It’s motto, also written in Latin as ‘scite, cito, certe,’ gives an idea of the traditional role of the members of this organisation. CBW’s Publisher Jonathan Taylor was recently invited to a prestigious banquet hosted by the Worshipful Company of Carmen in London
A couple of months ago Paul Sainthouse, Managing Director at Dawsongroup Bus and Coach kindly invited me to dinner. Not just any dinner, though. The occasion was The Woodmongers’ Banquet, held jointly between the Worshipful Company of Carmen and the Worshipful Company of Fuellers at the magnificent Mansion House in the City of London.
As far as I could work out, the Livery Company of Woodmongers and Coal Sellers, primarily sellers of wood and coal for fuel from medieval times, evolved via many twists and turns over the centuries, into the Worshipful Company of Fuellers in October 2014. Now, the Company’s members represent (to quote from its website) “the coal, oil, nuclear, gas, electricity and the renewable energy industries.”
The Worshipful Company of Carmen has its roots in transport from Roman times in Londinium, coming under a City by-law controlling carriers in 1272, organising its own ‘Fraternyte’ [fraternity] in 1517, and finally receiving its Royal Charter in 1946. Throughout much of their histories, the Fuellers and Carmen have been locked in a battle for control of the transport industry. That was resolved long ago and the two Companies now enjoy a friendly relationship, together mustering enough members to fill the Mansion House and enjoy an annual banquet together.
These days, the Livery Companies of the City of London exist primarily to maintain their industry traditions and they focus their work on (extremely successful) charitable and networking events. The Carmen Benevolent Trust, of which Paul is a Trustee, channels funds raised by events and members to support many different causes. For me, the event involved another opportunity to play with this idea of modal shift.
My previous two trips to London from my home in Wiltshire were by coach, using and assessing the National Express service from Cheltenham to London Victoria Coach Station. This time I decided to try out the car/rail/taxi alternative to get to my hotel. The drive to Kemble station was half an hour. The parking machine was confusing as it did not offer an obvious overnight option and the ticket office was closed so there was no one to help. I kept pressing the machine button until it offered me an appropriate length of stay which came in at £11.40 and walked to the station machine for printing pre-purchased tickets which cost £63.20 return. It wasn’t working.
The train arrived on time and whooshed through beautiful countryside as far as Didcot where it suffered a delay due to a slow goods train in front, itself delayed. At Paddington we were only six minutes late and the efficient Uber service cost £25 for the trip to the hotel. The return trip, (including a notional £10 for the 22-mile round trip to the station) came to £134.60, rather more than the £30 or so using the National Express service which would have got me to within walking distance of the London hotel.
To be fair to National Express, whose leather seats were adjustable and would have been comfortable on my most recent trip with them if wider, the seats on the train were by comparison thinly upholstered, not adjustable and not at all comfortable. Another win for the coach. Total trip time for the train journey door-to-door was marginally better than the coach, but only by minutes. The outstanding element as always was Uber. It was easy to book, pre-paid with my card and provided a perfect, comfortable service with almost no waiting.Dinner at the Mansion House was in the genial, enjoyable company of Steve Telling, past President of the CPT and currently President of the UK Coach Operators Association and Jamie Bowler, Commercial Manager at Dawsongroup Bus and Coach. The Dawson family have recently sold their successful Dawsongroup business to global investment firm KKR. The business is looking to continue its impressive growth path under its new ownership.
The evening’s awards were announced by Richard Turfitt, the Senior Traffic Commissioner. Louise Cheeseman collected the main Carmen award of the Viva trophy on behalf of Women in Bus and Coach, which she chairs.
If you are in the bus and coach industry and interested in joining The Worshipful Company of Carmen, you can find all the details on its website at thecarmen.co.uk. Leon Daniels OBE is the current Master.
