Needlemakers' visit to the Bank of England - Tuesday 7th March 2017

49 Liverymen and their guests visited the Bank of England on Tuesday 7th March. It was lovely to have such a good mix of attendees, including some fairly new Liverymen, as well as some who are considering joining us.

I originally planned our visit to the Bank with a University of Nottingham Council colleague who was at that time Director of IT at the Bank. Our planning discussions took place prior to the dreadful bombings in Paris, which resulted in the Bank reducing access to areas by anyone other than those on the Bank's business. 

So instead of a tour of rooms, not usually accessed by the public, we started our visit with a lecture entitled “The Bank of England Past and Present”. It was an interesting presentation complimented with informative slides and was followed by questions. As always, Liverymen asked lots of questions from a range of perspectives. 

Before retiring to a restaurant nearby for lunch we had time to explore the museum, which due to the additional exhibitions ensured there was something for everyone. Some Liverymen rather more actively engaged in the interactive elements, pressing all available buttons! 

Others were pleased to be able to lift the gold bar, although regretted they weren’t able to take it away! Each of us however did leave with a gift. Another colleague who is the Director of HR in the Bank kindly gave us each a pack of playing cards.

The cards have pictures on them of the rooms we were unable to see as he was aware of my disappointment not to be able to access these rooms. I thought his gift extraordinarily thoughtful. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to join us for lunch because he was summoned to a Governors strategy meeting. It was budget week!

Lunch at Brasserie Blanc was enjoyed by all. In spite of the size of our group and the fact that we arrived at a very busy time, the service was excellent and cheerfully given. Contented, we finally left the restaurant at about 3.30 pm!

Dame Elizabeth Fradd - Master