The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier livery company of the City of London, ranked first in the historic order of precedence of the City's great livery companies. With a history stretching back more than 700 years, it has played a prominent part in the City's civic and commercial life.
Today, the Mercers' Company combines fellowship and civic tradition with significant philanthropic activity, particularly in education and support for young people. It maintains longstanding relationships with various schools and colleges across the country, continuing a commitment to education that has been central to the Company's work for centuries.
The Guild of Mercers' Scholars is a City of London Guild bringing together former pupils and others connected with the Mercers' educational family. Members are drawn from 12 schools and colleges within the Mercers' Cluster, including some of the country's best-known schools, academies and sixth-form colleges, connecting people across generations and professions through a shared Mercers' heritage.
The Guild's origins date to June 1947, when a group of City Liverymen who had attended Mercers' School gathered for lunch at Tallow Chandlers' Hall, joined by the School's Headmaster and the Master and Wardens of the Mercers' Company. Formally established the following year, the Guild of Mercers’ Scholars remains the oldest organisation of its kind.
When Mercers' School closed in 1959, membership widened to former pupils of other Mercers-associated schools. This decision preserved the Guild's heritage while extending its reach across the wider Mercers' educational family.
Today, the Guild has more than 350 members alongside a growing community of Apprentices working towards the Freedom of the City of London and full membership. It operates in a similar manner to a Livery Company, comprising Apprentices and Guildmen, and is governed by an elected Court of Assistants, Wardens, a Clerk and the Master.
A founding purpose of the Guild is to give members a route to the Freedom of the City, and ultimately the Livery through their chosen professions. Through civic, social and charitable activity, it builds friendships and professional connections, supports service and philanthropy, while carrying forward a community whose roots now stretch back generations.
The Guild's name has evolved alongside the organisation. Founded in 1948 as the Old Mercers City Liverymen, it became the Old Mercers Civic Guild in 1949 as membership widened beyond Liverymen to Freemen of the City, then the Civic Guild of Old Mercers in 1951 as it developed along the lines of a Livery Company.
In 2006, with the Mercers' Company's blessing, it adopted its current name – reflecting not just an association of former Mercers' School pupils, but a broad community drawn from across the Company's schools, colleges and educational connections.
From a small gathering of Old Mercers in the City, the Guild has flourished into a community of over 350 members across 12 schools and colleges, connected to one another, to the Mercers' educational family, and to the civic life of the City of London.