The Furniture Makers’ Company, the furnishing industry’s charity, has announced that Ben Burbidge, MD of Burbidge & Son, has been installed as the new Master.
The annual installation ceremony took place on Monday 9th May 2016 at St Mary-le-Bow Church in the City of London, followed by a celebratory dinner at Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London.
More than 230 members of the furniture industry were in attendance at the installation dinner and were joined by dignitaries including the Lord Mayor of London and Lady Mayoress.
Ben, who succeeds David Dewing as Master, says: “The Furniture Makers’ Company’s vision resonates deeply with me and I feel honoured to have been given the chance to lead this wonderful organisation for the next 12 months.
“I would like my year to be about the pleasures of fellowship. I want to see our membership grow significantly in the year ahead, through new Freemen joining and Freemen becoming Liverymen. For such an active and relevant organisation, we should all be doing more to encourage the people we know in the industry to join us.”
During his installation speech, the new Master spoke about his forthcoming charity bike ride, which will see him and around 30 other people from the industry cycle 450 miles from London to Bordeaux, France, from 11-17th September 2016. The team of cyclists are hoping to raise £50,000 for the charity.
