Edward Lloyd. A name not very many recognise but one that is synonymous with the world’s largest specialist insurance Market, having been founded in his Coffee House some 336 years ago.

Lloyd’s of London, the Corporation of Lloyd’s or Society of Lloyd’s in one of the City’s most notable financial Marketplaces with a reach spanning over 167 countries and syndication model which provides cover equivalent to the GDP of almost two dozen countries. It represents just over 25% of the City’s output and employs some 60,000 people. Members have visited the famous inside-out building in Lime Street where the Chairman provided a walking tour through the building, giving an overview of the history and function of Lloyd’s with the opportunity to see brokers and underwriters discussing and placing risk in the famous Underwriting Room - know to those who work here as The Room. We were privileged to see some of the Nelson Collection as well as the Loss Books and other records from Edward Lloyd’s Coffee House, which stood for a time in the Ward of Candlewick. Edward and his family lived in the Ward as well and he frequented the Old Boar’s Head tavern, now Yarnwicke House on Cannon Street - formerly Candlewick Street.

We travelled up and down the towers of Lloyd’s in the glass lifts which move on the outside of the building, providing an incredible view of the City and the new skyscrapers in the City Cluster. We took in the Council Chamber, which is the former Ballroom of Bowood House - painstakingly transferred piece by piece into the Rogers’ Building in 1986. The original design model was on display and we had the opportunity to traverse the central atrium to view the Market from every angle, made all the more spectacular by the glorious Spring sunshine.