When the Institute of Arbitrators was established in 1915, it was little more than a discussion forum and luncheon club. In 1961 David Reid became its first Secretary and by 1969 it had a President and Council of twenty-seven. Reid left on 1 October 1971 and Geoffrey Darling took over for a short while. Bertie Vigrass became Secretary in 1970, and then Director and Secretary. By 1977 there was an Assistant Secretary. A T Ginnings, himself an arbitrator, to be succeeded in that post by W H Boden in 1980. In 1979 the Institute received its Royal Charter.

Early in 1981 K R K Harding became Deputy Secretary and, following Bertie Vigrass' move to the London Court of International Arbitration, took over as Secretary in 1986. Since 1979 the Panels have been amended and a register set up; Branches have been established and international links forged. Countless consumer arbitration schemes have been set up. Kerry Harding bore the burden of the negotiations over the Branch and Arbitration Centre in Hong Kong prior to its treaty to return to the Peoples' Republic of China. This year a new Charter was granted, allowing activities and membership to be expanded.

This outline shows how far the Institute of Arbitrators has travelled in 85 years. The few number of its Chief Executives (whatever the title) is a tribute not only to the ethos of institutional arbitration, but to the hard work and devotion, including many evenings and weekends, of its servants. Kerry, after nineteen years' service to the Chartered Institute, leaves at the 'millennium' new year. We have not heard how he proposes to occupy his retirement, but we all wish him well and applaud the energy and conscientious service he has given. There can hardly be an active arbitrator who he has not met.