The Worshipful
Company of Farriers

Promoting the welfare of the horse since 1356

The Master


Master 2022-2023 Martin Russell

Martin started in the City in the 1970’s in banking, later in corporate treasury in two FTSE 100 companies and was on the board of a mortgage bank.
For thirty years, he provided financial and business education to a wide range of city and governmental institutions.  Since 2002, he has run the ‘Introducing the City’ programme, delivering many annual programmes for MPs and Peers on behalf of the Industry & Parliament Trust, and separately at Financial Times and at The London Stock Exchange. He lectures at Middlesex University Business School.  A Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers since 1981, he gained the FT Non-Executive Director Diploma in 2013, and received an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University in 2015.

Married, with three grown-up children, he was a Churchwarden at St Michael Cornhill 1998-2007.  Commissioned as one of Her Majesty’s Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London in 2006, he is the Lord-Lieutenant’s Representative in Barnet.  He is patron, president, chairman or a trustee of a sizeable number of voluntary, charitable and youth organisations. 

Martin Russell became Free of the City of London in 1984, a Liveryman of the Farriers’ Company in 1989, and soon became involved with the Desert Orchid Farriers Appeal to raise funds for an international institute of farriery.  He was invited to establish a Livery Committee to enhance social activity within the Company, chairing this for several years while also being the Company’s link with its affiliations with HM Armed Forces, both Regular and Reserve, and of all three Services. 
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Appointed to the Court, he served as an Assistant until 2006, and again from 2018.  His work for the Company was recognised by the award of the Franklin Birch Trophy in 2003.