Robin Gilman Arculus MA (Oxon) FCA.MIMC.
07.03.1936 – 18.11.2024 (88)
Freeman: 19.09.1995
Liveryman: 29.02.1996
Court: 13.12.2001
Renter Warden: 14.12.2006 – 13.12.2007
Prime Warden: 13.12.2007 – 11.12.2008
Master 11.12.2008 – 10.12.2009
Treasurer to the Court
Past Master and Liveryman Robin Arculus was born in 1936 in Hockley Heath, Warwickshire, into a family who owned a glassworks in Birmingham, founded by his grandfather in 1875. Arculus Glass was noted for its millefiori ware and intricate cut glass. The business was taken over between the wars and subsequently suffered a direct hit from a German bomb in 1941.
Robin was educated at Rugby School and Worcester College, Oxford, where he received a degree in PPE. In between Rugby and Oxford, Robin undertook his National Service where he was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, based at Catterick Camp in Yorkshire. Robin qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Barton, Mayhew & Co. (now part of Ernst & Young), following which he had a varied career as a management consultant, businessman and company director.
At P-E Consulting Group Ltd, Robin’s work specialising in business appraisals, strategic planning and management structures took him to Nigeria, Cyprus, Libya, mainland Europe and all parts of the British Isles. He was greatly involved in helping councils prepare for the major local government re-organisation of 1974. After P-E, Robin invested in a Dyno-Rod franchise for West London, expanding what had been a domestic drain cleaning service into heavy industrial cleaning for major corporates such as Heinz and Guinness. After 14 years, he sold the franchise and bought a business involved in fundraising for schools via sponsorship using inflatable bouncy dragons. For many years thereafter, Robin was a director of Oxford Plastics, a company which manufactures compression mouldings from waste plastic. He was an MA (Oxon), Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Chartered Management Consultant and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.
Having played cricket, darts and golf with several Glass-Sellers over the years, Robin went back to his family’s glass-making roots when he became a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glass-Sellers of London in 1995. He served for 10 years as the Company’s Treasurer and was Master of the Company in 2008-09. In an active year as Master, Robin’s proudest moment was to have the unique distinction, in all the years since its founding in 1664, of holding office when the Company’s Coat of Arms was finalised and subsequently presented to the Livery in September 2009. The presentation involved a grand ceremony attended by the former Lord Mayor of London, the Windsor Herald in full dress uniform and the Raven Master of the Tower of London.
A bon viveur to the last, among varied interests including wildlife, gardening, freemasonry and watching his beloved Wales play Rugby football, Robin enjoyed a keen passion for fine wine and food. Indulging this passion, his Master’s Jolly involved a gastronomic wine tour of the Saumur region in the Loire Valley. He was also an enthusiastic member of the Confrérie du Sabre D’Or, attaining the rank of Commandeur in 2021 by sabraging a Jeroboam of Champagne.
Robin’s loss will be acutely felt by his widow, Caroline. The two of them married in 1965 and thus he sadly falls a few months short of reaching what would have been their Diamond Wedding in May 2025. He was also a loving father to three children and a grandfather of six.
