The Vintners Company with Ian Harris MBE

This show was published Friday, December 6, 2024

Overview

Ian Harris was CEO of the WSET for 20 years, joining in 2002 and stepped down from the role 2 years ago. He has a variety of pro bono roles such as chairman of the Gerard Basset Foundation, a charity supporting disadvantaged people getting into wine or hospitality.

In this episode we are delving into the Vintners Company, a livery company dating back 660 years. Ian became a member in 2008, (the WSET was based there) and in 2018 was invited to join the court. If elected, Ian will be master of the company in two years time (Ann Hill is the current master).

Livery companies were set up 600-700 years ago to regulate certain industries. The Vintners Company was set up in 1363 to regulate the and control the trade in wine in London and would control pricing, regulate the quality brought in by wine merchants like a guild/trade union back then. Its control gradually diminished and ended about 20 years ago when the Wine Standards Board was disbanded and rolled into DEFRA. Today, they are primarily a fundraising charity, raising over £0.5m each year for the wine industry.

When you become a member, you start as a freeman, then, after a period of time to prove yourself, you get to join the livery and so you are entitled to wear the 'livery' of that particular company, hence the term Livery.

There are over 100 livery companies today but many that were in existence originally no longer have a trade today. New liveries are still being established, such as the Company of Information Technologists and the Company of World Traders.

The Vintners Company is one of the 'great twelve', the first 12 livery companies to be set up. Their first qualification was the Master of Wine examination which was created in the 1950s and they subsequently funded the Institute of Masters of Wine. In 1969, they provided funding to set up the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). Today the Vintners Company also supports WineGB and the WSTA, the Drinks Trust among others. Ian is chairman of the Trade Liaison Committee which is responsible for all grants and support provided by the Company to wine-related organisations.

They have 668 members, of which a third are freemen and two thirds are livery men (and women). Fellowship (networking) and charitable giving are two key pillars of membership.

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