Following a fantastic night of cabaret, stand up comedy, rock ‘n’ roll and free flowing wine, there were some rather worse for wear heads in the commercial finance world last Friday morning.
Indeed, the NACFB’s AGM & Gala Dinner and Awards 2010 – held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole last Thursday – was attended by almost double the number of guests compared with last year, proving a resounding success.
Louise Fernley sat with the Regensmead team
Kicking off the evening’s events was a Champagne reception followed by a speech from the current chairman Philip Hellawell. Not shy of controversy, the chairman raised a few eyebrows...
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Sid Valley folks, NACFB CEO Adam Tyler and B&C Deputy Editor Rebecca Hobson
And so, to the likes of a few ahems, a gourmet three course supper was served before a fabulous trio of singers, The Leading Ladies from Northern Ireland, who shimmied through the tables, serenading the diners – a definite aid for digestion.
The Leading Ladies
But then, undoing all that digestive aiding was Lea Roberts; the fantastic stand up comedian from Yorkshire who soon had the room roaring with laughter.
Mr Roberts was followed by The Raphaelites, a neat little rock number hailing from the West Country – the bassist being none other than the NACFB CEO Adam Tyler’s son.
The Raphaelites
But it wasn’t all about the evening’s festivities and the bar’s roaring trade. The daytime event; the ‘Meet the Patrons’ Networking conference was designed to be a ‘small, informal Expo’ and provided the opportunity for 28 patrons to converse with 150 delegates.
Adam Tyler speaking at the AGM
Commenting on the event, Nikki Cann, associate director, said: “We were delighted to welcome 400 people to this year’s Gala Dinner. With huge thanks to event sponsors Barclays for making it all happen, everyone I spoke to on the night said that they had had a fantastic time.
“The party went on until the small hours of the morning – and amongst all the doom and gloom in the industry at the moment, it makes a wonderful change to have a chance to forget worries for a short while and relax in the company of good friends and colleagues.”
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Publisher of Bridging and Commercial Mo Mulki
Voted “Best Short Term Lender” were Masthaven Bridging Finance (pictured). On winning the award, Sales and Marketing Director Richard Deacon said: “We are thrilled to bits with this award. It means so much to us as it is voted for by the association members who have used us for their bridging finance requirements.
“It means we are doing the job well, and to beat the other names who were up for the award just goes to show that with our 30 years experience we really know how to get the deal done.”
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Masthaven Bridging Finance with their Best Short Term Lender Award
Another award winner was new bank Aldermore, voted Best Specialist Lender of the Year. Mark Stephens, Deputy CEO at Aldermore, said: “We’re delighted to win this prestigious award. I would like to say a big thank you not only to all the staff at Aldermore who have worked so hard to ensure we provide small and medium sized businesses with a consistently high quality service, but also to all the distribution partners who have worked closely with us throughout the year.
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Head of Commercial Lending at Aldermore Commercial, Rob Lankey receiving Aldermore's Award
“It’s been a great team effort and we’re all looking forward to 2011, when we intend to strengthen our commercial mortgage, asset finance and invoice finance services still further.”
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