I must admit to being really disappointed this week as an industry pundit, who I trusted and respected for the last few years, has said something about me to another broker just to try and wrestle their business away…and the comment did not have a shred of truth in it, which makes it even worse…shame on you for the dirty tricks, anyway maybe two can play that game and believe me I make a pretty bad enemy!!! But do I really need to stoop to their level…probably not.

Well that’s off my chest and celebrating another good completion week with a party thrown for us at a new bar in King William Street called [email protected] also did the iPhone App for that group of companies so a double celebration, just a shame I forgot until the night before. Managed to get a few extra passes for the likes of Mehrdad Yousefi and Michael Bolton who pitched up late as usual just as the free bar shut!!! We did manage to move on however, despite Jupp’s comments we are all reformed, and ended up in bed with a cup of Horlicks by 1.30am (it was a bit of a squeeze as Mehrdad is putting on a few pounds and Bolton snores which made it worse).

I noticed that the Mortgage Expo is fast approaching and I am sure James has arranged a great selection of distributors for the place. I will hopefully see some of you there and hopefully discuss some pressing industry topics over a nice cup of Earl Grey. Last year was one of CV swapping and working out how we had survived this year will be even worse…I hear the four riders of the Apocalypse are speaking about the recovery of the banking sector with the Grim Reaper conducting a Seminar on how to identify new leads… (he will I believe be pointing out those that may not be worth contacting), well done for booking those guys, I am sure they will be with us at the after party along with Mo’s “marketing Girls”.

Going back to something I mentioned earlier, if you have an iPhone or iPad, download the B@1 app and it will give you a one hour happy hour countdown if you go into any of their bars, it is well worth the effort and I will try and organise a code for getting a few cheeky ones for free when we next speak to them

One last thing to mention is that of the current outside view on the Associations we have in the sector…It is worth noting that a close friend of mine within the FSA has tipped me off that because there are two and they appear to the outside that they do not get on there is concern in the ranks, even if they do not appear to be showing that to us it is definitely the case so beware and try and get on, sooner rather than later because regulation in a stricter form WILL occur soon. What about a discussion with Adam Tyler at the NACFB about some affiliation they at least appear to be keeping people happy, or am I sadly misguided on this?

Have a good week

TP