Dear London Branch members
I am delighted to present my fourth report to you as Chairman. It has been a memorable year with a wide variety of outstanding, and in some cases unusual, events.
We have seen a continued demand for interesting meals, and I particularly need to mention the superb AGM dinner at Noizé, and the New Year dinner organised by Roger Ellis at the IT Hall. We are also very grateful to all our lunch organisers, including Pamela Rustem, Ronda Fogel, and Beverley St John Aubin. We are delighted to have visited the University of West London once more to present them with an IWFS Excellence Award, and also a fine dining dinner at Hammersmith and Fulham College. Many thanks to all those involved.
We have also enjoyed some superb wine tastings, including mature wines generously donated by Richard Duncan from his own cellar, as well as many very interesting and innovative tastings from Dr. Bernard Lamb, Ed Gretton, and Chris Davenport-Jones. We are grateful for their continued support. I also need to mention the special tastings held in memory of our members Keith Ellis and Lancelot Jaundoo.
I am very sad to have to report the sudden death of my wife Stephanie last February. She made a tremendous contribution to the Branch and indeed to IWFS internationally over a period of nearly 20 years and will be very sorely missed.
We were delighted to participate, jointly with Capital branch, in the IWFS wide tasting in memory of the 50th anniversary of the Judgement of Paris.
I should also like to thank all our Committee members for their hard work and support over the last year. Particular thanks are due to Rachel Burnett for taking on the role of Secretary, Pamela Rustem for organising our programme, and William Arthur for starting to promote our activities on social media. And finally to Graham Lovelock for his vital role as our Treasurer.
As I mentioned last year, we are always looking for people who are prepared to organise or facilitate events, and also for members who would be prepared to serve on our committee. None of us are getting any younger, and I am very concerned that we do not have potential successors lined up for most of the major roles. Succession Planning is an important part of my role as Chairman, and one which is now becoming critical.
So I am delighted to say that we have one new committee member this year – Chris Warren Smith, and also that William Arthur has agreed to accept the role of Deputy Chairman with a view to taking over from me in a year’s time.
But we would still very much like to hear from any members, and particularly the younger ones, who would be prepared to help out in any way whatsoever. Please do not be concerned that you lack relevant experience: we are very happy to help people to learn on the job.
We are also keen to recruit new members to the Branch. Please consider encouraging some of your friends and relatives to join us.
In spite of these challenges, your Committee is working hard to provide you with a wide range of excellent events: probably we offer more variety than any other branch. We are always looking for new ideas, and are prepared to run almost any event that has an organiser and an audience. Would there be an interest in reviving blind tasting competitions for example, or food tastings and cookery demonstrations? I am very sad to report however that a few events have had to be cancelled for lack of bookings, or have been poorly attended. We really do need our members to support all our events if they possibly can, and not just those that are exceptional.
That said, we are in a strong position financially, and looking forward to another excellent year. Rising prices in London are a major challenge, but we are doing what we can to offer excellent value for money, and look forward to seeing you all at many of our events over the coming year.
Alan Shepherd
Chairman, London Branch
October 2026