A momentous day for at least one of our members, namely John Hammond, who was determined to acknowledge his 60th birthday and the onset of middle age in celebratory fashion. He was sporting a badge with 60 on it, did not appear phased by the first of two renditions of ‘happy birthday’ before the meeting got underway.
The Performance League
A reasonably high scoring  month which currently has Terry Maylin in on 186, Jane Malyon on 206 and out front, Scott Griffiths on 212
Education Presentation
Neil Bellham was this week’s presenter. The illustration of his message made use of his daughter with teenage attitudes being shown how boiling water can affect different things in different ways. Potatoes go soft, eggs go hard and coffee smells nice and infuses it. The message you might think was obvious….. So I will not repeat it.
The 60 Second Round
If anybody felt exhausted after Neil’s Ed Slot they were immediately enlivened by Jane Malyon’s presentation which was entirely devoted to telling us of the great trip she had to  Amsterdam in search of tulips and how it’s total success was a result of Chris de la Prida’s organisational skills. She was followed by Chris himself tantalising us all with the promise of holidays in faraway places in the months ahead, one of which was a 21 night stay at a 4 star hotel for £576 per person. I was so impressed with the price I forgot to note down it’s location. It’s probably a good idea to get Chris as one of the early presenters as he certainly lifts the mood.
Terry Maylin’s pitch this week was not an unusual theme for him. Landlord and Tenant claims of a complicated legal and regulatory background, And if you don’t use him, it only serves you right. If this was not an unusual theme from Terry, James Humphreys was treading a familiar path. This week he is once again looking for people in the building trade, in particular scaffolders who need to make sure their insurance requirements are fully understood and the appropriate policies taken out.
If Chris de la Prida warrants an early place in the running order, Vincent Goode at times should be pushed down the running order. Orders of service a funerals is but one of his many downbeat messages. Today was no exception. Display boards including a delightful picture of his daughter can also apparently be used to remember pets such as a dead dog. At least if it is dead it won’t move when you take the photograph so it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
Neil Bellham went to Birmingham to help demonstrate the effectiveness of Ninja products. His main focus however was corporate buffets which he wants lots of. Looking fit and well and as if he had had the benefit of lots of holiday buffets, Paul Corrigan was back from Morocco and was sufficiently relaxed to give the impression that he was not quite sure what he was looking for this week but we all know what he does and it was nice to see him back. If not up to buffet standard nonetheless Blake Hammond produced a food based presentation. He can provide ration packs which looked sufficiently tempting that Neil Bellham purchased three. I’m sure he wasn’t doing it to suss out the opposition!
To show that age was in no way affecting his abilities John Hammond followed Blake and then went on to baffle us all with a homily about ‘bits’. Most people appeared puzzled and that puzzlement seemed to be shared by John himself. It’s not every day however that you have your 60th birthday.
The 60 second round had many members referring to food related matters and our Oscar winner was no exception. For the busy businessman who needs to entertain his clients, Tina Walker can and assist in sorting out restaurants and making the arrangements. Well done Tina!
Synergy Team Meeting
There was much positive comment in relation to last week’s synergy team meeting organised by Jane. Of course she had not only organised the said meeting but the visitor who gave the talk to us about cyber security and persuading him to stay on enabled the discussion to continue about this very worrying aspect of life. The success was topped off by a comprehensive minute that was forwarded round to members before the end of the day.
10-minute presentation by Howard Bullock
Although he acknowledged the possibility, his presentation was far from boring and was incredibly useful. From the opening biography point of interest that he has a dog called Logan with another one likely to follow, he went on to give an exposition of the categories of Inheritance Tax available to those of us with enough money to wish to avoid it, to get an idea of the advisable ways of doing so. It was a topic of relevance, it’s content interesting and I hope it puts off people asking me to create trusts in wills to try and do this. If you want to avoid Inheritance Tax speak to a financial adviser, preferably Howard.
Referrals and Testionials
Jane kicked the round off, then disappeared briefly, arrived back when the round was under way with a wonderful looking birthday cake for our birthday boy including candles. As the round moved to conclusion she was totally at home doling out plates of cake to all of us. A further rendition of ‘happy birthday’ made for a delightful end to a delightful meeting.
Great meeting today. Happy Birthday John – it was lovely to celebrate this with you. The cake was delicious, but would rather you’d shared the Single Malt Whiskey!!!
Excellent meeting starting with a great Ed slot from Neil to Howard’s 10 minute presentation and then John Hammond’s 60th birthday celebrations!
Really good meeting with an excellent Ed Slot from Neil and a useful 10 mins from Mr Muscles. Rounded off by a delicious cake. Congrats John!
Great meeting once again and happy birthday to John!
Great 10 minutes Howard!
I do love cake. It certainly was an antidote to discussing beloved dead dogs. Hard, soft and infused… what’s not to like? Thank you Neil for the Ed Slot. Good job too Mr Muscles
Great meeting today! I enjoy attending the weekly meetings, even if it means waking up at 5.45am!
Despite my niche industry, I’ve had some great discussions with a few of the you and discovered that we’re looking for similar clients and business opportunities.
Have a great week and will see you all next week.
Happy Birthday John!
It’s great to have you with us.
That was a really fab meeting today, thoroughly enjoyed it! Great work with Neil and Howard and happy birthday John!
Happy 69th birthday 🎂 John H. Great Ed Slot from Neil and great 10 minutes from Howard plus of course a great meeting
Ooh I think you’ve added 9 years there Tina! John’s 60th was the celebration, bless him! PS Well done on winning the Oscar 😀
WHOOPS!!
I type my message on via my mobile …………….Opps sorry John x
Such a good hearted meeting with excellent presentations from Neil and Howard….ending with our celebration with birthday boy John. Wonderful!
Lovely cake Jane (or should I say Roger) 🙂
A great meeting again!! Happy 60th Birthday John Hammond! I don’t usually eat cake at 8am but when it’s for such a birthday I’ll make an exception 🙂 Lovely cake Jane (I mean Roger)
A great reminder and education slot from Neil.
An interesting and informative 10 minutes from Howard on Inheritance Tax. Howard makes it all sound really easy! Which it isn’t and that is why we need Howard in our life!
Well done to Tina for winning the Oscar this week. Your skills and expertise are invaluable.
Great blog sorry I missed Howard’s presentation. Looks like a great meeting was had by all.
Sorry John H adding another 9 years on ……… should have said Happy 60th Birthday never comment via mobile
It was an Excellent Meeting, and it was great to see so many of you who managed to make it to the meeting and join in the celebrations for John’s Birthday. Also, Thank you to everyone who wished him a Happy Birthday below.
Really good, Ed Slot Neil. The hard times really define who we are, and how we handle them is what we can become.
Great 10 minutes, Howard. For a seemingly “boring” subject, your delivery and enthusiasm manages to keep us all interested. Well Done.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!
Unfortunately, we will be missing next week due to work commitments, but see you all the week after.
Great meeting. Thank you for the Birthday surprise cake, Single Malt Whiskey and all your birthday best wishes. The Single Malt Whiskey is so nice.
Great Ed slot Neil,really made the point with the coffee, egg and Potatoe analogy.
Howrad your insite to wealth management and pensions is oustanding . Aloy of good information passed across ,