The Leathersellers' Company is one of the ancient Livery Companies of the City.

It is made up of 150 liverymen (senior members) and a variable number of freemen (entry level member). The Company is governed by an elected Master (Chairman-equivalent) and three Wardens, and the Court of Assistants (the Board), which is a permanent body comprised of Liverymen who have served as Master (Pastmasters) and those who have not (Assistants). The Company elects a new Master and Wardens each summer.

The Master, Wardens and Court of Assistants act as a chairman and board of directors, meeting monthly to decide policy and oversee Company affairs. Assisting them is a small permanent staff headed by the Chief Executive & Clerk, who is responsible for the day-to-day management of Company business.

The Leathersellers' Company devotes its energies to support for charity, education and the British leather trade.

Information on The Leathersellers' Company and Education
The Leathersellers' Company - Booklet
The Leathersellers' Review

The Company elects a new Master (Chair) and Wardens (senior Board members) every summer.

The current Master is Nicholas Tusting.

The Court of Assistants (the Board) consists of 28 members. The Company is limited to 150 Liverymen (senior members) and a growing number of Freemen (entry-level members). The executive team, responsible for delivering the Leathersellers’ Strategy, is led by the Chief Executive & Clerk.

​Principal Officers

Education

The Leathersellers' Company has been supporting education at all levels since the 17th century. As well as offering grants for university students, the Company supports education in South London, namely the schools within The Leathersellers' Federation of Schools: Prendergast School, Prendergast Ladywell School, Prendergast Vale School, Prendergast Primary School and Prendergast Sixth Form, as well as Colfe's School.

 

The Company also subsidises the provision of Leather Technical Education at the British School of Leather Technology at the University of Northampton.

See information below on the Schools and Universities supported by or associated with the Leathersellers' Company.
 

• The Leathersellers' Federation of Schools. Further information is available on this website.
   
• Colfe's School is one of the oldest in London. Originally established by John Glyn in 1574, the school was re-founded in 1652 by the Reverend Abraham Colfe, vicar of Lewisham. Colfe was a friend of William Manby, then Clerk to the Leathersellers' Company, and through this connection the Company became Trustee of Colfe's substantial charitable foundation. A well-loved local landmark, Colfe's School stood on Lewisham Hill until 1944 when it was heavily bombed. The pupils were evacuated to schools in Tunbridge Wells and Somerset and spent many years in temporary accommodation before Colfe's School re-opened in 1964 in new buildings in Lee, south-east London. Originally a grammar school for boys, Colfe's became independent in 1977, and has been co-educational since 1999. Extended in recent years to include a nursery, pre-preparatory and preparatory schools, Colfe's School now has over 1000 pupils on the roll, aged between 3 and 18. As trustees of Abraham Colfe's will, the Leathersellers' Company has been associated with the running of Colfe's School for some 350 years. As well as providing school governors, the Master, Wardens and Court make a formal visitation to the School each year, attending lessons and inspecting the premises to ensure the School's high standards are maintained. In addition, the Company offers substantial financial support in the form of scholarships and bursaries, one-off grants and funding for capital building projects. For further information click here.
   
• City University was formed from the former Northampton Institute (which despite its name, was in London) which had existed since 1894. The Leathersellers' Company has supported it continuously since its elevation to University status in 1966. The Charitable Fund currently award four Leathersellers' Prizes a year to exceptional students of Engineering and Science. For further information click here.
   
• Fitzwilliam College Cambridge and its predecessor, Fitzwilliam House, has been supported by The Leathersellers' Company since 1894. In that year four Leathersellers' Exhibitions of £25 p.a. were established specifically for non-Collegiate students at Cambridge. This was in order to help students who were unable to pay College fees to study at the University. It was a logical extension of our longstanding awards of Exhibitions for Collegiate students at Cambridge, which go back to 1603 - when the first of many charitable trusts to help poor scholars' at Oxford and Cambridge was set up, thanks to the generosity of Company benefactors. Today, the Leathersellers' Company provides funding for a Tutorial Fellowship in Mathematics and four Graduate Scholarships for excellence in the fields of Engineering and Science. For further information click here.
   
• Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Leathersellers' Company has been supporting this City institution for well over a century. Our first regular grants were in the form of annual scholarships, awarded from 1903 onwards - originally 10 guineas per annum. Today, the Company funds scholarships for exceptional musicians, actors and composers. For further information click here.
   
• Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) at the University of Northampton is a world-leader in the provision of leather technical education. The Company's historical interest in the School dates back to 1909, when it established the Leathersellers' Technical College on Tower Bridge Road, London. The College was amalgamated with the leather department at Nene College in 1976 and a new centre for leather education was created with a grant of £500,000 from the Leathersellers' Company. Opened in 1978, the National Leathersellers' Centre was immediately popular with overseas students, and with its growing international reputation in mind, its name was changed to the British School of Leather Technology in 1991. Facilities at the ICLT include a tannery and extensive laboratories, all equipped with state-of-the-art machinery. Courses on offer range from BTEC certificates to postgraduate research degrees, and there are short courses in specialised areas tailored to individual requirements. The Leathersellers' Company provides on-going support in the form of grants and scholarships, and each year students are invited to attend an awards ceremony at the Leathersellers' Hall. For further information click here.
   
• St Catherine's College Oxford and its predecessor, the St Catherine's Society has been supported by The Company for well over a century, beginning in 1894 with the establishment of four Exhibitions of £25 p.a each for non-Collegiate students at Oxford. As with the establishment of similar Exhibitions at Cambridge, the idea was to help students who were unable to pay College fees, it represented a widening of our support for students at Oxford University which dates back to 1603, when the Leathersellers' Company made its first awards to poor scholars' at both Oxford and Cambridge. Today, the Leathersellers' Company provides funding for a Tutorial Fellowship in Mathematics and four Graduate Scholarships for excellence in the fields of Engineering and Science. For further information click here.

The Leathersellers’ Foundation administers a number of ancient trusts and also has its own Charitable Fund. By these means the Company provides: Charitable Grants to a wide range of charities and educational establishments; Educational Awards to UK students taking a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate degree at a UK University; Through the Leathersellers’ Barnet Almshouses the Company also provides sheltered housing for the elderly.

The Leathersellers’ Foundation provides a wide range of funding to UK registered Charities, Educational Institutions and University Students.

We are strongly committed to transparency, working with 360Giving to publish information about our Main and Small Grants. For more information and details of these grants given from 2019 onward, please click here.

Further information about the Leathersellers' Foundation can be found here.

The Leathersellers' Foundation supports schools within the Federation with the Matched Funding Scheme.

This scheme has been running since 2015 in which the Foundation generously match fund £1 for £1 funds raised from fundraising activities undertaken by our pupils for a wide range of charities.

• The scheme helps to encourage pupils to engage in fundraising for charities for the benefit of their community, as a key element of their development, recognising their civic responsibility in wider society.
• Match funding offers the Leathersellers’ the opportunity to recognise and celebrate those efforts.
• Both pupils and staff see the Company as being engaged in the life of their school and as a charitable force for good.
• Both pupils and staff value the recognition that the Company extends to their charitable fundraising; with opportunities such as via short videos, website articles, features in the newsletters and/or on social media.
• Relationships are created and developed between Leathersellers (staff and liverymen) and the school community (teachers and pupils).

With the support of the programme, we are pleased to have been able to support and raise funds for a variety of charities including some listed below:

AFRIL
Children in Need
Cats Protection
Disaster Emergency Committee
FOPSA
Fourth Reserve Foundation
Friends of Prendergast Vale
Islamic Relief
Jeans for Genes
Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network
Lewisham Foodbank
Little Princess Trust
Macmillan Cancer Support
Muslim Aid
NSPCC
Prendergast Ladywell Primary PTA
The Proud Trust
Young Minds

A huge thank you to the Leathersellers' Foundation for their support.

The Leathersellers' Company supports the Leathersellers' Federation of Schools in a number of ways.
 

• Appointment of Trustees to the Trust Board of the Leathersellers' Federation of Schools.

• Awards of Excellence - a panel of Leathersellers' consideration of 6th form students nominated to receive a leaving award as a result of, for example, excellent academic achievement, overcoming of challenges in achieving success, outstanding commitment towards school life.

• The matched funding scheme supporting the fundraising efforts of our students in matching £1 for £1 funds raised for charities.

• Hosting visits to the Leathersellers' Hall for all Year 7 students across the Federation.  
• Hosting Federation and Governor events at the Leathersellers’ Hall.
• Links to organisations allowing students to engage in cultural events such as music concerts/festivals/orchestras.
• Engagement with the Catalyst Programme, Oxford University Outreach for Y10 and Y12 students.
   
• Funding to support school initiatives such as:

• Federation Scholarship Programme - Engagement of a Federation Learning Mentor to work with a group of Year 8 students across the three schools as part of a scholarship programme for disadvantaged students to provide additional extracurricular and development opportunities
• City Year UK supporting disadvantaged pupils at Federation schools in and out of class for the academic year to improve educational outcomes
• Specialist staff training around topics from trauma informed schools to gender based violence and more
• Mental health support for students
• A range of additional academic support to support both high achieving students and those needing additional support, through initiatives such as the Brilliant Club, Action Tutoring, NACE, Power Club etc.
• A range of extra-curricular opportunities for students around employability with Future Frontiers, swimming, healthy eating initiatives and more

The Leathersellers’ are also able to link the Schools and pupils in with their other funding programmes including

• Direct student grants to support under-graduates who would otherwise struggle financially to access university (a recent online seminar was held for interested 6^th form students and parents to learn more)
• Scholarships funded through higher education partners such as the Guildhall School of Music

For information see the 2023-24 Annual Review here.