Master and Wardens

The Master and Wardens

The Master and Wardens are elected yearly by the Court of the Livery Company

The Master

Lieutenant Colonel Simon Wilkinson TD, DL.

Simon Wilkinson was born and bred in Buckinghamshire. Following his father John, he joined the Livery in 2000 and the Court in 2006. His association with the hat trade dates back to his great-grandfather who owned hat factories in Luton from the late 1880s to the 1920s, where he was also Mayor.

Simon is principal of the family owned land and estate agency practice, focusing on strategic development in the Oxford to Cambridge arc. He is on the board of Propertymark, sits on two government ‘Working Groups’ recommending changes to the house buying/selling process and to regulations. He also sits on a Bank of England panel.

In 1980, he joined the Royal Green Jackets, Army Reserve,  and was commissioned in 1987. In 2003, Simon was compulsorily mobilised as Chief of Staff for UK humanitarian operations across Southern Iraq.  More recently, he has held key posts in the Army Reserve in a variety of disciplines.

Simon is Chairman of Trustees for the Buckinghamshire Military Museum Trust, representative County Colonel for The Rifles in Buckinghamshire and County President of Buckinghamshire Royal British Legion. He was  appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Buckinghamshire.

Simon enjoys country pursuits, good rations and entertaining company. He was elected Master on 6th October 2023.

Upper Warden

Mr Jeremy Bedford

Jeremy Bedford joined the Feltmakers in 2000, following in the footsteps of his father, who was Master in 2004/5. After taking a degree in Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Jeremy joined the Corporate Finance department of Salomon Brothers in 1991 and then worked at Morgan Stanley from 1997 on the UK Equity Desk, after which he ran the Equities team at Investec in London, New York, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

In 2006 Jeremy joined the then recently founded Fulcrum Asset Management, where he became a Partner, and helped build the business to become a major institutional asset manager before setting up his own capital raising and consultancy business in 2018.

Jeremy is a Governor of Sedbergh School and is also Chairman of the Sedbergh School Foundation.

Renter Warden

Mr Simon Millar

Simon Millar was educated at Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames and Wolverhampton Polytechnic. Having entered the Livery in 2004, he served two years as Steward before joining the Court in 2010, subsequently serving as Chair of the Livery Society.

His career has been in real estate insurance, working for a variety of firms across the sector from large organisations such as Great Portland Estates PLC and Lockton Companies LLP, to smaller, more niche companies. He is currently CEO of Albanwise Insurance Services, a property focused broker that is part of a large, diversified property, agricultural and renewable energy business. He is also a director of Monopoly Network, a leading property networking organisation in London.

Outside of work, Simon is a Trustee of Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a Norfolk based charity supporting the bereaved children from Armed Forces families. Also having played his last, but not necessarily final, game of rugby aged 49, he is heavily involved with local rugby. He is a Past President at Huntingdon & District Rugby Club, the current Chair of Huntingdonshire & Peterborough County Rugby Union, and sits on two Committees for the East Midlands Rugby Union. When time permits, he is also a keen Northampton Saints supporter, particularly enjoying cultural exchanges at away matches in Europe.

Simon has lived in Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire for the past twenty six years with his wife Kerry, and has two daughters. Poppy is a Freeman of the Company under the Young Freeman and currently lives and works in Utrecht in the Netherlands, while Daisy is in her second year at Leeds University reading Politics and International Relations.

Third Warden

Mr Peter Winfield

Peter Winfield was educated at St George College in Weybridge and The Polytechnic of Wales.

Peter is a Chartered Surveyor, he joined Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) in 1988 and after spending time in the Industrial Letting Team, The Property Management Services Team, the Fund Management Team and the Open Market Invest Team, he was tasked with creating the JLL Industrial Investment Team.  In 2005 Peter joined Cushman and Wakefield to head up their Industrial Investment Team.  In 2011 Peter was the co-founder of TRW Real Estate, and in 2016 he formed Kimmre with 4 old friends.  Kimmre is a leading commercial real estate investment, leasing and development consultancy; and Peter continues to specialise in the Industrial and Warehouse sector where he advises clients on the acquisition and disposal of assets and development funding.

Peter joined the Livery in 2008 and was elected to the Court in 2012.  Peter follows in the footsteps of his father who was Master in 1990 and his sister, Mrs Susan Wood, who was the first lady to be elected Master in 2009.

Peter lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife Catherine and 2 daughters; Mary and Connie.

Fourth Warden

Mr Simon Wood

Simon has been a Feltmaker since 1990 and is third generation after his father Edward and grandfather Morton, who joined the Livery in 1960. Since then, his son Archie has become a Feltmaker. His sister Caro is a member of the Charity Committee. Lucy, his wife, is an academic at King’s College and he also has two daughters, Erica and Lizzie.

Raised in Yorkshire, Simon attended Bradford Grammar School, then Downing College, Cambridge. He completed a Short Service Commission in the local West Riding regiment, the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, and then 10 years in the Territorial Army. At Cambridge, he studied Archaeology, then Land Economy and since leaving university, has always worked in real estate, in the UK and Europe. Simon now runs a property asset management and development business, working in hotels, leisure, medical and other non-core property asset classes. 

Simon rows at Quintin Boat Club in Chiswick, in Eights and Fours; he has a vintage 1915 rowing boat, used this year at the Feltmaker picnic at Henley Royal Regatta. He is president of the Downing College Segreants (rowing alumni), and coaches at the college. He is the Surveyor to the Trustees of the River and Rowing Museum at Henley. 

He also has a number of active hobbies, including woodwork and beekeeping, this year winning First Prize in the Hertfordshire Set Honey Class. 

He is greatly enjoying the role of Fourth Warden of the Feltmakers and leading on Communication.