master Clockmakers 
• Master Constructors 
• Master Distillers 
• Master Dyers 
• Master Engineers 
• Master Fanmakers 
• Master Feltmakers 
• Master Firefighters 
• Master Fletchers 
• Master Founders 
• Master Framework Knitters 
• Master Gold and Silver Wire Drawer 
• Master Hackney Carriage Drivers 
• Master Information Technologists 
• Master Joiners and Ceilers 
• Master Launderers 
• Master Lightmongers 
• Master Makers of Playing Cards 
• Master Needlemakers 
• Master Marketors 
• Master Paviors 
• Master Plumbers 
• Master Poulters 
• Prime Warden Shipwrights 
• Master Spectacle Makers 
• Master Tax Advisors 
• Master Tinplate Workers 
• MasterTylers and Bricklayers 
• Master Upholders 
• Master World Trader 
• Master Watermen 
• The Company of Educators 
• Guild of Art Scholars 
• PR Guild 
• Parish Clerks

I am very grateful to the sponsors of tonight’s reception Mr Derek Gee of Security Plus our Principal Sponsor and also to Gratte Brothers Security Management for their support.

My particular thanks to Keith Lawry who helped us in the Royal Charter process and to Past Master Peter French and Roy Penrose and Graham Seaby who drafted the document to go before the Privy Council.

I hope you all have a copy of the celebratory programme which distils our brief 10 year history and records our Founders. Thank you to John Cully for arranging and sponsoring the printing and to our Clerk for the diligent work in preparing it. I am most grateful to her.  In addition, I must offer particular thanks to our sponsoring Alderman Sir David Brewer, aka the Prime Warden Blacksmith who is with us tonight together with Deputy  Philip Willoughby.  Without their expert counsel and guidance as we travelled through the labyrinthine passages of the Court of Alderman, we would not have achieved Livery and we would not be here tonight to celebrate a Royal Charter.

Our arrival as a Livery Company in ten years has been meteoric but it means we cannot lay claim to medieval roots as many Livery companies can.

There is no mention of the Security Professionals therefore in the great Pipe Rolls of Henry II as are Weavers and the Bakers.  The Pipe Rolls, as you will all recall, were the audit of the Sheriff’s accounts conducted at Michelmas since Norman times.  Nor can we claim like the Worshipful Company of Fletchers to have supplied the arrows to the Army of Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt in October 1415.

Nor can we claim to have been around in September 1666 when a Great Fire occurred in the City of London destroying many Livery Halls and which caused  Samuel Pepys was to dig a pit in his garden to save his wine and protect his beloved  parmesan cheese. 

Nor were we around in 1685 after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes allowed Huguenot fan makers to come to London and then quickly form a Worshipful Company of Fan Makers and receive Royal Charter.

Nor can we lay claim to being around at the foundation of the Modern Livery Companies.

No our history covers but a decade.  We were formed on the cusp of the twenty first century and world events very quickly endorsed our raison d’être.  Security!

As our founding principle state we represent a culture that secures the principles which protect people properly and liberty.  As a modern Livery Company we are absolutely pure in our membership.  We regularly provide the Lord Mayor with Security briefings for his visits abroad.

This is not a night for long speeches.  It is a night to say thank you and to celebrate the fact that in 10 years and six  months, we have achieved full Livery and a Royal Charter.

I am privileged to be Master in this our Royal Charter year but this has been achieved by a momentous team performance.  Many of you here in this room tonight played an active part in helping secure Royal Charter Status which is being celebrated here at Mansion House tonight.

There is a list of the Organisations which have been granted Royal Charter since 1231  with 985 names on it.  It is known as “Joy’s List”.  Our Treasurer found it on the internet.  When we collected our Charter from the House of Lords, we ran into Joy in their medieval lift.

I am all that stands before you and some delicious canapés and drinks and the Lord Mayor’s Party dining with the Cordwainers who received their Royal Charter in 1439 during the reign of Henry VI.

Think of tonight as the lighting of an Olympic flame.

My final thought is entirely for those members of the Security Professionals who brought the metaphoric Olympic torch to Mansion House tonight.

I have been the Master privileged to light the flame.

My Lord Mayor thank you. 

Thank you all.

Do please enjoy the reception.