Well, it’s now been just a little over a month since the Performance Awards evening at Telford when our Immediate Past President, Gordon Heath, handed over the Presidential duties to yours truly. Gordon, as with all Past Presidents, set the bar high in terms of how they have served the Institute in their year and it’s quite a daunting task taking over,despite having 2 years to prepare for stepping into the role.

My first official duty was to attend the Association Representatives meeting at 10am the following morning. After a typically late night in the bar catching up with friends and colleagues from the world of revenues and benefits it’s probably fair to say that I was there in body if not necessarily totally in spirit. However, the work of Associations is something which I wholeheartedly support, particularly as a means of keeping members informed, attracting new members and providing vital opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to become more involved with the Institute. If it hadn’t been for a speaker dropping out of an Association meeting, I would not have been asked to fill the slot and wouldn’t have met the then President (Carol Cutler), subsequently asked to speak at the national conference and probably wouldn’t be the President today.

Following that duty it was a relatively quiet few weeks until the first regional dinner i.e. the Yorkshire dinner. I’d like to record my thanks to the Association president, Matthew, and the Executive Committee for their hospitality during the evening. Never have I seen quite so much cheese on one plate nor have I heard so many cheese related jokes!

Yesterday saw the second Association dinner in Chesterfield for the East Midlands Association. It’s good to see how differently each Association organises their dinner. Yes, there are the usual thank you’s, particularly to our very generous Sponsors, but whereas the Yorkshire dinner saw a turn from a French singer (actually from Skipton), the East Midlands saw Institute members and guests schooled in the art of Saturday night bingo!  Sadly, I didn’t win but I did have a most enjoyable evening and would like to thank the Association President, Claire, and the Exec, particularly Andrew who did a stirling job as the resident bingo caller.

I must say I was looking forward to a little rest and relaxation after recently spending 3 days teaching students on the Autumn Revision Course and a further day on the Day Release course not to mention fitting in the day job and an excellent dinner hosted by the President of the Rating Surveyor’s Association – Mr Tom Emlyn-Jones.

There are a number of themes emerging during my first weeks as President, including a Celtic Connection, with Tom’s grandmother hailing from the same part of South Wales as myself. However, it’s the Celts north of the border that I will be visiting shortly as I’m attending the Scottish Benefits conference in Grangemouth next week.

So, until next time ……