It was very exciting to be Co-Lead, along with Richard Hefford-Hobbs, FREng, of this initiative by the Lady Mayor of London, Dame Sue Langley, who wanted to focus on heritage crafts during her year of office (2025–6) – how inspired! A number of City Liveries have always supported passing on traditional craft skills in their Companies, others have recently, and more are beginning to appreciate the importance of doing this, especially with the biennial Heritage Crafts’ Red List of Endangered Crafts.
As a very first initiative, we weren’t expecting that many nominations, and were delighted to get 35 from 16 different Livery Companies. These were shortlisted to 17 and sent to the Assessors – Daniel Carpenter, Executive Director of Heritage Crafts, Dr Simon Sadinsky, Executive Director of The King’s Foundation, and Helen Welch, Founder and Chief Tutor at the London College of Furniture; I was Lead Assessor, and the Lady Mayor the Final Judge. With so many high quality nominations it was difficult to select the final twelve, but fortunately all were agreed so it made my job much easier!
The Awards Ceremony was held in the wonderful Old Ballroom at the Mansion House, and was a true celebration with the successful Lady Mayor’s Craft Livery Apprentices accompanied by their families and friends, their tutors, and for many the Master or Clerk of their Livery Company. Each Apprentice was presented with a certificate and a hand-engraved medallion which had their name and ‘The Lady Mayor’s Craft Apprentice one side and the City of London coat of arms the other. Here Isabel, a hand engraver herself is inspecting the engraving! It was a joyous occasion, with all never having been inside the Mansion House and certainly not to such an impressive room!
The winners were:
Kemi Ajose – Knitwear Designer and Textile Artist. Originally destined to be an athlete, Kemi discovered knit and knitwear independently with no family background in enterprise or the creative industries. She is self-driven and inspired to use textiles which allow her to explore identity through colour, pattern, and style inspired by West African textile traditions and contemporary British fashion. Kemi has also been a great support to the Haberdasher School students, sharing advice and delivering a workshop. Her clothes give the wearer the ability to express a hybrid identity. Sustainability is at the core of her design process. All of Kemi’s products are knitted using locally sourced deadstock yarns, everything is handmade and with zero-waste.
Maia Bashford – Chef. Even before being selected as a prestigious Lady Mayor’s Apprentice, Maia won the Trophy of the Worshipful Company of Cooks as well as Student of the Year. She was a semi-finalist in Torque D’or, the Rhubarb challenge, Skills for Chefs, and the League of Club Young Chef of the year, winning the Gravy Boat Trophy. She also recently was in the finals of the Robert Lindsay Trophy. Maia is a wonderful example of how an apprenticeship can take a dedicated professional to the top having gone through all sections in the kitchen giving her a base that will prove invaluable. She is the most skilled young chef – a female breaking down barriers.
Oluwamuyiwa Fadairo – Shoemaker. Olu’s enthusiasm is clear to everyone he meets and can be seen in all he has done. He has committed himself to this career and spent four years developing his skills before moving to work on his own as a piece-working maker last year. Olu has made great efforts to learn from master craftspeople and to learn from mistakes. He works tirelessly with longer hours than expected to hone his skills. During his apprenticeship Olu has mastered numerous techniques in handsewn shoemaking. He is now highly skilled in hand lasting, hand welting, hand stitching soles and building leather heels. Olu also learned bevel waist construction, storm welt construction, blind welt construction, fiddle waist construction and many other techniques.
Isabel Freeman – Hand Engraver. Isabel won the competition to design Goldsmiths’ new Apprentice of the Year medal in 2025, and her medal is currently being produced and will be awarded to Goldsmiths’ Apprentices for the next 10 years. Isabel’s effort, time and creativity in producing a design which met the brief so well made her the outright winner. In 2025 Isabel also won two awards for her engraving at the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards – silver for 3D Craft Engravers, Die Sinkers and Seal Engravers Junior, and The Podolsky Award for potential in the allied crafts. Her exemplary attitude and the fact that she constantly pushes herself means that she has continued to develop her skills.
Samuel Garfield – Gunmaker. Sam embodies all the qualities hoped for in a modern craft apprentice. He is skilled, dedicated, enthusiastic and a true team player within a demanding workshop environment. From bench work to customer interaction, Sam contributes positively to every aspect and his dedication goes far beyond what is normally expected of an apprentice. Nothing is too much trouble for him and he approaches each task with a positive attitude. His commitment to quality, his work ethic, and support to the overall success of the workshop is outstanding. Sam supports the business not only through his bench work but also through customer service as well as at events, showing a strong sense of responsibility and pride in the trade, making him an invaluable member of the team.
Joshua Hook – Goldsmithing (Mounting). Josh has entered a number of competitions producing new pieces each time. He has won awards including a silver medal at the World Skills National Competition in 2021, and silver in the Goldsmiths Craft and Design Council Awards for Diamond Mounting in 2023; gold in 2024; and gold again 2025; as well as this he was awarded silver in the 2D Design in 2021, and bronze in Chasing in 2024. Many of these entries have been completed in Josh’s own time demonstrating his continued efforts to improve his skills. His Masterpiece, a 1920s sterling silver drop necklace with a box catch and two pendants, one of which is detatchable, and including making each of the 30 identical links, has taken unwavering dedication.
Hayden Mackenzie – Upholsterer. Hayden actively contributes ideas, engages in discussion during team meetings and within the workshop, and he approaches new projects with excitement rather than reluctance. His sustained motivation and positive mindset to improve his skills, combined with his willingness to go the extra mile, enables him to remain solution-oriented and a problem solver. Hayden’s healthy respect for historical upholstery, keenly observed detail, workmanship, and reporting, so critical to conservation and restoration, has seen him work sympathetically on the Royal Collection’s upholstered furniture which stands to benefit. He has proven to be an excellent Apprentice and brings a new perspective to the Team.
Francesco Orlando – Distiller. Fran has a long-term goal, and to date has logged eight years in its pursuit. To realise this, he has devoted himself to learning and applying traditional, hands-on distilling practices, and also visiting other distilleries, and immersing himself in the distillers’ art. He has produced two standout works in his new innovation capacity; one of them in particular was a limited edition gin he named Orsino, after the Count in Shakespeare’s play ‘Twelfth Night’, which was created to pair with the chef’s menu. In this he balanced flavours of straw and porcini into a classic London Dry structure. Fran’s enthusiasm, his talent, his thirst for knowledge and his dedication to distillation will take him far.
Victor Perez-Alvarez – Watchmaker. Victor started by teaching himself the practical skills for basic watch servicing and practised on simple watches with only a few components. Over eighteen months, following the Clockmakers’ Company Advanced Apprenticeship Victor has learned to service complex watches with many interacting parts. Previously, he would have needed assistance with basic adjustments, but Victor can now routinely correct the distortion of balance springs and manufacture individual replacement watch parts, his excellent progress suggests he will become a very proficient watchmaker. Victor is also making excellent use of an outstanding opportunity to learn with an internationally renowned watchmaker.
Nikita Somma – Butcher. From the outset, Nikita demonstrated an exceptional attitude towards her training, her attendance was consistently high and her engage-ment in sessions was above and beyond. Nikita responds positively to feedback and learns quickly and effectively in both college and workplace settings. She was awarded Best Retail Butchery Apprentice for the Institute of Meat Annual Prize 2025, and Nikita won top prize for Best Innovative Lamb Product in the Battle Of The Butchers 2025 competition, as well as the Best Innovative Beef Product and the Golden Cleaver Award. She displays det-ermination, resilience and a strong work ethic which means she will go far.
Alysha Strong – Gem Setter. Alysha has entered competitions during each year of her apprenticeship consistently winning awards for her setting skills. At the Goldsmith Craft & Design Council Awards she achieved bronze in 2022; in 2023 gold; in 2024 gold again; and in 2025 silver. As well as this she was awarded the Theo Fennell Apprentice and Master Award in 2023. Alysha’s Masterpiece is a flower and butterfly double ring set with 703 stones including fancy orange diamonds, sapphires, tsavorite garnets, and smoky quartz. She continues to demonstrate her enthusiasm by planning to enter this in the competition in 2026. Alysha’s aim is to have her own fine jewellery business.
Gillian Turner – Bookbinder. Thanks to ‘Bound by Veterans’, Gilly overcame the daunting change that comes with leaving the military under a medical discharge. Bookbinding has given her a new passion and real direction in her life. Gilly served over 10 years in the Army in the Royal Logistic Corps where she specialised in Bomb Disposal but due to injury she was medically discharged. Gilly puts effort into all her work and is concerned with producing the best work that she can. Whilst working on her apprenticeship Gilly has followed a City & Guilds curriculum and spent time outside of working hours practising and re-making items for each module until she was happy that it was her best work.
The medallions were turned by Keiran Darnington of Cambridge Precision, and each one individually hand engraved by Karen Wallace. They were exquisite!
The certificates were designed and lettered by me, and I also designed the accompanying booklet for the Awards Ceremony:
Photographs kindly supplied by Thomas Kingsley, Lady Mayor’s Office.