VINTRY WARD

Tom Hoffman, MBE, LLB, FCA, studied Law at the University of Exeter, qualified as a chartered accountant, and became an international banker, specialising first in corporate finance at Hill Samuel, and subsequently in the international capital markets at Lloyds Bank International and the Fuji Bank of Japan. He was then appointed to general management positions as Head of Corporate Banking at ABN Bank and, for the last 13 years before retirement, as General Manager for the UK & Ireland of Banco Espirito Santo, a leading Portuguese bank. In 1994 he moved his bank’s principal UK office to 33 Queen Street in the heart of Vintry Ward, and became an active member of the Vintry & Dowgate Wards’ Club, of which he has served as Chairman. He still retains connections with Portugal as Honorary Vice-President of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the the UK, having been Chairman of the Council from 1998 until 2001.

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Tom was elected as a Common Councilman for Vintry Ward in 2002 and has served on the Finance Committee, the Investment Committee, the Markets Committee, the Port Health & Environmental Services Committee, the Culture, Heritage & Libraries Committee, the Livery Committee, the Gresham Committee (Chairman 2011-14 ), the Board of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (Chairman 2009-12), the Barbican Centre, the City of London School for Girls (Chairman 2003-06), the City of London School for Boys, the City of London Freemen’s School, The Honourable the Irish Society (Deputy Governor 2009-10), and the Guildhall Historical Association (Hon. Treasurer since 2009).

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Tom was appointed by the City of London to the Council of Birkbeck, University of London (Governor 2003-11 ), the Council of Christ’s Hospital Foundation (Almoner 2006-10 & Chairman of the Finance Committee 2006-08), the City of London Festival (Trustee 2003-16), and the Council of Gresham College (2009-17, Vice-Chairman 2013-14).

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The Court of Common Council elected Tom to the office of Chief Commoner for the year 2019-2020. Tom is an Emeritus Member of the Court of the Tylers & Bricklayers’ Company (Master 2006-07), and a Life Member of both the City Livery Club and the Guild of Freemen.

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Outside the City he has been a Governor of King’s College Hospital (2005-2011), a Governor of Guy’s & St. Thomas’ Hospitals (2012-2018), a Trustee of the Clergy Support Trust (since 1996), a Member of the Council of the University of Exeter and Chairman of the Audit Committee (1998-2006), The Sixteen Choir & Orchestra (Advisory Board Chairman 2003-07), The London Festival Orchestra (Chairman 2000-07), and a Trustee of the Stour Festival Company, Kent (Chairman since 2014).

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He is a Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Member of the Royal Society of Asian Affairs, and a Fellow of Birkbeck, University of London.

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In his younger days Tom was a keen oarsman: he was captain of rowing at both school and university, and in 1967 he established the first British Universities Rowing Championships. He was elected a Member of Leander Club at Henley-on-Thames, and in 2012 the Tom Hoffman Library at Leander was established to house his unique collection of 1,800 books on rowing from 34 countries and dating from 1630, which he donated to the Club.

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His has written extensively on the Guilds of Great Britain and Ireland. In 2006 his Paper on The Rise & Decline of Guilds was published by the Guildhall Historical Association, and in 2011 Birkbeck published on their website his four volume Bibliography on Guilds: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/elib/databases/tom-hoffman/tom-hoffman-bibliography-on-the-guilds

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Committee Appointments

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• Court of Common Council

• Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee

• Gresham (City Side) Committee

• Markets Committee

• Planning and Transportation Committee

• Special Sub Committee of the Planning and Transportation Committee

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Appointments to Outside Bodies

• Mitchell City of London Charity & Educational Foundation

• Age UK London

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Address: Members’ Room, PO Box 270, Guildhall, London, EC2P 2EJ

Email: tom.hoffman@cityoflondon.gov.uk

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