Students gathered yesterday (23 October) at Mansion House in the City of London to celebrate the completion of Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade and UK Customs Academy qualifications.
During the 2025 Graduation and Prizegiving Ceremony, speakers from the Chartered Institute and wider trade world paid tribute to graduates’ commitment to education and their hard-earned skills, which many noted are vital to navigating a volatile global trade landscape that has seen significant “upheaval” over the past few years.
This year’s graduating class included 107 Chartered Institute graduates, 315 UK Customs Academy graduates and five apprentices who completed their qualification with IOEx, the Chartered Institute’s apprenticeship arm. In total, 72 graduates attended the ceremony in person.
Valued skills in a changing world
Speakers acknowledged that the past year has been one of significant “upheaval”, with threats to the rule-based order that has underpinned trade in recent decade creating challenges for businesses and those who support them to trade.
Despite significant challenges, Chartered Institute director general, Marco Forgione, told graduates that there are reasons to be optimistic:
“We should not simply view the last year as one of disruption and destruction.
“The skills, knowledge and expertise that you’ve acquired through your Chartered Institute qualification mean that you are building a new world, a better future”.
He said that graduates should see themselves as “agents of change”, helping to “build a different future”.
This was echoed by City of London alderman and sheriff, Rober Hughes-Penney, who celebrated the “collective talent of people, such as those graduating today”, who can bring stability at a destabilising time.
“They have the skills to help businesses, government and other organisations to thrive in international trade, at this time of great change.”
Education
Discussing the value of education, the Chartered Institute’s head of academic services, Mikeala Morgans, spoke of its transformative power.
Beyond “certificates and passing exams”, she said graduates’ achievements signified not just a “transformation of knowledge” but also “identity, confidence and ambition”.
She also thanked tutors and coaches, praising their “dedication, expertise and compassion”.
The Chartered Institute’s academic chair, professor Sangeeta Khorana, said students should be proud to possess “competence, knowledge, discipline and ethics, and a clear understanding of international trade”.
This understanding, she said, “is especially important – to know the ins and out of international trade, at a time of such significant change”.
She also encouraged graduates to “stay engaged, continue learning and stay connected – to one another and to us, be part of this community”
Community
This was echoed by Chartered Institute vice-chair and chair of the IOE Foundation, Marcel Landau FCIEx. Summing up the Chartered Institute in one word, he chose “community”.
A member of the Chartered Institute for 60 years, Landau said:
“I cannot think of another industry where people share their knowledge and their contacts so easily, without the expectation of something in return.”
Collecting his fellowship award, Martin Morris FCIEx, a member since 1986, also described the community he had found in the industry, speaking of building “long-term relationships for life” with people he now calls his “extended family”.
The director of Consulting Nordics told graduates:
“I wish you luck, and believe you will have a lot of enjoyment working in this industry”.
