Our current Master is Michael Edward David, Baron de Styrcea who was installed on 29th April 2025. The Master is elected for a year and presides at all our functions. 

Michael de Styrcea is the Master of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers for the year 2025–2026, having joined the Company in 2009 and been elected to the Court in 2019. He was appointed Renter Warden in April 2023 and will serve as Master from April 2025. His association with the Company reflects his deep interest in heritage, stewardship, and service.

Born into a family with deep European roots, Michael graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1976 and went on to pursue a distinguished career as a Chartered Surveyor. Over several decades, he held senior consultancy roles at Chesterton, Drivers Jonas, and Deloitte, specialising in advising major property occupiers including central and local government, British Rail, and organisations across the health, education, and housing sectors. His work encompassed landmark developments such as major shopping centres, the Government’s Whitehall property strategy, and numerous PFI and privatisation initiatives.

Following his retirement from commercial consultancy, Michael turned his focus to family affairs in Romania, where he successfully pursued the restitution of substantial forest and estate holdings that had been confiscated by the communist regime after the Second World War, today Michael oversees the ongoing management and restoration of the family lands.

Alongside his professional and personal commitments, Michael is an active supporter of the arts and historical research. He is the chairman of two charities: a touring opera company, and a research organisation dedicated to ancient sacred sites, including megaliths and stone circles. A qualified practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method, he combines physical awareness with a broader appreciation for wellbeing and heritage.

He lives near Petersfield in Hampshire with his wife Jilly, sharing their family home with two dogs and three ponies.  Michael spends much of his leisure time exploring the Solent and waters beyond.

Our current Master is Mr Timothy John Muirhead Sanders-Hewett who was installed on 24th April 2024. The Master is elected for a year and presides at all our functions. 

Born in 1950 Tim has had a varied career as an Estate Manager and Company Director of several companies connected with real estate, construction of commercial properties and development of building projects.  He has been very active in local community where he has supported the Chamber of Commerce and a Community Development Trust in various roles, helping to engage, manage and develop public interest in the Thames and Dagenham areas.  He is currently still a Director with Barking and Dagenham Chamber of Commerce which takes an active role in supporting local business and employers.

Tim has been a member of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers since 1974 when he became a Freeman of the Company.  During his time with the Company, he has supported most of the committees, Chairing Comms and Activities during the Companies 650^th Anniversary.

A very keen yachtsman, he has previously been a Director of the Hurlingham Yacht Club and maintains an interest in all things nautical.   He is an avid supporter of his local church and choir where he regularly attends to support the various choir activities.  Fond of skiing, he can often be found on the slopes and for many years has taken part in the inter-Livery competition.

Tim is married to Clare and they live in Battersea, they have two grown up children.

Past Master Mr Andrew Trapnell was installed on 19th April 2023. The Master is elected for a year and presides at all our functions. 

Andrew has been a member of the Fletcher’s Company for more than 30 years. His wife Melanie is also in the Livery of the Fletchers and their sons, Robert and Oliver, are Freemen of the Company.

Andrew is a senior HR professional and an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute (APMI) and initially spent 10 years in Professional Services firms working for PwC and EY. This was followed by a 30-year career in Human Resources within Financial Services, principally at Morgan Stanley. His experience combines strategic leadership within a complex organisation with solid experience of remuneration and reward, governance and all aspects of HR management. This included advising Boards and Committees including advice to the Remuneration Committee Chair. As well as working in London Andrew spent 8 years working in Hong Kong and Tokyo, including as Head of HR for the Asia region. Retiring from Morgan Stanley Andrew has been a senior HR Consultant and Pension Plan Trustee.

Andrew is a member of the Worshipful Company of Human Resource Professionals, the Aldersgate Ward Club, City Livery Club and the City of London Club. He is also a member of the PCC for the parish of Sunninghill and South Ascot, one of a number of Charitable activities.

Andrew is a keen archer and is a member of The Royal Toxophilite Society. He has more interests than time which include golf, reading (particularly history and science fiction and fantasy), strategy and board games, puzzles, gardening and a long list of other things!!

He lives in Ascot Berkshire.

On Saturday 10th of September, The Worshipful Company of Fletchers’ 2022 Disability Championships were back at Lilleshall, and this year saw over 50 archers from all corners of Great Britain and Australia compete across 11 categories.

A number of athletes were keen to talk about the effect of the event, and the impact it’s had on their archery careers.

Daniel O’Connor, member of Bromyard Bowmen and previous Invictus Games competitor, attended the Disability Games a few years ago as a Novice. This year, he returned as a Senior. “It's really helpful to come to this event. Everyone’s competing against each other, but at the same time you're talking to more people in the community who are in the same position as you.”

Daniel, who went on to win bronze in the Recurve Men (Unclassified) category, spoke about how the day was a “learning event” for him: “There's a lot of advice you get given as a new archer and you’re learning the techniques, but then, once you've got your basic techniques down, how do you progress? How do you keep improving your game? Now, in the Seniors, you’re against people who've been shooting sometimes a decade longer than you. It’s tough but it’s also really beneficial because you’re talking to them about what they're doing to keep improving their game and getting some great advice. When I joined my club, I was the only one who had a disability. Now, there's three of us and we’re improving all the time.”

For Steve Fidler from Buscot Park Archers who competed against Daniel and won silver, the competition is not just an opportunity for him to meet similarly-abled archers, but a chance to show himself that he is progressing. “For me, it's all about improving each year. It’s a bit different from shooting down at the club, and it’s a chance to see how much better I’ve gotten over the past year. For me, the more competitions like this, the better. It’s always a friendly atmosphere and everyone's always talking to everybody else, which is great.”

“It gets better each year,” says Debbie Wright. The visually-impaired archer from Wellingborough Open Archery Club was defending her title in the Visually Impaired Unclassified Recurve category. “I always love coming to this event. It’s a chance to meet up with friends again. And to defend my Outdoor title, which I’ve held since 2016 – I intend to keep hold of it for a lot longer!” And she did, taking home the gold once again.

The event, which this year began with a one minute silence to mark the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is organised and supported by The Worshipful Company of Fletchers, a long-term supporter of disability archery. Hilda Gibson, the Fletcher’s Honorary Almoner, also discussed the need for the Disability Championships. “It started as a way of encouraging archers with a disability to shoot more, to prepare for an event and to actually come to an event. Anybody who identifies as having a disability can come and know that everybody else here has some sort of disability. They’re not alone.”

What a fantastic day at Court followed by our annual Affiliate Lunch, celebrating the hard work of our Armed Forces and Cadets.  The Master handed Fletcher prizes to Corporal David Thompson and Cadet Sgt Panta Solozrano for excellence.  

The Company welcomed 9 new Company members including Honorary Liveryman Lady Tessa Brewer OBE, Honorary Freeman Hector Cole, Liverymen Peter Thacker, Arthur Dransfield and Graham Potts and Freemen (on their journey to Liveryman) Jasmine Song, Carl Schiess, Colonel Christopher Head MBE MC and Nailesh Mehta.  

The Fletchers Clerk ran a half marathon on Sunday 25 September 2022 at Hever Castle raising money for the Fletchers Trust.  The event was great fun and the Clerk made it round the course successfully.  All monies raised approx £3500 will be donated to the Fletchers Trust.  

A wonderful day for the Fletchers at the Noak Hill Archery ground organised by PM Lesley Agutter.  The day consisted of both target and field archery with a competition shoot in the afternoon.  It was a fantastic day with Fletchers of all abilities and experience of archery taking part, including one or two complete novices such as the Clerk.  The day was wonderfully hosted by the Noak Hill team with a magnificent lunch in the clubhouse and excellent coaching throughout.  The scores across the events were calculated and we celebrated with Melanie Trapnell and David Goodall as they achieved the highest scores.  

Past Master Mr Philip Shears KC was installed on 26th April 2022. The Master is elected for a year and presides at all our functions. 

LEYS SCHOOL CAMBRIDGE

 NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY LLB

 ST EDMUNDS COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE LLB (POST GRADUATE)

CAPTAIN OF COLLEGE FIRST (EVER) BOAT

MEMBER OF CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY UNDERWATER EXPLORATION GROUP

ACTOR AND DIRECTOR FOR ADC THEATRE AND MUMMERS

ACTOR AND DIRECTOR AND CHAIR OF PROGRESS THEATRE READING

CALLED TO THE BAR 1972 MIDDLE TEMPLE , MIDLAND AND OXFORD CIRCUIT

CHAMBERS 1 ESSEX COURT , THEN 2 CROWN OFFICE ROW BECOMING 7 BEDFORD ROW

SPECIALIST AREA CRIMINAL LAW , SERIOUS CRIME , HOMICIDE , SERIOUS FRAUD ( A NOMINATED COUNSEL FOR THE SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE)

APPOINTED QUEENS COUNSEL 1996

APPOINTED ASSISTANT RECORDER 1987

APPOINTED RECORDER 1990 TO 2017

ACTIVITIES :

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL LONDON YACHT CLUB , COMMODORE 2008/9 , TRUSTEE .. CURRENT

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON

MEMBER AND PAST VICE COMMODORE OF THE BAR YACHT CLUB

When the Court confirmed the formation of a Working Group in order to petition for a Royal Charter in late 2017 there was little information or understanding of the process.  The then Master, Dr. Roger Watson, PM Sir David Wootton, Liveryman Alex Gerver and Liveryman Stuart Robbens as Chairman formed the working Group.  As there was little guidance available with regard to the process, Sir David Wootton suggested that Keith Lawrey, with whom he was aquainted and who had assisted a number of other Companies to obtain their Charters, be approached to assist.  The Chairman met Keith Lawrey who agreed to join the Working Group and assist with the Company’s petition for a Royal Charter pro bono.  In spite of his own busy schedule Keith gave freely of his time and was able, not only to give guidance on the process but, as a basis from which to draft the Fletchers documents, to provide a model form of Charter and ByLaws that he and Alexander Galloway had developed some years previously.  Throughout the several stages of the process over a period of more than four years, Keith freely gave of his knowledge and through his own contacts at the Court of Aldermen and the Privy Council Office, helped to smooth the path of the Company’s Petition.  The Company will forever remain indebted to Keith for his assistance in the granting of a Charter to the Worshipful Company of Fletchers.