Event Reviews

It does not seem as though a year has passed since we last visited Manchester for the annual commercial finance dinner but the archives never lie, and it was in the October 2005 magazine that I last wrote about the “Great Northern” event, so a year it must be.

A now familiar hotel with excellent facilities, The Midland provides a perfect venue for a function of this kind. I am always sorry that our stay is limited to a single night as Manchester is a little known city to me and I would welcome the opportunity to explore it in more depth. Perhaps next year I will extend my visit and take in a little more of what it has to offer.

Every year the numbers go up and this year was no exception. What was interesting to note was that one or two of our “regulars” were absent but these were far outweighed by the number of new attendees. If we manage to schedule next year’s event so that it does not clash with anything then we should see an increase once more.

That said, a further increase would mean an even more packed reception area. It has overflowed into the hallway for the last two years: a bubbling, bubbly-coiffing mixture of already familiar faces and the faces of friends I have not yet met, all looking forward to a fun-packed and perhaps even profitable evening.

As is always the case with our receptions, given that there are many catching up with old colleagues and acquaintances, the enthusiasm reached crescendo level just as our good friend, Tony Rance, toastmaster for the evening, made the announcement that it was time for us to make our way through to take our seats. Well, it was the first of many announcements to tell the truth. Settling the crowd is always problematic but people did, eventually, quieten down to listen to the first of the night’s speakers, Dr Julie Adams.

A feature of all but the first of the dinners in Manchester has been a fundraising effort on behalf of Hilary Craft’s Gene Machine charity. When Hilary was treated by Professor Yin at the hospital for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia she asked how she could help him in his research work. His answer was to ask for charitable funding towards a “Gene Machine” – an automated DNA sequencer that allows researchers to investigate genetic predispositions to certain cancers and to explore the possibility of gene replacement treatments in the future.

Having purchased the machine, the charity continues to raise money to assist Professor Yin with his work. Over the years the Manchester commercial finance community has always given generously and this year was no exception with over £5,500 being raised.

A sizeable percentage of that figure came from the auction of a pair of tickets to the Liverpool v Manchester United football match, which was played on 22 October. Ian Robins, sales director, Ashley Commercial Finance, donated the corporate hospitality tickets and Tim Chapman, head of lending and advisory services, GoIndustry Henry Butcher, either volunteered for or was roped into the role of auctioneer. The winning bid was that of Mike Cassidy from Bank of Scotland and, for anyone who missed it, Manchester won the game 2-0. A special mention must also go to Tony Smedley of Barclays, who won a cash prize in the raffle of over £200 and without hesitation donated it to the cause. A wonderful gesture.

The professional speaker, John Htet-Khin, is a Burmese gentlemen and he commenced his presentation by getting Tony Rance, the toastmaster, to “translate” for him, pretending that he did not speak any English. He started by thanking “Mr Bob Lefroy” for flying him over to this country… and for letting him and his family stay at his house. He did not know why he had done this but it was very kind. He thanked Mr Bob Lefroy for inviting all the guests to welcome him to the country but pointed out that he would probably not remember everybody’s names because we all look the same to him. And that pretty much set the tone for what followed.

His was a very dry performance and one which I found thoroughly amusing. Judging by the people around me and as you can see from the photographs, I was not the only one.

The evening continued in time honoured fashion into the early hours and we have had nothing but good reports from which to draw our conclusions on the way in which the evening was received by our guests.

May I just thank all the staff at The Midland for accommodating us once more and looking after us so admirably on the night, thanks also to Sophie Grove, the event’s organiser for all her hard work, thank you to the behind the scenes team at Business Money towers for your help and for holding the fort but most of all, thank you to all of our guests for your continued support and for making these events such a success.

The next Great Northern Dinner will be held at The Midland Hotel, Manchester, 20 September 2007. Price per person: £134.00 + VAT. Details can be found on the Business Money website:
www.business-money.com/events_diary.html.

The full photo library from Manchester is also on our website and all can be bought from the official photographer whose details are listed: www.business-money.com/bmnd06pics.htm.

Ben Lefroy