A new tradition for Sheriffs' shields in the Old Bailey
It has been said that the City throws away nothing it finds to be useful, and this is true of many of its ancient customs and traditions handed down through the centuries. While the City is a place of tradition and heritage it also at the vanguard of modernity; a centre of excellence for innovation in business; finance; technology; law; and a champion of diversity and inclusion in the commercial; civic, and livery realms. Nowhere is this more apparent the way the Livery Companies and the City's civic institutions have evolved to encourage greater diversity among their membership. Many companies have signed up to the Diversity Charter , others have codified their own principles of inclusion. At a practical level all Livery Companies now admit women; the Lady Past Masters Association has grown to nearly 200 members since the first female Master, Sylvia Tutt (1983-84) and the first female Lord Mayor, Mary Donaldson (1983-84). Somewhere between a third and a half of the Livery Company