Master and Wardens
The Master
Piers Vacher
Master of The Salters' Company 2024/25
Piers Vacher has been a Salter since 1990.
He graduated from Cardiff University's Business School that year, after Rugby School, and worked in the insurance market at Lloyd's (Taylor Syndicate 51 and Wellington Syndicate 2020) before being a founding shareholder of Aspen, writing Property Reinsurance successfully for 17 years, latterly in Bermuda.
He retired in 2008 to be a primary carer for his three children, the eldest two of whom are members of the Freedom of the Company.
Enjoying the work-life balance this afforded, Piers volunteered in many areas of his community, helping to run a youth football club for a decade and supporting the management of his wandering cricket club. Recently real tennis has become an addiction.
Currently, Piers manages a portfolio of properties in London and the South East.
Piers has served on the Court of Assistants since 2015 and has engaged on the Charity, Fundraising and New Membership committees, each of which retain a huge emphasis in his Livery life.
Piers lives in London with his three, very nearly, grown-up children.
Upper Warden
Andrew McMurtrie JP CC
Upper Warden of The Salters' Company 2024/25
Andrew joined the Salters' Company through Redemption in 2011, having been introduced to the Company by his maternal Grandmother Jan Cancellor. Her family had a long involvement with the Salters' Company, but at that stage women were not able to introduce new members to the Company. He joined the Livery in 2015, having served his first term on the Charities Committee. His professional background in investment management then led to Andrew serving on the Investment Committee and giving investment oversight to the trustees of the pension fund. Andrew has Chaired the Charities Committee over the last three years and has especially advocated support for charities which assist young people in gaining vocational training. He was Admitted to the Court in 2018 and currently serves as a director of the Salters’ Management Company.
Andrew has been an elected member of the Common Council of the City of London Corporation since 2013 and served as Chair of both its Investment Committee and its Academies Trust. He represents the Ward of Coleman Street, immediately adjacent to Salters’ Hall, and currently serves on the Corporation’s Natural Environment Board and the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee. He is a Presiding Justice in the Magistrates Courts of the City and Westminster.
Andrew and his wife Julie (a retired nurse and now volunteer bereavement counsellor) met when they both worked at St Christopher’s Hospice. They have three adult daughters and now live in Winchester.
Second Warden
The Lord Rockley (Anthony)
Second Warden of The Salters' Company 2024/25
Anthony joined the Livery in 2000.
After graduating from Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences, he joined Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. He remained with the firm throughout its multiple mergers and name changes for 33 years, retiring as a partner in 2016.
He spent much of his time in the 90’s working in various Eastern European countries, where his most unusual job was rescheduling the Albanian National Debt. In 2000 he established KPMG’s Private Equity Group audit and remained PE and valuation focussed until retirement. Whilst he was at KPMG and particularly whilst travelling, he was an irregular attendee at Salters’ events as a continually shifting diary and event planning was hard to reconcile.
Once time freed up, Anthony started to get more involved attending events and was asked to join the Budget Audit & Accounts Committee in 2017. Involvement then rapidly snowballed, being elected Renter for the first time in June 2016, subsequently joining the Court of Assistants, taking over as Chairman of the BAA, and joining the General Purposes & Finances Committee (now Management Board).
He is married to Katie, they have three grown up children (his eldest daughter, Emily Maccabe, is a member of the Livery and his son William Cecil was admitted to the Freedom on Election Day) who have mostly moved out of home which is in Dorset and where Anthony can be found spending as much time as possible gardening or involved in country sports with his spaniels.
Renter
John Stebbing
Renter of the Salters' Company 2024/25
John joined the Livery in 1985.
He studied medicine at St John’s College, Cambridge and Guy’s Hospital in London and qualified with a Distinction in Surgery in 1987. His surgical training began in Guildford and progressed with moves to Oxford for a period of research and to the South West Region to complete clinical training. Life came full circle with his appointment as a Consultant Surgeon in Guildford in 1999. He remains active in clinical practice, particularly in advanced colonoscopy and bowel cancer screening.
John has been involved with the Salters' Company for more than 40years as a regular attendee at events and was elected Renter in June 2012 before joining the Court of Assistants in 2013. He has served as a member of the Salters’ Institute Board, the Wine Committee and the Court & Livery Selection Committee.
He is delighted that his two children, Katie and Oliver, have become active members of the Salters’ Company with Oliver being elected to the Livery in 2024 and Katie being admitted to the Freedom in 2022.
He married his wife, Jo Sica, in 2019 and their lives are enriched by dog walks with Penny and a mutual love of opera, ballet and spending valued time with friends.
