The story behind this special edition of the GDPR by Royal Appointment

One of the highlights of my career this year will be the GDPR Workshop I was asked to deliver at the end of February for Clerks of the Livery Companies at the invitation of the Lord Mayor of the City of London (2017-18) Charles Bowman and The Livery Committee.

Alderman Charles Bowman is the 690th Lord Mayor of the City of London. He’s a senior partner with PwC and Alderman of the Lime Street Ward and served as Sheriff of the City of London in 2015/16. Charles was born in Essex in 1961, educated at Uppingham School (where he is a member of the school’s Foundation Board) and graduated from Bristol University with a degree in Architecture.

The Livery Committee was created over 150 years ago to oversee the arrangements for the elections of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs at Common Hall - a role it continues to fulfill to this day.

But it now plays an equally important role in acting as a link between the Livery and the City of London Corporation, and facilitating communication between all the various constituencies that make up the civic affairs of the City.

One of my closest friends is Andrew Marsden who chairs the Financial Services Group (FSG) and sits on The Livery Committee that advise the Lord Mayor on all matters impacting the City. Andrew invited me to address his committee at the back end of 2017 to brief them about the impending GDPR. It was at this meeting I met Charles, who totally inspired me about the importance of trust in business. In many ways, my presentation on GDPR being more about reputation rather than just regulation was a warm up to the one he gave a few moments later about the importance of trust in business.

Over lunch, I was struck how important it was that Livery Companies needed to be in the vanguard for raising and maintaining standards in the City and this completely aligned with Charles’ theme for his Mayoralty year.

Following subsequent conversations with Charles, Andrew and the wider Livery Committee, a date was set for the first Inter-Livery Companies GDPR Workshop, hosted at the magnificent Goldsmiths’ Hall in London through the generosity of its Clerk, Sir David Reddaway.

In the foreword to the General Data Protection Regulation - The Official Text (with Index), Lord Mayor Charles Bowman writes:

“On my travels, I am told by business leaders that London is the pre-eminent place to do business because we enjoy the trust and confidence of the global community. When Ardi Kolah at Henley Business School approached me to support the training of Clerks in the City to the higher standards of data protection, privacy and security that have come about through the General Data Protection Regulation, I was pleased to give my unequivocal support. I congratulate the Livery Committee for taking the lead on this issue.

“The GDPR and the forthcoming Data Protection Act 2018 are not simply matters of regulation, but also reputation. I hope that we will see Clerks of Livery Companies continue to ensure that London remains the best place in the world to do business that protects the rights, freedoms and interests of customers, clients, supporters and employees from around the world.”

So the stage was set and given that this was such an honour, we wanted to mark it in some permanent way.

So we conceived of the idea to create a hardback version of the GDPR in large print with an extensive index to help anyone to find what they are looking for without having to thumb through all its 173 Recitals and 99 Articles.

“This 25 May is a landmark in data protection history, as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect. It is the beginning of something new, but it is an evolution of what’s gone before. It builds on what was good about our existing data protection law and brings it line with challenges of our 21st century world.

“The GDPR and the related changes to domestic legislation are about re-balancing the relationship between individuals and organisations; building trust in business comes from fostering a culture of transparency and accountability as to how personal data is used. Those businesses that thrive in the changing environment will be the ones that look at the handling of personal information with a mind-set that appreciates what citizens and consumers want and expect.

“As the UK’s Information Commissioner, I’m excited to be part of this seminal shift in the privacy landscape, and I wholeheartedly welcome and support the work the Clerks of Livery Companies is doing to educate businesses about the GDPR and the huge opportunities that the changes to our data protection laws offer,” writes Elizabeth Denham in the foreword to this very special edition of the GDPR.

General Data Protection Regulation – The Official Text (with Index) edited by Ardi Kolah LL.M with a detailed 36-page index is printed by F.J. Blissett & Co Ltd, Bookbinders by Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen and is available worldwide through Amazon.

Click here to place your order