Schools Awards

WCIB Lord George Bursary at Dulwich College
The WCIB Lord George Bursary at Dulwich College is awarded annually in memory of WCIB Past Master Lord George of St Tudy (Eddie George) who was Governor of the Bank of England from 1994 to 2004. The bursary is awarded to a sixth form pupil on the recommendation of the school.

The WCIB School Essay Competition
The Essay Competition is held for Year 13 students at London state schools. We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 WCIB Schools Competition.

Overall winners:

First Place Overall Winner:     Emanuella Aglagoh from London Academy of Excellence
Highly commended 2nd:         Demi Stamatopoulos from  Davenant Foundation School
Highly commended: 3rd:         Sami Firdose from Harris Academy Westminster
Highly commended: 4th:         Gloria Olaniyan from La Retraite Roman Catholic School

Sixth form students from London schools and colleges were challenged to compose an essay with the following title:

"Discuss how financial literacy among 16-24 year olds can be dramatically improved. Why is this an issue and how should it be addressed?"

Students from ten schools and colleges entered essays. Teachers in each school chose a winner and runner-up at their school, with all school winners going to a judging panel of WCIB members who chose the overall winners.

After two years of disruption due to Covid, we were able to present certificates and prizes to students in person. The awards ceremony took place in December 2022 at ING's offices, all courtesy of ING.

We would like to thank all teachers for helping to organise and judge the competition at their school. Well done to all students who took part.

The full list of school winners and runners-up is as follows:

All Saints School    
Winner        Hannah Gomez

Davenant Foundation School    
Winner        Demi Stamatopoulos    
Runner up     Alex Bowen

Harris Academy East Dulwich    
Winner        Tahsin Rahman    
Runner up     Titilope Olaiye-Stephen

Harris Academy Westminster    
Winner        Sami Firdose    
Runner up     Tayfa Tazlima

La Retraite Roman Catholic School    
Winner        Gloria Alamyan    
Runner up     Shenay Soyemi

London Academy of Excellence    
Winner        Emanuella Aglagoh    
Runner up     Lorin Macit

Newham College    
Winner        Harish Nagarajan    

Runner up     Newham Collegiate Sixth Form    
Winner        Feyisara Adeyemi    
Runner up     Muhammad Ahmed

Pinner High School    
Winner        Avesta Sahibi

Wallington County Grammar School    
William Payne

The Sheriffs' Challenge
The Late Lord Mayor and former Master of the WCIB, Alderman Sir Peter Estlin, initiated the Sheriffs’ Challenge. Its rationale was to give students in London schools a chance to hone their public speaking skills by delivering a team-work presentation, competitively, on a topic relating to the City of London or the business/wider world.

University & Business Schools Awards

WCIB Prize at Business Schools
The Company places a high value on relationships with Universities and Business Schools involved in undergraduate and postgraduate finance and other subjects related to the City. The relationships offer a gateway into the WCIB and the City for faculty and students alike. For example, the WCIB has provided City mentors for students, speakers for classes/events/career sessions, event sponsorship and general support to relationship institutions.

In addition, there is the awarding of the  annual WCIB prize to a student for the best dissertation or extended piece of written work as assessed by faculty. Typically the work will be related to the City, international banking or an aspect of finance. The winner receives a certificate of merit and £300. The winner also qualifies to participate in the  annual WCIB Lombard Prize competition which is our nation-wide competition. 

The WCIB Lombard Prize
The WCIB Lombard Prize was initiated by Alan Moore CBE in the early 1990's when he was Chairman of the Lombard Association, to reward an outstanding student of the City University (now the Bayes Business School) evening MBA Programme. In 2009, the Court of Assistants agreed that the Lombard Prize should be extended to include the winners of Company prizes at all of the universities which are affiliated with the Company.

The Prize consists of – 

A solid silver Armada dish, inscribed with the Company and winner’s names;
A cheque for £1500.00;
A certificate of merit;
The winner will be offered Honorary Membership of the Company for one year and will be invited to attend the prestigious WCIB Annual Banquet (typically at Guildhall or the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House) to receive the Prize. The event is attended by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, other senior figures within the City of London. 

Mansion House Scholarship Scheme (MHSS)

The Mansion House Scholarship Scheme helps fund foreign students and young financial services executives to come to the UK to study at a British university, or to train or gain experience in the City. This year two UK students are included in the scheme to strengthen links between the City of London and the UK's major cities.  Read more on the MHSS website click here

Welcome to the new cohort of Mansion House Scholarship students

The following Mansion House Scholars will be studying in the United Kingdom in 2022/23:

South Africa – Mr Nikil Hagroo
Nikhil Hagroo is aged 22 and is from Johannesburg. He graduated from Witwatersrand University in 2021 with a BSc degree in Actuarial Sciences and is at Bayes Business School, City of London University taking an MSc Course in Actuarial Management. Mr Hagroo is the 200th scholar to have been appointed since the Scholarship Scheme was established in 1998.

Chile – Miss Daniela Nilo
Daniela Nilo is 33 and comes from the Araucania region of Chile, where she is the Executive Director of an NGO which promotes education, advocacy, visibility and empowerment of women. She is a graduate of Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a post-graduate diploma in Organisational Psychology. She is at Queen’s University, Belfast, taking a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development She has also been appointed as a Chevening Scholar.

Mexico – Mr Luis Cruz
Luis Cruz is 27 and from Mexico City. He graduated from University in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, followed immediately by a Master’s degree, which he completed in 2019. He has been working since 2019 with the Government’s Economic Competition Commission and is currently the Deputy Director. He is taking an MSc course in Applied Social Data Science at the London School of Economics. He has also appointed as a Chevening Scholar.

India – Mr Love Jain
Love Jain is aged 23 and from Udaipur. He graduated from Jai Hind College in Mumbai in2020, where he took a BSc in Finance before joining Fincrux Technologies as a Research Analyst. He is at University College, London, taking an MSc course in Management and Finance.

India – Mr Monik Mehta
Monik Mehta is aged 24 and from Udaipur. He took a BSc in Finance, at Jai Hind College, Mumbai in 2020 and now works for Brescon and Allied Partners LLP as an Investment Banking intern. He is at Bayes Business School, City of London University, studying for an MSc in Finance.

Brazil – Mr André da Silva Andrade
André Andrade is aged 33 and from Rio de Janeiro. He studied at the Pontifical Catholic University in Rio, where he took a Bachelors’ degree in Law, graduating in 2014. He has worked for a respected Law firm in Rio since 2015 and has recently completed an LLM in Compliance Law. He is at Queen Mary University, London to study for a Master’s degree in Banking and Finance. He has been appointed as a Chevening Scholar.

UK (Chester) – Miss Cathryn Jarvis
Cathryn Jarvis (aged 28) is from Saltney in Cheshire. She completed a BSc degree in Accounting and Finance in 2022 at the University of Chester and has since joined a local warehousing and distribution company as a trainee finance manager. Prior to her degree she spent six years in the hospitality sector, culminating in being appointed as the manager of a top performing restaurant in Chester. Cathryn will take an MSc course in Accounting at the University of Chester, starting in February 2023.

UK (Wales) – Mr Ashley Curnow
Ashley Curnow (aged 30) is from Wales. He graduated from Swansea University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and immediately joined Associated British Ports (ABP) as a Port Management trainee. He has remained with ABP since then, occupying increasingly senior positions in the Company and is currently Head of Operations at Humber International Terminal, Immingham. He is at the London Business school, taking a two-year MBA course.

The following scholar has deferred his course until September 2023:

Poland – Dr Robert Rybski
Robert Rybski is aged 34 and is from Warsaw. He studied Law at the University of Warsaw, followed by an LLM at Humboldt University in Berlin, graduating in 2012. He has since gained a Doctorate at Warsaw University, where he is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law. He will attend a short course in Sustainable Finance at Oxford University in September 2023.