Miss Mei Sim Lai OBE DL FCA FCCA Master
Mei Sim Lai was installed as the Master of the Worshipful Company of World Traders on 13 October 2011. She is greatly honoured to be the first Chinese person to be the Master of a City Livery Company in the very long history of livery companies in the City of London.
She has chosen China & Asia Pacific including Australia and New Zealand as her region of focus and will be promoting global trade issues affecting the UK and this region in her year in office.
Born and educated in Malaysia, Mei Sim is of Chinese origin. Her mother was born in Dongguan, China and her late father was first generation Malaysian Chinese. She came to London in 1970 to train as a Chartered Accountant. In 1979 she became the first female Partner at the leading firm of City Chartered Accountants, Pridie Brewster, established in 1914. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales ( ICAEW ) and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ( ACCA) where she is a has been a member of their SME Advisory Committee for several years. Following 26 years as a Partner at Pridie Brewster she set up her own Chartered Accountancy firm LaiPeters & Co based in the City of London in 2007.
Alongside her work at LaiPeters & Co, Mei Sim currently holds and has held a number of senior Public, City and Charity appointments.
Since 2006 she has been a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and is Her Majesty The Queen's Representative for the London Borough of Brent.
Her public appointments include being a Public Works Loan Commissioner ( 2001 to date) which looks after over £50 billion of UK Government lending to local authorities, port authorities and parish councils. She was also a Member of the Senior Salaries Review Body ( 2002 -2009) advising the Prime Minister on the pay of the Top Civil Servants, 2 star Generals upwards, the Judiciary and very senior NHS Managers. Her work on the SSRB also covered the pay of Lords, MPs, the Greater London Authority and the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies. She was a Member of the MoD's Diversity Panel ( 2001-2007) and a Member of the DTI's Ethnic Minority Business Forum and Chair of their Access to Finance Group( 2000-2007). In 2011 she was appointed a member of the Audit Committee of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Mei Sim is a member of the University of Nottingham Globalisation and Economic Policy (GEP) Strategic Advisory Board as well as being a Visiting Professor at London Metropolitan Business School.
From 1999 to 2007 Mei Sim was a Non Executive Director of Westminster Forum. The Forum seeks to foster closer links between senior figures in business, the City and the professions with their counterparts in Westminster and other fields of public life.
For over 8 years Mei Sim was a Non Executive Director of St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington as well as being a Special Trustee of this world renowned London Teaching Hospital. In addition she has served on government bodies dealing with race, employment and education issues and was also a Panel Member of the Financial Services Tribunal for 7 years from 1994 to 2001.
Her charity appointments include being Vice Chairman of The Attlee Foundation, a Trustee/Director of Chinese Welfare Trust, a Corporate Ambassador for SSAFA and also an Ambassador for Wellbeing of Women. She served as a Trustee of Womankind, an international development charity for 8 years. Mei Sim has also been a member of the British Red Cross City of London Christmas Market Committee for many years and has assisted on a number of Lord Mayor charity appeals.
Mei Sim is the current Chairman of Forum UK, the top women's organisation in the UK for eminent women of diverse and outstanding achievement which is affiliated to the International Women's Forum that has a membership of over 4000 women leaders around the world. She is also a Non Executive Director of International Women of Excellence, a former Chairman of the City Women's Network, a Charter member of Pan Asian Women's Association ( PAWA ), a member of Arab International Women's Forum (AIWF), the Overseas Malaysian Executive Council, the Royal Society of Arts and The 48 Group Club where she is their Honorary Treasurer and Chairman of the Advisory Committee of its newly established Women's Group.
Since 1991, Mei Sim has been running the City of London Branch of the Institute of Directors as its Honorary Secretary. She also runs their China Interest Group which was launched by the then Chairman of the Branch, Sir David Brewer and the Chinese Ambassador in 2006.
Her other City of London appointments include being a Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Horners , the livery company for the Plastics and Polymer Industry. In 2006 she became the second Lady President of the City Livery Club since it was established in 1914. She is a member of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs Committee for 2011.
Mei Sim was delighted to be appointed OBE for services to Equal Opportunities in the 2004. In October 2009 she was honoured with The International Alliance of Women 2009 World of Difference Global Award for her contribution to the economic empowerment of women.
When she has the time she enjoys travelling, current affairs, art, music and collecting oriental antiques.
Her husband David J R Peters FCA is a retired Chartered Accountant and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Horners.
