Green Light

Simon Bartley is about to leave his myriad of commitments behind him and jet off to Seattle to hang loose with old friends. Or at least, that’s the plan. So far, he hasn’t even made it to the airport without being hounded by work-related undertakings. Sitting in the departure lounge hunched over his mobile phone, he struggles admirably to be heard over a barrage of tanoy announcements.

“I don’t get a lot of free time,” he admits. “That’s why I’m flying out to the US for the next five days – to chill out.” He doesn’t sound bitter. In fact, Simon is clearly a man who likes to keep active. When he isn’t sitting on enough committees to ensure the smooth running of a small country, he’s at his happiest sailing around the south coast.

A breath of fresh air

The main reason I’m ambushing Simon on his vacation is to find out more about The Worshipful Company of Lightmongers. In his role as Master, Simon is hauling members into the 21st century by their ceremonial fineries, encouraging them to address the vital issue of sustainability.

The Lightmongers was set up back in 1953 to promote goodwill throughout the lighting industry, embracing manufacturers, contractors, consultants and distributors. The society went on to become a guild, with a strong focus on scholarships and training. It achieved Livery status in 1984. “All livery companies are set up with three main responsibilities, which are education, charity and support of the armed services,” says Simon. “But I thought it was about time we looked at some trade-related issues, such as energy efficiency and sustainable solutions. The Lightmongers has never taken a front seat in relation to industry issues.”

But surely there are already plenty of bodies looking at green concerns at the moment. What exactly does he think the Lightmongers can bring to the debate? “Do you know of any other body that is trying to pool the different thoughts of CIBSE and the ECA and LIF and all the other bodies of which people may be members together? I just believe that there is a sprinkling of the best of all of those organisations within the Lightmongers. It seems like a natural thing to have a look at what we can do in the professional and craft areas.

As for what we’re going to be looking at, it hasn’t been decided precisely yet. I was just floating the idea round at the Livery Dinner speech recently; it was an issue of seeing how the idea went down.” And how exactly did it go down? Simon laughs: “Well, it was an after dinner speech, and all sorts of people are enthusiastic by that time in the evening! But quite a few have come up to me since then and said they think it’s an excellent idea and would like to co-operate.”

During his speech, Simon pointed out that going green makes good business sense, if nothing else. However, his own views on global warming couldn’t be clearer. “I believe that we are changing the climate of the world in which we live by our activities, such as burning fossil fuels and increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the air,” he says. “Whether that is exacerbating a heating and cooling cycle that exists anyway, I’m not qualified to say. But I do think that even if you leave the big science picture out of it, it seems to me that there’s an element of logic in not using as much irreplaceable fuel. Being fuel efficient, looking at alternatives to carbon-based fuels and trying to increase the efficiency of the equipment we use, whether it’s a building installation or a light bulb, just makes sense.”

Mastering the art

Simon’s allegiance with the Lightmongers stems from his experience in the electrical industry. He ran family electrical contracting business CJ Bartley until 2001, and is currently a member of the ECA Greater London Region Committee. He has been a Lightmonger for 11 years and his current role as Master involves about 150 engagements over the course of the year. “And it’s not all reciprocal dinners and networking,” he assures me. “About 20 of our functions are concerned with the running of the livery. We also have lectures presented to us on subjects as wide as the 400th anniversary of the telescope, through to a recent one delivered by Bernard Ingham on why we haven’t got a coherent energy policy.” He also attends a number of charitable, livery-organised gatherings and represents the Lightmongers at industry functions and educational events.

Would-be members should be prepared to pay an annual subscription of £200, and a one-off fee of several hundred pounds to join. They must also be sponsored by two existing liverymen and attend a short interview. A simple ceremony of entrance follows. “You basically swear an oath to the Queen to support the work of the livery and not do dodgy things!” So, there are no covert rituals or bizarre rites of passage? Simon laughs. “You just turn up, say a declaration, get given a certificate and shaken by the hand. There are no daggers or chickens or bearing of breasts or anything like that involved. And it’s no secret either – anyone can come and watch.”

I thought it was about time we looked at some trade-related issues, such as energy efficiency and sustainable solutions.

Sadly, there are still a few liveries that refuse to allow women members. The Lightmongers, however, is not one of them. “We don’t discriminate against women – we’ve had a female Master,” says Simon.

Vocation, vocation, vocation

Training has always been one of Simon’s major passions, and his year-long term as Master provides him with the perfect opportunity to support vocational education. The livery offers apprentices a mixture of 14 bursaries and awards. It also runs a Journeyman scheme, supporting young achievers working within the industry. “There are already plenty of apprenticeship schemes run by individual companies and through training agents such as JTL. But we did realise that there were individuals, perhaps a little older, who had done their basic training and could benefit from being mentored,” explains Simon. “We have five or six mentors at the moment, who meet with their protégés every six months. We have contractors, people in the lighting industry, there’s even one chap who’s an officer in the engineering part of the Navy.”

According to Simon, developing a coherent career structure for the whole sector can help to bridge the skills gap at the higher levels, such as Level 4s and management roles. “People need to see a pathway through that not only excites them on an intellectual level, but also rewards them. Those who join at 16 and do apprenticeships or alternative qualifications need to know that they can continue through other foundation degrees and workplace training and then become big wheels in big businesses, or go away and set up their own. We’re stuck in an area where nobody takes a course because they have to pay for it themselves and don’t get anything that will make that investment worthwhile.”

Second sight

If education is the first pillar of livery life, charity is the second. The Lightmongers focus the majority of their efforts on aiding those who are blind or partially sighted. “When the livery was started, members decided that, because light is a necessity for anyone to see, there should be an affiliation with charities concerned with vision. You turn on a light in a dark room and suddenly you can see what’s in there. In the same way, we want to help people who can only see black to make out colours or shapes or even their families.” The funds come predominantly from membership, or partaking in events such as running the London Marathon.

Some of the fundraising the Company gets involved in is a tad more eccentric, however. Each year, the Red Cross raises money by inviting Masters of livery companies for breakfast and then spuriously arresting them, marching them to the Tower of London and refusing to set them free unless they can raise at least £1000 in ‘bail’ money!

Soldiering on

Most of London’s 108 livery companies have an affiliation with at least one of the armed services. The Lightmongers offer their support to three. The company works with the Army’s 101 Engineers Regiment, the 606 squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and the Navy, sponsoring aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. Members also offer advice to people who are leaving the Navy with regards to possible careers. “We’re trying to set up placements, so they can come and do a couple of week’s worth of work experience to get an idea about what civilian life’s like,” Simon explains.

Recently, the livery has been looking at helping a cadets unit in one of the deprived areas of east London. “One of the ways young people learn citizenship or develop self esteem is to join one of these groups, so we’re trying to assist people from the ages of 14 to 19 in learning more about the electrical and lighting industries from members.”

The Lightmongers may have been around since the early 1950s, but they seem to have no trouble keeping up the pace. And as Simon dashes off to catch his flight from one bustling city to another, it’s not hard to see why.