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Dec 1, 2022 THE ROYAL HORSEGUARDS HOTEL, Whitehall, London The Venue The Royal Horseguards Hotel was built between 1886 and 1892 as part of a bigger development called Whitehall Court, which housed superior flats whose residents included William Gladstone, Lord Kitchener, George Bernard Shaw, H.G Wells and the younger brother of Tsar Nicholas II. Parts of the hotel were later used by the forerunners of MI5 and MI6, being handily located to the old War Office. The National Liberal Club is located within the complex. Winston Churchill was a member in his younger [...]

SEP 22ND 2022 THE COMMON ROOM, NEWCASTLE ON TYNE The Venue The Common Room describes itself as a celebration of Graft and Glory. This reflects the fact it was once the home of the former Mining Institute which played a leading role in the Industrial Revolution. Its aim is to continue building on that legacy promoting technologies that enable sustainability. It was therefore entirely appropriate for a Bessemer Dinner. The Institute was founded in 1852 on the present site, shortly before Henry Bessemer announced his disruptive steel invention, arguably at the peak of [...]

Jun 30th, 2022 HARWELL CAMPUS, OXFORD The Venue The Harwell site has grown to become the leading showcase of an advanced cluster, housing the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory (RAL) and Diamond Light Source on the government-owned part of the site, alongside rapidly-growing private investment in research and manufacturing facilities on the adjoining campus. I have watched this growth over the past 15 years under different ownerships. Now under the new ownership of Brookfield, one of the largest property and investment firms in the world, their plans are to expand it faster still. We held our [...]

Dec 2, 2021 THE IRONMONGERS’ HALL, Barbican, London The Venue The history of the Ironmongers’ Company dates back over 700 years with its roots in the iron trade. It is one of the Great XII livery companies. It has occupied four previous halls, the last destroyed by a bomb dropped during World War I. The present Hall stands on land which was bought in 1922 and was opened on 17 June 1925. Henry Bessemer was not a member of the Company, as the Ironmongers do not admit members if they belong to another [...]

City of London Club NOVEMBER 11TH 2021 The Evening The evening brought together key parts of the semiconductor industry to consider the need for a National Semiconductor Industry Strategy. 80 guests attended, which included government officials, investors and industry. The Venue A view of the neo-classical 1834 facade. The City of London Club is a point of continuity in the financial centre, the skyline of which changes almost daily as another Cheese Grater or Gherkin building goes up. The building was completed in 1834 making it the oldest Club in the [...]

Sept 16 2021 Venue: Worcester College The Evening The purpose of the evening was to demystify the battery sector for an investor audience. Nearly 30 investment firms attended from out of a total of 105 guests. The event comprised a (gentle) Dragons’ Den, Self-Intros by Bessemer members, speakers at dinner, discussion and active networking. The Venue In the photograph, the Dining Hall is located behind the colonnades, occupying half the space of the ground floor, with its entrance to the far right. Beneath it are medieval cellars which have been converted to a [...]

February 27th, 2020 Venue: The House of Commons Churchill Room A perfectly-named room to host the battling Hard Tech community inside the Corridors of Power. The bust of Sir Winston peered out discreetly from an alcove behind our speakers’ table. The purpose of the dinner was to bring the Bessemer entrepreneur hard tech community front and forward with policy makers at the House of Commons for better mutual understanding, with the support of the Foundation for Science and Technology. THE FOUNDATION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY The Foundation brings together representatives from Parliament, government, [...]

LONDON - November 20, 2019 Venue: THE CITY OF LONDON CLUB, Broad Street, EC1 The City of London Club exudes the club-like atmosphere of the old City, at the very heart of the financial community, and seemed a suitable location for the Award of our Lifetime Fellowship to Dr Drew Nelson, CEO and co-founder of IQE plc, which is listed on the AIM market. The Club building was completed in 1834, almost adjacent to the previous site of the Stock Exchange. Sir Henry Bessemer would have been 19 years of age at that [...]

LONDON - November 20, 2018 Venue: THE ARMOURERS AND BRASIERS HALL, City of London The Armourers Hall’s walls are lined with relics of a medieval past, it also has the sense of Victorian romanticism, which is accounted for by the fact the present Hall was completed in 1841 and then heavily ‘gothicised’ in 1871. The Armourers and Brasiers’ Company however dates back to 1322 and has been on the present site, amazingly, since 1346. What changes therefore it has seen, with all the glass and steel buildings around it now! Sir Henry Bessemer [...]

Oxford Said Business School, October 31st 2018 The dinner took place in the West Wing of the Said Business School, also known as The Thatcher Business Education Centre, which was completed in 2013. It was a break from our usual choice of venue where we try to make a link to the grandeur of our Victorian industrial heritage, compatible with the image that Bessemer evokes. The new-fangled West Wing building had a security system to prevent unauthorised entry, not surprisingly since the MBAs apparently pay up to £3000 a day to attend courses. [...]