Your Excellencies, My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good evening and a very warm welcome to Lloyd's, I am delighted to see so many distinguished guests this evening.
Those guests span the insurance industry, the wider business community, and the arts. Rarely have we had such an eclectic mix gather in our underwriting room. Perhaps never have we had such a spectacular performance as we are about to experience!
So, what it is it which brings us together this evening?
On this exact day 200 years ago, Admiral Lord Nelson set sail for Trafalgar. By that time, his fortunes and those of Lloyd's were already closely interwoven.
They were linked by a mutual dependence on success at sea. For his part, Nelson understood that Britain's future prosperity depended upon its marine trade. For its part, Lloyd's - like the rest of the commercial world - was deeply conscious of the brave risks which Nelson and the Navy took which protected that trade.
In acknowledgement of this, the merchants at Lloyd's Coffee House raised funds to help the wounded and bereaved after each of the major naval battles. After the Battle of the Nile in 1798, they also donated a silver dinner service to Nelson "as a small token of their gratitude". Today, that token has returned to Lloyd's. Along with many other bequests and kind donations, it forms the core of the Lloyd's Nelson Collection, a unique collection of silver, letters and other memorabilia associated with the hero of Trafalgar, which we are now proudly displaying at the heart of our - to use an overused word - unique market place.
But of course, this evening is about more than a celebration of past achievements. Risk and endeavour exist on many different levels and Writing on Water is a risk of a different and highly contemporary kind. With the help of Artwise as curators, we have delivered a collaboration between some distinguished artists: American composer David Lang, international filmmaker and artist Peter Greenaway, and the London Sinfonietta. All of them have an outstanding reputation for their innovative work and their readiness to experiment. They all share a willingness to take risks. And we are particularly indebted to the charity Arts & Business for helping us underwrite this particular risk by awarding us a generous New Partners investment.
The outcome is a spectacular piece which marries contemporary music, modern film and video technology, and calligraphy, with the words of Shakespeare, Melville and Coleridge. Writing on Water is inspired by the same themes that characterise the life of Nelson and, indeed, the whole Lloyd's culture. It is about intrepidness and the sea, in all its majesty, allure and danger, a danger so terribly illustrated by the tragedy and disruption experienced in New Orleans. And it is about risk taking.
Since Nelson, the risks we face have changed, but Lloyd's appetite to take them on has not diminished. Writing on Water is a commentary on humanity's relationship - not just with water - but the entire modern world of risk. It is a world in which, more than 300 years after it was founded, Lloyd's has emerged a contemporary leader, stronger and more secure than ever.
The performance will start very shortly and will last just under 30 minutes. Space is at something of a premium this evening, so I would encourage you to move around now and make sure you get a good vantage point.
Thank you and enjoy the performance.
