Unique SDS Guarantees to the Livery and Added benefits

  • All Livery Company clients will benefit from the software already developed with and for the Worshipful Company of Marketors – this includes a comprehensive Search Tool which allows for Browsing and Extraction of any defined data.
  • In addition, whilst any Archive Web Site will be designed to meet each Livery Company’s brand and design rules, the experience gained with working to produce an Archive Website for the Worshipful Company of Marketors will undoubtedly save time and money.
  • SDS Livery has many types of scanning device – designed to enable the capture and conversion of the most complicated and precious data from any paper or paper-like archive, regardless of age, size, condition and binding. No alteration of the original documents will occur and no additional wear and tear will be caused – we are used to handling and scanning the rarest and most priceless documents for many prestigious institutions in the UK and can provide full references.
SDS Livery

Suite 5, Hello House, 135 Somerford Road, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 3PY

Telephone 01202 496513

Livery History Solution

[The Marketors' Company] – Complete Livery History Case Study

Case Study - the Worshipful Company of Marketors

The Worshipful Company of Marketors (WCM) reached Guild status in 1975 and Livery status in 1978 and its records were resident in various locations including previous Clerks’ as well as many Past Masters’ homes and offices, in addition to their “official repository” in Stationers’ Hall.

in 2010 the WCM contacted and in 2011 contracted with SDS for the progressive implementation of the WCM History project. From 2010 to 2014 the paper and electronic records available from 1975 to 2014 have been scanned, indexed and available for Browsing, Searching and Extraction.

In 2016 the WCM is still contracted to SDS to provide a hosted History Website with Browsing, Searching and Extraction.

The Minutes & Records files for each year are made up of:

  • Master & Wardens’ Meetings
  • Court & Ceremonial Court Meetings
  • Meetings of Committees and Sub-Committees reporting to the Court

Questions and Answers regarding the SDS Service to the WCM

How safe are your unique and valuable “Heritage” documents – Royal Charter(s), original minutes and records, items that cannot be produced again?

Answer: The WCM History project ensured that these Historic documents were identified (and in some cases successfully unearthed from various odd locations) and are now scanned, digitised and indexed on a hosted website by SDS. No longer are these records at risk from a single point of failure – whereas previously they were all vulnerable.

How protected is your more recent electronic data?

Answer: From 2008 the Minutes & Records of the WCM have been electronic – these have not always been “found” or available. After much detective work these records are slowly becoming more complete and made available for scrutiny, but most importantly they can now be searched from our office PC using whatever criteria we wish to employ.

How can your Members access your data – with different security levels dependant on the confidentiality of each item?

Answer: From the outset SDS has provided the WCM with five levels of security – the highest level being the Clerk’s office and the lowest the public. The SDS-created WCM History Website requires a security level even for the public and is due to be integrated into the Public facing WCM website. The look and feel of the SDS-created WCM History Website is identical to our main WCM website.

How easy is it for your Clerk to search for answers to obscure questions?

Answer: The SDS System provides full Boolean search capability as well as a complete “browse” facility – so any question can be answered with just a few keystrokes on the Clerk’s Office PC.

Can you guarantee to your successors that you have looked after and protected your Company’s most valuable asset – its knowledge and information?

Answer: The WCM, after four years of active project management has provided its successors with a searchable database of some 26,000 pages of Minutes, Records and Event records, all fully backed up securely in multiple locations. What greater guarantee could we possibly provide?!