August was a quiet month for the Fruiterers, but along with the Lord Mayor and many other livery Masters an invitation was received to attend at Stoke Mandeville on the evening before the opening ceremony of the Paralympics. Following the centre’s own ceremony and tributes to our Paralympians, we enjoyed dinner and an interesting speech delivered by Lord Coe.

Perhaps more in line with usual Fruiterer duties, on 30 August I was invited to present our company’s prize at RHS Wisley. The award was given to Ashleigh Davies, who was recognised for her keen interest in the fruit collection at Wisley. She is a most impressive lady who I am sure we will hear much more of in the future.

In early September, 50 or so of us including partners and some guests visited Abbotsbury which is a magnificent garden in Dorset. It had won the Historic Houses Association in conjunction with Christies’ Garden of the Year award 2012. The Hon Charlotte Townsend owns the garden and she takes a very keen interest in the new plantings. We enjoyed super hospitality in a marquee erected in the garden and had the opportunity to discuss horticultural matters with the hostess and her staff.

Later that week I went to Chelmsford Cathedral to witness the Fruiterers’ Award presented to another very impressive student, Peter Illman.

He wrote his dissertation on the effective packaging for fruit, in particular strawberries.

I should like to wish both of the students, Peter and Ashleigh, every success with their future studies and also Samantha Wingfield, who won our award at Pershore College in July, which unfortunately I was unable

to attend.

It is the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers’ intention to recognise and reward students who are keen to pursue a career in the industry and assist and encourage those who could be the industry leaders of the future.

Invited by the All Party Cider Group, which actively promotes the cider industry, I attended at the House of Commons with the renter warden and clerk. We are keen to add our weight in making our MPs aware of the issues that face cider makers in this country.

Peter Faulkner, Master of the Worshipful Company of Farmers, invited the clerk and me to the Fletchers’ Hall. As always it was very useful to have a chance to meet people involved in other aspects of the food industry. One of the speeches was made by Alex Mercer, who is the Company of Farmers’ Nuffield scholar, and it was particularly interesting to hear how much he has benefited from the experience – as I hope our own scholars have.

Each year we endeavour to sponsor a Nuffield scholar because those who have been fortunate enough to be selected usually report the unfolding of opportunities for further learning and travel that are life changing.

The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers is very keen to encourage leaders in all aspects of the business and this scheme, time and time again, has proven very successful.