I have written this on American Independence Day 4th of July 2011...Why don’t we celebrate as well? Well, let’s be honest we aren’t particularly proud of our involvement. There is an attitude towards the place that sort of says ‘nice of you to design some big playgrounds but you are a right bunch of herburts and thanks for crashing our economy!!’
I worked, with, for, and next to companies that were making a loss on day one from every mortgage deal they did. Why? ...Apparently all in the name of market share! Frankly, I’m glad we didn’t stay after 1776 and I think deep down they knew then it was a lost cause.
Last Monday we had the event of the decade (The Bridging and Commercial awards for those who suffer from short term memory loss) where the great and the good of the industry celebrated the growth of what has become a popular alternative to traditional lending and often the only way clients can get what they need. It was, as expected, a flamboyant affair with beautiful girls, who I believe were borrowed (or was that borro’d) from Stringfellows. But some of them did have a grasp of the English language which was a pleasant surprise!
Robert Thickett and Paul Thomas from Strategy and Money Marketing respectively sneaked in undercover dressed in Gold from head to foot and carrying guns, (I would never have spotted them if Robert hadn’t used his Dictaphone!) and Michael (the legend) Bolton sent the MB Brazilian Dance troupe into bat later in the day - he is now handling them on evenings and weekends (sorry M I had to do it at some point).
Other industry celebrities were there, however, I was concerned to see Roger Morris - now with Precise - looking a little pale. I felt much better when Alan Cleary pointed out that his local branch of Tantastic had gone into receivership and he had been too distraught to leave his house for two weeks. I have spoken to Alan and he has assured me that he is having a booth fitted in his car… job done! (you should have called me, it would have saved this abuse).
One thing to mention was the venue, The Summer Pavilion in the gardens of The Tower of London, which was splendid apart from its lack of working air conditioners….It was tough watching Mo fade away in front of me. The good news is that he now has another potential career after getting down to 11st2lb - riding Mary Hinge at Fontwell the following day! I myself still managed to put on half a stone just by staring at the steak for 10 minutes. You will be pleased to know that I have now joined Weight Watchers and my target weight is 13st by the end of July…Does anybody have a second hand bacon slicer for sale?
One last thing to mention was the after party at the Minories. It was a joy to behold Ian Macphearson manage to take the bowl of my wine glass clean of the stem with one swift blow…Those Karate lessons really paid off mate, you were almost back to your old self.
Have a great week and try and wipe the image of Mo riding out of your head – otherwise you may need psychiatric help by the next time I write.
Leave a comment