Master and Wardens
The Master
Jamie Wordie
Master of The Salters' Company 2023/24
Jamie Wordie has been a Liveryman in the Salters’ Company since 1980 and shortly afterwards gained an Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh. He moved to Germany to execute the introduction of products into the “green field” market in the UK and Ireland, for four years, marketing plastic extrusions and oil-based wood finishes. He says it is a great pleasure to see those start-up products still flourishing on the UK market. While in Münster he met his wife, Cordula, and they returned to the UK, where Jamie moved to Hoechst UK, progressing through UK and Ireland Sales Management, Project Management (five years in Frankfurt), Managing Director UK and Ireland and Regional Manager for Northern Europe within the technical and engineering polymers division. He then moved to ShawCor focusing on district heating/heat network insulated pipe products for Northern Europe and Head of Sales for Europe – Onshore. Cordula is a German Teacher and is currently teaching at Shrewsbury School, Shropshire.
Jamie has been on the Court, as well as the Management Board of the Salters’ Institute, for 12 years, including Graduate Awards panels, Court & Livery Selection and the Charities Committees. He has three children, all are in the Livery. Joanna, Thomas and Antonia are active in the Company and Livery Movement doing fund-raisers for Salters’ Charitable Foundation and most recently the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge for Young Minds, after the 626 Challenge that went to Samaritans during the Covid pandemic, followed by a Halloween Marathon through London to raise funds for Young Lives vs Cancer together with their fellow Young Salters. They also participate in many Inter-livery events. Joanna studied languages and teaches and both Thomas and Antonia studied International Management & German and are both working in marketing roles.
Covid Lockdown produced some interesting sole activities such as building a cold smoker and trying to build a 1/6 scale Tiger Moth (radio-controlled) aeroplane, with no firm estimate on final completion date! Many hours have already been spent flying a simulator to avoid it becoming an expensive pile of scrap balsa wood on its maiden flight. "It is complex, but very therapeutic, and a chance to achieve my childhood dream!" Jamie has since built a Hurricane, adapting it to retractable under-carriage and other features to make it authentic and fly to scale. Amongst other hobbies are sailing, gardening and other country activities in the hills of Shropshire.
Upper Warden
Piers Vacher
Upper Warden of The Salters' Company 2023/24
Piers Vacher has been a Salter since 1990.
He graduated from Cardiff Business School that year, after Rugby School, and worked at Lloyds (Taylor Syndicate 51 and Wellington Syndicate 2020) before being a founding shareholder of Aspen Insurance, writing Property Reinsurance successfully for 17 years, working in the London Market and latterly in Bermuda.
He retired in 2008 to be a primary carer for three children, the eldest of whom is now a member of the Freedom of the Company.
Enjoying the work-life balance this life affords, Piers has 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.
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 nearly grown-up children.
Second Warden
Andrew McMurtrie
Second Warden of The Salters' Company 2023/24
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.
Renter
The Lord Rockley (Anthony)
Renter of the Salters' Company 2023/24
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 (one of whom, Emily Maccabe, is a member of the Freedom) 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.
