The primary sponsor for the Academy is the City of London. Our association with this Authority provides us with important links to the companies and employers in the City of London.

The City of London responded to the Government call for Academy sponsors for three main reasons:

     ●    To show their commitment to the public sector

     ●    Because there was no maintained secondary school in the City

     ●    To make a significant contribution to an adjacent borough

The City of London is sole sponsor of the building project and is committing £2m towards the building costs. The City’s involvement, and links with the financial heart of London, tie in in closely with the City of London Academy's Business and Enterprise specialism. We aim to equip pupils with the necessary skills and experience to develop careers in these areas.

Business and Enterprise, while seemingly having its roots in the more conventional subjects such as economics and business studies, has a wide remit. The City of London Academy develops flexible learning, teamwork and above all independent thinking skills. Life beyond school will always be uppermost in our thinking about how and what our pupils learn.

For more information on the City of London, please visit the website: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries' website is at www.apothecaries.org

The Worshipful Company of Barbers sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Science.

The Worshipful Company of Barbers is one of the oldest livery companies of the City of London, with records going back to 1308.

Barbers assisted the monks who, despite being the main practitioners of medicine, were prohibited from spilling blood. Soon, people with surgical knowledge but little expertise in the art of the barbers began to join the Company.

In 1745 the surgeons broke away from the barbers to form the Company of Surgeons, becoming the Royal College of Surgeons in 1800.

The Company no longer retains an association with hairdressing. It does however retain its links with surgery, principally acting as a charitable institution for the benefit of medical and surgical causes.

The Worshipful Company of Barbers' website is at www.barberscompany.org

The Worshipful Company of Drapers sponsors our annual Academy Prize for ICT.

The drapers of London formed an informal organisation in 1180, which led to the founding of the Guild in 1361 and the granting of a Royal Charter three years later. The Guild became a Company, under a Royal Charter in 1438, and was the first corporate body to be granted a coat of arms. The charter gave the company perpetual succession and a Common seal. Over the centuries the original privileges granted by Royal Charter have been confirmed and amended by successive monarchs. The acting Charter of today is that granted by James I in 1607, amended by three Supplemental Charters, most recently in 1964.

You will find the Worshipful Company of Drapers website at www.thedrapers.co.uk

The Worshipful Company of Dyers sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Textiles Design & Technology.

Dyeing has been an industry in the City of London from at least 1188, and the dyers were granted self-regulation powers in 1310. Henry IV issued the first Royal Charter to the Guild in 1471, and this was renewed in 1472 by Edward IV. Charters were renewed by successive sovereigns until Queen Anne issued a charter in perpetuity in 1704.

Since 1516, The Dyers have ranked 13th in order of precedence among City of London Livery Companies.

To read more about the Worshipful Company of Dyers, please go to www.dyerscompany.co.uk

The Worshipful Company of Farriers sponsors our annual Academy Award for Drama.

The Worshipful Company of Farriers is a City Livery Company which has its origins in 1356, when it was established as a Fellowship to oversee farriery (the shoeing and maintenance of horses) within the cities of London and Westminster.

The Company also actively promotes and encourages the art, science, training and education of farriery.

You can find out more about the Worshipful Company of Farriers at www.wcf.org.uk

The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Food Technology.

The Fishmongers' Company is one of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London and amongst the most ancient of the City Guilds, with an unbroken existence of more than 700 years. The Fishmongers of London are known to have been an organised community long before Edward I granted them their first Charter in 1272.

The Guild provided three ships for the Royal Navy in the reign of Edward I, and in the reign of Edward III the Company made a substantial contribution to the cost of the Hundred Years' War with France.

Until the end of the fourteenth century the Fishmongers had their own Court of Law (Leyhalmode) at which all disputes relating to fish were adjudged by the Wardens, whether such disputes were between members of the Company or with "foreigners", i.e. non-members of the Guild.

You will find the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers website at www.fishhall.co.uk

The Worshipful Company of Horners sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Modern Foreign Languages.

The Worshipful Company of Horners represents the traditional trades of bone and ivory working. The first reference to the guild was recorded in 1284.

In 1476 the Horners were joined by the leather bottle makers guild, a trade that was being increasingly affected by the growth in glass bottle making. Since 1943 they have also represented the modern trade of plastics manufacture.

The guild continues to support the horn trades around the city, but also promotes interest in and development of the relatively new plastics industry. The Horners Guild therefore straddles both ancient and new technologies.

The website for the Worshipful Company of Horners can be found at www.horners.org.uk

The Worshipful Company of Insurers sponsors our annual Academy Prize for History.

Founded in 1979, the Company is one of the City's new Guilds. The objects of the Company are:

• To foster the business of Insurers and to provide information between members of that business.
• To assist the relief of hardship suffered by existing and retired Members, and their dependants.
• To accumulate funds for educational use, such as scholarships, prizes and research, and for other charitable purposes.
• To aid and assist the Chartered Insurance Institute and any other societies connected with the business of Insurers.
• To support and encourage standards of honourable practice and ethical behaviour in conducting the business of Insurers.

The website for the Worshipful Company of Insurers is at www.wci.org.uk

The Worshipful Company of Mercers sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Service to the School.

The records of the Mercers’ Company date back to 1348, when new ordinances were drawn up for the conduct of its affairs. The Company must, therefore, have been in existence before that year.

The trade of 'mercery' itself is first mentioned in the 1130s. The term derives from the Latin merx, meaning wares or merchandise.

In its widest sense mercery could describe all merchandise, although in London the term evolved to mean the trade specifically in luxury fabrics, such as silk, linen, hemp-cloth and fustian, and in a large variety of miscellaneous 'piece goods' such as bedding, headwear, ribbons, laces and purses.

The Company's links with the active trade died out over the centuries. This was mainly because admission to the Company was possible by patrimony. In effect, a member could become a member because his father was a member, without necessarily practising the trade of mercery itself.

You can find out more about the Worshipful Company of Mercers at www.mercers.co.uk

The Worshipful Company of Saddlers sponsors our annual Sixth Form Prize for English and Media Studies

It is believed that a Saddlers' Guild existed before the Norman Conquest. Although there is no definite evidence for this, it is quite possible that a fraternity of saddlers existed in Anglo-Saxon London. The first recorded Royal Grant of authority was given by Edward I in 1272, but the most significant Royal Grant was the Incorporation Charter of Richard II in 1395.

In the early Middle Ages, the Guild acquired jurisdiction over all saddlers working within a two-mile radius of the City. A Court of Assistants oversaw the activities of saddle and horseware makers, and had the power to fine or imprison members that disobeyed the ordinances and bye-laws of the Guild.

In the 20th century, the Saddlers Company was one of the founders of the the City & Guilds of London Institute and the Northampton Institute (now City University). The Company continues to play an active role in the lives of the City and its citizens.

More information is available on the website of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers at www.saddlersco.co.uk

The Worshipful Company of Scriveners sponsors our annual Academy Keenest Reader Awards  for all years.

The Worshipful Company of Scriveners is 44th in the order of precedence of the Livery Companies of the City of London. As their name implies the Scriveners have always been, by definition, writers, and they were originally known as Writers of the Court Letter. Scriveners wrote confidential documents such as wills, charters and legal documents. This legal connection is now represented by the notarial profession, in particular the scrivener notaries who have traditionally practised in the City of London, and who are obliged to become members of the Company on qualification.

In addition to the scrivener notaries, the Scriveners’ Company is the traditional “home” for calligraphers and for members of the College of Arms and those with interests in heraldry. The membership of the Company also includes a wide range of professional backgrounds, in particular solicitors, barristers, chartered accountants, actuaries, members of the clergy, company directors, investment advisers, genealogists and diplomats.

The website for the Worshipful Company of Scriveners can be found at www.scriveners.org.uk

The Worshipful Company of Solicitors of the City of London sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Music.

The Worshipful Company of Solicitors of the City of London is one of the more recent Guilds in the City. It was founded in 1908 and held its first meeting in June 1909. The Company became a livery company in 1944 and obtained its Royal Charter in 1958.

In 1965 the Worshipful Company established its Charitable Fund, and in 1971 the CLSC instituted a voluntary legal advice scheme in Hackney. In 1978 extensive support from member firms enabled the Tower Hamlets Law Centre to open. The City Solicitors' Educational Trust was established in 1990.

1980 saw the first CLSC float taking part in Lord Mayor's Show, and there has been an unbroken record of participation ever since.

Visit www.citysolicitors.org.uk to find out more about the Worshipful Company of Solicitors of the City of London.

The Worshipful Company of Vintners sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Biology.

The origins of the Vintners' Company are obscure. Before the Norman Conquest, neighbourhood groups would meet in their local church - in the case of the Vintners, St. Martin in the Vintry.

The Vintners' first charter (15th July, 1364) was a grant of monopoly for trade with Gascony. The wine trade was of immense importance to the medieval economy - between 1446 and 1448, wine made up nearly one-third of England's entire import trade. The Vintners' Company was placed eleventh out of the Great Twelve Livery Companies in the order of precedence of 1515.

By the sixteenth century, the Company's importance was in decline. The ending of privileges by Charles II and James II badly damaged the Company's influence, and the Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed not only the Hall but also many of its other properties. Although William III and Mary II restored the privileges removed by James II, the Company did not recover its former dominance.

The twentieth century was marked by a steady progress towards the Company's renewed interest in and support for its trade, culminating in the granting of a new Charter on the 20th August, 1973.

To find out more about the Worshipful Company of Vintners, please visit their website at www.vintnershall.co.uk

The Worshipful Company of World Traders sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Geography.

The Worshipful Company of World Traders is a recent City of London Guild. After holding its first meeting as a Guild in 1985, it was created as a Company in 1993, and became a Livery Company in 2000.

Their liverymen generally fall into one of three categories:

• Brokers of international goods, services and commodities, and these almost invariably are in the financial services sector within the City of London. For example ship brokers, insurance brokers, commodity traders, stock-brokers and currency dealers.
• Traders of real, tangible goods and products. In other words, importers and exporters, typically of foodstuffs, pharmaceutical products, and a host of other industrial products, from doors to bridge building contracts.
• Financial services professionals who have a speciality in international business. These include lawyers, bankers and accountants, and other smaller professional groups such as patent attorneys and consultants.

You will find the Worshipful Company of World Traders website at www.world-traders.org

The Castle Baynard Ward sponsors our annual Academy Prize for Business & Enterprise.

Castle Baynard is one of the 25 Wards of the City of London. It runs from St Paul's Cathedral in the East to Fetter Lane in the West, forming a horseshoe curve around the Ward of Farringdon Within.

The Ward Clubs are not just social organisations, they are elected officials and represent the local people and firms within their Ward boundary. The Castle Baynard Ward Club is also involved in considerable charitable activity and sponsorship.