Following the Company’s election day on 28 September, the Founders gathered at Founders’ Hall on Monday 26 October for the annual Swearing In Court and Dinner.
At Court, Tom Westley DL was formally sworn in as Master Founder for 2026/27, with Kim Woolmer taking office as Upper Warden and David Kennedy as Under Warden. We were also pleased to welcome two new Freemen to the Company, Lisa Gill and Russell Gray, who were sworn in during the meeting.
Tom brings a lifelong connection with the foundry industry to his year as Master. A metallurgist and metallurgical engineer by training, he began his career at the Mufulira Copper Mine in Zambia before joining his family’s foundry business in the West Midlands in the mid-1970s.
He became CEO and Chairman in 1989 and has since overseen the development of Westley Group, whose foundry businesses work across sectors including defence, marine propulsion, art and architectural castings. Tom has also served as Chairman of Castings Technology International and chaired the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands in 2017.
Within the Founders, Tom has been a Liveryman for around a decade and has previously chaired the Industry Committee.
Our new Wardens also bring a wealth of experience to their roles. Kim Woolmer joined the Company in 2005 and has served on the Court and a number of Company committees alongside a career in investment management and private client stockbroking. David Kennedy has a background in education, financial education and charity governance. Within the Company, he has chaired both the Education and Charity Committees and has recently been appointed a Trustee of the Company’s new Charity.
One of the particularly special moments at Swearing In Court is the Weoley Cup ceremony, which forms part of the Company’s intangible cultural heritage.
The 15th-century Venetian painted glass came to the Founders through Richard Weoley in 1644. As part of the ceremony, the retiring Master drinks to the newly elected Master from the glass, continuing a custom that connects each new Master with generations of predecessors. It is a wonderful example of how the Company’s heritage is not simply something we preserve in an archive or display in the Hall. It is a living tradition which continues to have a place in the life of the Company today.
Another longstanding Company tradition followed with the Loving Cup. This custom is connected with the 1948 will of the Company’s great benefactor Robert Warner, Master in 1933, who provided for a cup of hypocras to be drunk at the Court Dinner on Swearing-In-Day each October in memory of members of the Warner family who had served as Masters of the Company.
The final part of the Court Proceedings was the presentation of the Master’s Shield by our very own past Master Ronnie Sichel, famous for his quixotic interpretations of traditional heraldry.
With Court concluded, members and guests came together for the Swearing In Dinner at Founders’ Hall.
New Freeman Russell Gray gave the toast from the new Freeman, while Past Master Michael Swan proposed the toast to the Master and Wardens, to which the new Master responded.
It was a fitting start to a new Company year, bringing together new appointments and new members with traditions that have been part of the Founders for centuries.
We congratulate Tom, Kim and David on taking office and warmly welcome Lisa and Russell as Freemen of the Company.