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the magazine that has little to do with surveying but lots to do with surveyors

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A HUGE thank you to everyone who attended the annual Charity Ball held at the Jarvis Piccadilly hotel on Saturday 16th October. 380 people attended the event and although the final monies have yet to be counted, I am delighted to say that we have raised in the region of £10,000 for Macmillan Cancer Relief’s Manchester Million Appeal.

A big thank you also to Judd Farris & Windmill Demolition who once again sponsored this event. Their kind support is greatly appreciated & the event could not take place without their generous sponsorship.

The theme for this year’s event was Halloween and the room was suitably adorned with skeletons, ghosts and pumpkins galore. Guests were greeted at the entrance to the ballroom by a cackling witch casting a spell at her smoking cauldron, whilst nearby a semi-buried skeleton laughed at passers by from his gravestone. Huge thanks go to the committee members - Peter Wain, Rebecca Best, Janet Tate, Nick Dignan & partner Bernie, Steve Baker and Anthony Dawson - who gave up their Saturday to spend time setting up the room and helped with the running of the event on the night.

Proceeds from the ticket sales were further boosted by a business card raffle and a charity auction, with the latter comprising lots including a signed England Rugby training shirt from Martin Johnson, a signed Manchester United shirt from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a signed Robbie Williams book and the opportunity to blow up a building courtesy of Control Demolition.

This event is the pinnacle of the Chairman’s year and planning for it begins as soon as the Chain of Office is taken over in May. It is a long and drawn out process to get everything in place on the night & as with all other events, is done largely in the Chairman’s own time, so the weeks beforehand become just a little fraught and stressful to say the least!! However it is all worthwhile when things come together on the night. I have to say there is a real sense of pride and achievement to stand and watch the event in full swing.

The staff and management at the Piccadilly Hotel once again did a sterling job in both preparing for and running the event. I also have to say thanks

to my Dad, David Brown, who travelled over from Lincolnshire to do the charity auction and a tremendous job he did too!

It really was a tremendous night & everyone seemed to have a great night. Feedback has been absolutely brilliant. I was quite sorry to crawl into bed at 20 to 5 (am!) & bring the night to an end!

More photographs of the evening can be found on the Photo Gallery page of our website www.manchestermatrics.com and in case you were wondering what happened to all those Halloween themed items, as promised these were donated to the Francis House Children’s Hospice in South Manchester to help add a little seasonal sparkle.

Planning for next year’s event is already underway & anyone wanting further details should contact my Vice- Chairman, Peter Wain for further details (01565 830395 or e-mail peter.wain@mellerbraggins.com).

Louisa Brown - Manchester RICS MATRICS Chairman 2004/2005. ■

THIS ISSUE IN BRIEFSolicitors are Cooking - Spare ribs and beers served up in a legal manner

Here Comes the Sun - Surveyors, shades and socialising

Balls up on the 19th - Linney Cup Golf Day

Catch me a Bird for Lunch - Surveyors feathered on the Cloud

Tonight Matthew I am…... - We conclude our lookalike competition

“Saw” Cut Surveyors Share a Saturday of Shameless and Sadistic Horrors

A SURPRISINGLY sprightly bunch of surveyors arrived at Cloudside Shooting Grounds, Congleton at 10:30am on the 10th July for RICS matrics Greater Manchester’s 3rd Annual clay pigeon shoot.

Right on queue the staff at Cloudside provided a pick me up for those still feeling a little weary from the night before in the order of bacon and egg sandwiches and plenty of coffee.

The mornings proceeding comprised a practice shoot followed by a 20-clay competition shoot over four different traps, each encompassing a dissimilar challenge & level of difficulty.

All in all the standard of competition was high but in ultimately there would only be one winner. Third place went to last years champion, Phil Cooke who hit a very respectable 17/20 clay’s and if things couldn’t get any closer, there was a tie for first place between Rick Johnson and Joanne McCombie both hitting 18/20 clay’s.

The only way to decide the winner was to have a sudden death shoot off - Joanne was first up and hit both of her clay’s, as a nervous Rick watched on. Stepping up to the cage, the pressure was obviously two much for Rick as although hitting a fine first clay he missed his second, sending victory into the arms of Joanne.

The overall results worked out as follows:

• 3rd Place – Phil Cooke • 2nd Place – Rick Johnson• 1st Place – Joanne McCombie

RICS matrics Greater Manchester would like to thank the Staff at Cloudside, the Sponsors: Roberts & Roberts together with the organisers Honorary Secretary Adam Ralph of Davis Langdon and Rob Taylor of Colliers CRE. ■

Annie Get Your Gun!

▲ Sir John Mortimer

DESPITE THE closing date for entries and the Prize Event having been and gone, the 2nd and latest entry to the competition is displayed. There will be a free pair of tickets for the non committee member who correctly identifies the MATRICS personality who so closely models himself on this past actor”. ■

LOOK-A-LIKE competition

FFFFOOOOORRRRREEEE!!!!!!WHAT BETTER excuse to spend a Thursday afternoon out of the office, than battling for the right to take home the prestigious Linney Cup Golf trophy. That’s exactly what 40 members of the RICS did when they pit themselves against one another in this year’s 2004 Linney Cup Golf Tournament held at Worsley Golf Club on Thursday 19th August.

On arrival the competitors met in the clubhouse for soup & sandwiches, although most had their eye on the weather through the window. You would have expected brilliant sunshine in the middle of summer, however, it is important to remind everyone that this is Manchester, the only place in the country where you are guaranteed rain all year round!

Weather aside, the first tee time was at 1:35 with Adam Ralph (organiser) first to go. A few competitors kindly ensured that a full gallery was in place to see this…luckily the ball went further than the ladies tee! The rest of the field went off on their respective tee times and the tournament was underway – being a woodland course, most holes provided little room for error so it was not surprising to hear a fair few expletives belting out whilst walking round.

On return to clubhouse, dry due to no rain I might add, it became apparent that there was a general consensus that the wind played a big part in the loss of a number of golf balls…any excuse eh boys! All the competitor’s scorecards were then checked and collated ready for the presentation of the prizes by this years chairman Louisa Brown.

In the end first place went to Robert Taylor from Colliers CRE or as he is now known ‘el bandito’ with a winning score of 36 points. The competition could not have been any closer as David Ibbotson of Balfour Kilpatrick claimed second place just a single point short of Robert with 35 points and third place went to Ian Sullivan of Donaldson’s with an equally close score of 34 points. Ian also won the longest drive competition with David Morris of Davis Langdon picking up the nearest the pin prize.

Half a dozen of the competitors involved in this year’s tournament were Liverpool Surveyors, competing for the Merseyside Cup, which was won this year by John McGrath of EC Harris.

We hope that all those whom attended had a fantastic day, and RICS matrics Greater Manchester would like to thank everyone who took part, Worsley Golf Club for there hospitality and most importantly this year’s sponsors Spence Looker as well as Honorary Secretary Adam Ralph for organising the event.

Alister Hufton of Appleyard & Trew will represent Greater Manchester at the National Finals and John McGrath will represent Merseyside. ■

▲ Robert ‘el bandito’ Taylor

▲ ?????????

The Chairman and Committee of RICS Matrics in Manchester wish all Surveyors and their families a Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year

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RICS matrics Greater Manchester Diary Dates: Autumn 2004Date Event Venue Organiser

13th December RICS Carol Service St Ann’s Church Contact Gill Edmeston 2005 St Ann’s Square Manchester

1,8,15, 22 Feb Spring CPD Lectures Renold Building John Valentine 0161 237 7777 1 March 2005 UMIST Dunlop Heywood Lorenz Manchester jdv@dhlproperty.co.uk

3 February Curry Challenge Shimla Pinks Rob Taylor 0161 233 4417 Manchester Colliers CRE robert.taylor@collierscre.co.uk

18-20 Feb International Oxford Geraldine Szucs 0207 334 3744 2005 Property RICS matrics Executive Conference GSzucs@rics.org.uk

13 March 5-a-side Football JJB Soccerdome Rebecca Best 0161 819 2900 2005 Tournament Edmond Shipway rebecca.best@shipway.co.uk

10 April Touch Rugby Bowden, Rebecca Best 0161 819 2900 2005 Tournament Timperley Edmond Shipway rebecca.best@shipway.co.uk

ON AN overcast evening in early July a large gathering of young surveyors and solicitors assembled at The Pitcher & Piano in Manchester for the annual summer Beaujolais BBQ organised by Anakin Seal and supported by RICS matrics Greater Manchester.

As ever, the prospect of a bottle of wine and a good feed for the bargain price of £10 attracted a large crowd and as the wine was de-corked and started flowing freely the party atmosphere got into full swing.

Our matrics Chairman, Louisa Brown, retired shortly before 11pm, still nursing vivid hangover scars from the Pub Golf leaving the intoxicated revellers to continue late into the night. The event was a huge success once again and thanks go to Anakin Seal for their time and efforts in organizing it. ■

ON THE evening of Thursday 12th August 2004, RICS matrics Greater Manchester held a Summer Social at Bar 38 on Peter Street. Although the weather didn’t quite hold out and Manchester seemed to transform into a river within minutes, the event was very well attended, with over 160 Surveyors and other reprobates eager to enjoy a free drink or two after a hard day’s work!!

Throughout the evening, the Surveyors put their business cards into a champagne bucket and awaited the announcement of the champagne draw by Rebecca Best with baited breath!! The winner was Philip Hunter of Lambert Smith Hampton. Thanks go to Hays Montrose for the champagne.The event carried on into the night, with the last woman (well Rebecca to be

exact) standing at about 11.30, with a few of the hardcore making their way onto to Prohibition for further drinking. There were sure to be a few hangovers the next morning!! RICS matrics Greater Manchester would like to thank Hays Montrose for their sponsorship and Rebecca Best of Edmond Shipway and Caleb Polley of Bruntwood for organising the event. ■

THE LIVING Room, a favourite haunt of such celebrities as Westlife, Posh Spice, David Beckham and some woman who we were told was in Brookside (not the one who played the patio foundations, another one) played host to Manchester’s latest RICS matrics event, which was kindly sponsored by Judd Farris.

Bosh and Pecs (aka Lou Brown and Peter Wain) were the first to arrive at the venue although it wasn’t long before the venue was packed to the rafters as, amongst other things, people were celebrating APC results.

Many new graduates and sandwich students as well as more familiar faces were able to mix in sophisticated surroundings (a point that is often lost on the social secretary) and the free drinks and good conversation flowed. And there was also some lovely food in the form of canapés (French for finger food probably not plastic awnings at the front of a Spar), which just topped the evening off.

So as both floors of Surveyors drifted away in the later hours of the evening, it was agreed a top night was had and the venue had proved very popular. RICS matrics Greater Manchester would like to thank Judd Farris for sponsoring the event and to Rob Taylor of Colliers CRE for organising the evening. ■

RICS Matrics Summer Social

Funny Cooking with Legal Wine

New Members, New Venue, Old Habits

National RICS matrics NewsTHE 2004 National Golf competition takes place on 10-12 September in Leeds and was won by Alister Hufton of Greater Manchester with John McGrath of Merseyside 2nd.

The National Auction Competition will take place in London on Thursday 11 November.

The 2005 International Property Conference, hosted by RICS matrics, is titled “Do Business” and will take place in Oxford from Friday 18 February to Sunday 20 February 2005. Topics will include Business Promotion, Negotiation Skills, Staff Motivation and Development Finance as well as wider issues such as EU Expansion, Professional Ethics, Market Trends and the state of the Property Market.

Of course all that information is bound to make attendees a little thirsty and so there is also a Friday night social and the optional extra to attend a Black Tie dinner in Oxford on the Saturday night.

“But surely I won’t know anyone?” we hear you cry but sadly you will be wrong as past

Manchester Chairmen Phil Cooke and Charles Fifield will both be attending in their capacities as National Hon Treasurer and National Hon Secretary respectively – so you’ve been warned!

Further information on the 2005 Conference can be found at the Links page of www.manchestermatrics.com ■

Leaving so soon? THE MODERN surveyor rarely stays put in one place for too long these days and if you’re moving away from Manchester and want to know where you nearest Local RICS matrics Group is then check out the Contacts page of the National RICS matrics website: www.rics.org/matrics ■

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