Lady Mayor's Livery Apprentice Winners 2025/26

Our Marvellous Winners

The Lady Mayor of London, Dame Sue Langley, is delighted to announce those who have been assessed to be The Lady Mayor’s Craft Livery Apprentices.

This is a completely new initiative that the Lady Mayor started as soon as she took Office to highlight not only the importance of passing on heritage craft skills, but also the support for Apprentices in their craft of origin by Livery Companies of London. Nominations were sought from Livery Companies to recommend their best Apprentices to be put forward as being worthy of this most prestigious recognition.

It was very difficult to select a shortlist as the nominations were of such high quality, but the Assessors were unanimous in approving the twelve final successful Apprentices.

The Lady Mayor of London, Dame Sue Langley

I am so delighted that in my year of Office I have been able to highlight the excellent work being done by many of the Livery Companies of London in supporting those wishing to learn heritage craft skills – these Companies are the unsung heroes of keeping traditional crafts alive in this way. Recognising these twelve worthy recipients of this prestigious Award – the Lady Mayor’s Craft Livery Apprentices – not only underscores what our Worshipful Companies are doing by investing in craft skills, but also emphasises excellence in learning, effort, dedication, enthusiasm and proven skill so far by those on their journey in these crafts. They are certainly very deserving winners to be my Craft Livery Apprentices, and I look forward to meeting them and presenting them with a specially produced certificate and medal at the presentation Ceremony in September.

Patricia Lovett MBE, Co-Lead and Lead Assessor of the Lady Mayor’s Craft Livery Apprentices Initiative

It has been an absolute pleasure to initiate this project and work on recognising these exceptional Apprentices and to ensure that only the very best were selected for this prestigious Award. Having assessed many Craft Awards over a number of years it was fascinating and heartwarming to read through the nominations to see how many Apprentices were achieving so much in their chosen traditional craft. Heritage Craft skills are one of the five domains of the 2003 UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was recently ratified by government. These skills can’t be seen – they are intangible – but they are as important, if not more so, as our tangible cultural heritage of historical buildings and landscapes, because without them, much of our tangible heritage wouldn’t exist.

The Lady Mayor's Livery Apprentices

The prestigious Lady Mayor's Livery Apprentices initiative honours the craft skills of apprentices working with the City of London's 113 Livery Companies, acknowledging and fostering excellence, dedication, and a commitment to improvement and growth.

Celebrating Excellence in Craft Apprentices

‘I am delighted to be launching this initiative recognising the talented craftspeople here in the City and the excellent work being done by London's ancient livery companies to pass on the skills of their crafts. It is so important that these skills, which are part of all of our heritage, continue to the next generation’.

The Lady Mayor, Dame Susan Langley DBE



Lady Mayor's

Livery Apprentices

Assessment Panel

Daniel has worked in the arts, crafts and heritage sectors for the past 18 years. He was one of the founders of Heritage Crafts back in 2009 whilst he was working for Creative Lives (formerly Voluntary Arts), the national charity set up to promote active participation in everyday creativity. He led Heritage Crafts’ Pre-Apprenticeship project in West Somerset in 2017, and was commissioned in 2018 to lead the research on the second edition of Red List of Endangered Crafts, before being recruited on to the staff team in 2019. He is a Trustee of Arts&Heritage, an Ambassador of The Fathom Trust, a judge for the Global Eco Artisan Awards, and a Committee of Recommendation Member for the Ambacht in Beeld Festival in the Netherlands.

Patricia is a world-renowned professional scribe and illuminator specialising in the traditional skills and techniques of mediæval illuminators and has received commissions from many prestigious institutions and individuals. Patricia produces props for films, including BBC’s ‘Wolf Hall’, and has also been filmed as ‘the hand of …’.

She has written over a dozen books including five for the British Library (the fifth published in 2025). Her fourth for the Library – ‘The Art and History of Calligraphy’ – was translated into Japanese.

Patricia teaches and lectures all over the world including Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford Universities, the National Library of New Zealand, the State Library of New South Wales, the Bodleian Library, Durham, London, Birmingham, and Manchester Universities. She also teaches and lectures at the British Library and has advised on and contributed to a number of their exhibitions on manuscripts including being filmed for seven short clips on how manuscripts were made (in association with the Bibliotèque Nationale in France).

In 2022 Patricia was appointed Co-Director and Chief Judge of the new Calligraphy Collection at Stanford University, California. Patricia was also Co-Curator of the highly successful ‘Calligraphy Today’ exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Patricia was Co-Founder and Vice-Chair, then Chair of Heritage Crafts, working with the team to highlight traditional craft skills which resulted in the Red List of Endangered Crafts.

Helen Welch is a woodworker, furniture maker, educator, and TV Judge who founded the London School of Furniture Making and is the Head Instructor there. She was also Judge on the Channel 4 ‘Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker’, season 1. Helen has been a Furniture Making Instructor at a number of institutions including London Metropolitan University, Southgate College, Women’s Education in Building, and the City and Islington College, and she was awarded the City and Guilds Silver Medal for Advanced Carpentry and Joinery. Helen’s training includes forestry and music technology specialising in modern fretted instruments, and she also has had experience in antique furniture faking.

Simon oversees The King’s Foundation’s education, health and other charitable activities as Executive Director, Education. In addition to his role at The King’s Foundation, he serves on the Governing Board of the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, sits on the Advisory Board of the Harmony Institute, is a Professor of Practice at the University of Wales, is a Research Fellow at the University of Grenoble, and sits on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Craft. Prior to joining the King’s Foundation, Simon worked within the education and community development sector in the UK, US and internationally. He holds an MSc in Population and Development from the London School of Economics, an MA Urban Policy from the University of Illinois-Chicago, a BA Political Science from Colorado College and has recently completed a PhD in Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow.

Deadline for nominations

January 15th 2026

Early Nominations Encouraged

The prestigious Lady Mayor’s Livery Apprentices initiative honours the craft skills of apprentices working with the City of London's 113 Livery Companies, recognising and encouraging excellence, effort, and willingness to improve.

One of The Lady Mayor’s priorities this year is focused on craft, particularly heritage craft, and how those skills can be promoted and passed on to future generations. The Livery Companies are the unsung heroes of their craft and apprenticeship sectors. This award is a unique opportunity to showcase the exceptional talent and craftsmanship they continue to nurture and develop.

To this end, Livery Companies are invited to nominate apprentices in their craft of origin (link to nomination form is below) who, it is felt, are worthy to be recognised as a Lady Mayor’s Livery Apprentice.

Nominations will be considered by an Assessing Panel of experts who will select between five and ten apprentices based on the criteria on the Assessment Form (link below) with the final apprentices selected by The Lady Mayor.

There will be a reception in early autumn 2026 at the Mansion House where a specially commissioned, uniquely designed Lady Mayor’s certificate and a medal will be presented to each apprentice to mark their selection as a Lady Mayor’s Livery Apprentice.

Nominations for this year are now closed

1. The Lady Mayor’s Craft Apprentices focus on heritage trades and crafts and the unique skills associated with them, crafts that have a high degree of hand-skill and a knowledge of traditional materials, techniques and practices that have been passed down through the generations.

2. The Lady Mayor’s Craft Apprentices will be those practising the crafts of origin of Livery Companies, that is, traditional crafts and their associated heritage craft skills.

3. The Lady Mayor’s Craft Apprentices may not necessarily be on a full-time specific course, but their training should be with a Master Craftsperson/Mentor and take place over a number of years leading to employment or self-employment.