125th Anniversary Celebration
My Lord Mayor, CIPFA President Jaki Meekings Davis, Distinguished Guests, Ladies, and Gentlemen. Thank you, Jaki, for your kind introduction and for your welcome to this marvelous occasion, being held in such a historic building.
125 years - 1885 to 2010. 1885, apart from being the year in which CIPFA was founded and incorporated not long after as the Corporate Treasurers and Accountants Institute, it was also the year of the first election in which the electoral franchise in England was extended to all men; and the audience tonight evidences significant further progress in this regard! In the same year professional football was legalized in Britain and, close to my heart, it was the year in which Gottfried Daimler patented the first motorcycle. A memorable year!