ICB 2012 Training Provider of the Year - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

TRAINING LINK · Senior Member

ICB 2012 Training Provider of the Year

Spamkebab · Expert

Congrats Dave.

Well deserved, both for yourself and Training Link.

Was it a great day out then?

Neil.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Congratulations Dave, A well deserved win.

Are you going to give the pictures of Gary Carter and the small furry animals back now or save them for next year?

All the best matey,

Shaun.

EagleEducation · Senior Member

Congratulations! :).

Amanda · Expert

Well done Dave!

Don Tax · Expert

Good going, Dave. Well done.

TRAINING LINK · Senior Member

Many thanks everyone.

I know Shaun knows how much this meant to me on a personal front as well as professional. Neil it was a fantastic night and I would urge anyone who has not attended the ICB Awards dinner and conference to give it a go. Always plenty of champagne to drink and puts faces to the many voices I have heard over the years, the old adage never judge a Bookkeeper by their cover comes to mind lol.

To organise this event must take a hell of planning and Ami Copeland and Sobi need a massive pat on the back as I can only imagine the amount of effort required to make these events as successful as they are each year.

I would also like to congratulate all other winners which included Ideal Schools Student and Tutor of the Year awards and a big thank you to all other winners and runners up which included our tutors Angela and Steve Capeling who work 7 days a week including Bank Holiday and even Christmas and whose passion for what they do is second to none. Thanks Again.

Dave

Brian McVean · Senior Member

Hi Dave,

Couldn't agree more with the applause that should be afforded to Ami and the rest of the ICB team for a great event. The amount of effort to bring all that together must be immense and they deserve great credit.

Congratulations to yourself, Gary and the rest of your team on your award. We were delighted for our own tutor & student who went home grinning fro ear to ear (after a few tipples, of course). This recognition is most pleasing for the efforts put in year on year by the providers & students.

All the best.

TRAINING LINK · Senior Member

Hi Brian

Cheers mate, and hope you are now fully recovered. Big Pat on the back for Jo what a nice lady. I have a couple of pics of Jo and your student with their awards and will send them on to you via personal email. once through this workload of mine lol. Was good to see you all.

Dave

Brian McVean · Senior Member

That'd be great, Dave, thanks. I went to the bother of taking my camera, whilst leaving the battery charging in its cradle at home. Doh!!!

ICBUK · Guru

Well done guys!!

We have photos of the winners being presented with their Lucas and will be sending them on to you guys, probably next week when things have calmed down here smile

ICBUK · Guru

Thanks for the kind words, I will pass them on.

Was good to see everyone, I'm taking the weekend off to sleep though biggrin

TRAINING LINK · Senior Member

Lol James yes I am also looking for the weekend to get some much needed rest but a fantastic event. Roll on next year, did you not say it was being held in Birmingham next year? Or is that just wishful thinking lol?

Dave

ICBUK · Guru

Hi Dave,

Yeah we did think about it and some people have mentioned Birmingham or Manchester are more central. However, when we suggested it, we got a strong response that London was better as trains and planes were easier to get.

Obviously that is from the people who like London (as they attended a London event) so we will continue to think about it.

That strong response included people from all over the country by the way, the Scottish attendees in particular were against the location changing.

The awards dinner would most likely stay in London as we have ambassadors, MPs and representatives from other bodies that are all London based, who probably don't want to travel so far for a dinner.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

ICBUK wrote:
when we suggested it, we got a strong response that London was better as trains and planes were easier to get.
Obviously that is from the people who like London (as they attended a London event) so we will continue to think about it.
That strong response included people from all over the country by the way, the Scottish attendees in particular were against the location changing.

C'mon, that's a cop out James.

I cannot imagine that the Scots have missed the fact they can choose to get off the train at Birmingham rather than just pass through it on the way to London (I work a lot in Scotland and they're a canny bunch).

Flights go from the main scottish airports to Brum and Machester as well as London.

Brum is much easier to drive to than London (straight down the M6, no traffic issues before Manchester then again at Stoke, Cannock, the M5 junction and then Brum. Drive to London and you have all of the same plus the M25 to park on (and a lot more speed camera gantree's)).

Hotels are cheaper, transport system is better (can't imagine a Midlands bus driver telling everyone to get off in the middle of nowhere the way that London Tube drivers do if they decide its the end of their shift so they're not going to finish the journey).

Plenty of Venue's to choose fromin the Midlands including the NEC (N standing for National) which has to be the easiest place on the planet to get to with the most parking and seemingly the hub of the train network and with free monorail access from the airport.

There is a reason that many of the transport companies have their UK hubs in the Midlands. It's central to everywhere and the natural choice for anyone who doesn't believe that the UK ends at Watford gap services.

I think that the real reasoning is in the last papragraph rather than any issue with Midlands transport.... One day people will wake up to the fact that the UK is not London.

TRAINING LINK · Senior Member

Lol I have to agree with Shaun that travel to London is a logistical nightmare, going home the last 2 years have added 20 years to my face and it wont be much longer before I get a crack at the world gurning championship, in fact if tomato sauce had been thrown over our heads on the train journey home we would have turned into the proverbial sardine in a can, and if you talk to a stranger on a London train you are looked at as if you are clinically insane (or is that just me lol?)

Cannot fault the venues of the award dinners as a simple working class bloke like moi would not usually be at black tie events like the Dorchester, Banqueting House and The Savoy so totally agree with keeping the awards dinner in London but the conference could be held elsewhere? Again I agree with Shaun that the NEC would be a perfect venue, easy to get to, space on a train and a huge hotel on NEC complex? You can tell me James is it the accent, you can tell ol Dave lol?

Anyway the future will take care of itself 2012 ICB Conference was a complete success.

Dave

Julies bookkeeping · Veteran Member

I costed this out and going to London was way out of my budget, yet Birmingham is very much cheaper, I would have been able to attend if it was there.

Spamkebab · Expert

80 miles to Birmingham from here, 1.5 hours if you leave at 2am, 17 hours if you leave after 6am lol.

NickCraggs · Guru

Hi Everyone,

Firstly congratulations to all at Training Link, and Ideal Schools. It was also really good to put a face to a name, and meet the likes of Dave, Gary and Brian.

As regards where it is, it is probably just as quick, if not quicker, for me to go to London than Birmingham from where i live ,but you can not please everyone all the time. It is probably a lot more expensive though, as Dave and I found out when we went for a post dinner drink!

A good time was had by all though, and the summit was excellent.

-- Edited by NickCraggs on Friday 9th of November 2012 04:44:35 PM

ICBUK · Guru

Ouch Shaun, bit insulted you think I'm making it up smile

Ask Ideal Schools, they stick in my mind as their response (from Al) was very strong for it to remain in London.

Don't forget they probably do other business whilst there, or shopping, etc..

Anyway, like I said we are looking into it, as from the ICB point of view it would be so much cheaper.

Oh and the Scottish had their own conference this year, so you cannot say we think the whole UK is in London.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

ICBUK wrote:
or shopping, etc..

Hope that they didn't try to claim expenses then as such would fail the wholly and necessarily test, lol.

I always find it ammusing that people travel to London to shop in places like HMV and Next... Why! Oxford street is just all of the shops that you get absolutely everywhere else but crowded with tourists.

Best thing about London is the accountancy books section of Foyles bookshop... Its now actually smaller than my library but it's still a great little alcove.

Anyway, sure that your telling the truth James... But were others only telling you what they thought that you wanted to hear? wink

Shaun.

ICBUK · Guru

Shamus wrote:
But were others only telling you what they thought that you wanted to hear?

Ha doubt it. Like I said it would be cheaper, but would more people come? I think it is likely to be in Birmingham, definately being thought about, and just take the risk that a couple of days at the NEC is just as appealing as a couple of days in the capital.

There is a slight problem with Manchester as the staff are at the conference to help and give advice during the networking sessions, so it might add another couple of days where there is reduced/none office opening hours.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Next time try the Fulmar and Firkin.

Go up Queensway back towards Euston.

When you get to the crossroads where Holborn tube is on the corner youve gone about a hundred feet too far.

On the Holborn tube side there is a weatherspoons. On the opposit side of the road is a dingy little alleyway. Twenty feet down there on the right is the Fulmar.

Also.

Directly behind Folyes bookshop as one of it's rear foundations there's a decent pub there (just go down the alleyway the the side of Foyles and you'll find it).

Also

there's the hercules pillars close to the Fulmar. That one's on Great Queen street. underneath Holbrook house.

Basically, plenty of decent pubs. You just need to know where to look.

Shaun.

p.s. The Wimpy on Queensway is a good one and excllent when you've just fallen out of the fulmar.... God, I'm almost missing London... Almost! lol

Brian McVean · Senior Member

For what it's worth, my opinion is, apart from not worth much, that the size of the Institute is such that it merrits to have their main conference in the Capital. I for one enjoy the fact that once a year I can savour paying £10 for a measure of single malt whisky, several times over biggrin . Also, if anyone has the get up and go to attend and can manage it financially, then London is easier to get to from ALL parts of the UK. Speaking to students in practice at the conference and today it would seem that the coverage will really help them with their businesses. Therefore, perhaps it's worth that little bit of extra expense.

Also, ICB have given more freedom to their regional meetings and if there is a groundswell of interest in the Midlands, Manchester, Glasgow, or any other city or county, it takes someone to grab the bull by the horns and try to drum up interest via the Forum and arrange a meeting. We recently attended the Glasgow meeting and it was really good to see over 30 in attendance, showing a real interest in their profession. The Ayrshire meeting also recently had a speaker from HMRC explaining the new RTI changes.

Nick, it was really good to meet up with you and look forward to doing so again next year, if not before.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

The Royal bank of Scotland has a turnover where one day would (I'm pretty sure) take someone like the ICB several thousand years cumulative income to reach but their AGM has traditionally been on a roadshow basis. (Which actually caused much disgruntlement amongst the scots who felt that it should always be in Edinburgh).

Disagree totally on the capital being easy to get to by comparison to Brum, espechially for anyone on the west coast line that has to pass through Birmingham anyway).

I will agree that London is much easier to get to from anywhere South of London. Also the M4 Corridor, and the Southern parts of the Anglia Region.

From Milton Keynes Northwards Brum is easier...

See message above for how to pay less than £10 a shot in good quality bars (are you talking Savoy prices at £10?). The bars that I'm talking about are not dingy back street places, they are good quality bars that serve a decent pint... Soem of it even imported from the Midlands rather than that Southern dishwater (lol).

TRAINING LINK · Senior Member

Brian McVean wrote:
For what it's worth, my opinion is, apart from not worth much, that the size of the Institute is such that it merrits to have their main conference in the Capital. I for one enjoy the fact that once a year I can savour paying £10 for a measure of single malt whisky, several times over . Also, if anyone has the get up and go to attend and can manage it financially, then London is easier to get to from ALL parts of the UK. Speaking to students in practice at the conference and today it would seem that the coverage will really help them with their businesses. Therefore, perhaps it's worth that little bit of extra expense.

Also, ICB have given more freedom to their regional meetings and if there is a groundswell of interest in the Midlands, Manchester, Glasgow, or any other city or county, it takes someone to grab the bull by the horns and try to drum up interest via the Forum and arrange a meeting. We recently attended the Glasgow meeting and it was really good to see over 30 in attendance, showing a real interest in their profession. The Ayrshire meeting also recently had a speaker from HMRC explaining the new RTI changes.

Nick, it was really good to meet up with you and look forward to doing so again next year, if not before.

Hi Brian I think £10 for a shot of whiskey is a bit steep thanks for the heads up as next year I will take a bottle with me and hide it in my tuxedo, cant be giving my hard earned money away that easy no matter what the occasion lol. On a more serious note I was at the conference as well and the feedback I was getting was the cost of the event on top of the hotel meant a lot of people stayed away I tried my hardest to get as many of our students to attend and it all came down to cost, travel, conference fee and hotel? I am sure that if the event was held outside of London it would attract more numbers. I think the conference and the awards dinner should be held at different times so the Training Provider stands dont look like they are run by zombies lol. We could always do a customer survey and pass the results on to the ICB?

Dave

-- Edited by TRAINING LINK on Saturday 10th of November 2012 06:38:41 AM

TRAINING LINK · Senior Member

NickCraggs wrote:
Hi Everyone,
Firstly congratulations to all at Training Link, and Ideal Schools. It was also really good to put a face to a name, and meet the likes of Dave, Gary and Brian.
As regards where it is, it is probably just as quick, if not quicker, for me to go to London than Birmingham from where i live ,but you can not please everyone all the time. It is probably a lot more expensive though, as Dave and I found out when we went for a post dinner drink!
A good time was had by all though, and the summit was excellent.

-- Edited by NickCraggs on Friday 9th of November 2012 04:44:35 PM

Hi Nick, yes was good meeting you even if we were a bit intoxicated to say the least lol but intoxicated or not £9 for 2 bottles of beer, in Birmingham £9 would buy you two bottles of beer, a kebab and still have enough change for the bus home, oh I miss my dating days lol, next time we meet Nick it is my round.

Dave

Brian McVean · Senior Member

Hi Shaun & Dave,

In my role as Hon. Treasurer of the Association of British Correspondence Colleges (ABCC) I visit London 4 or 5 times a year, with the ICB Summit a further opportunity to visit. Personally I like the buzz of London where you are usually just a short walk from a significant landmark. My visits are mainly covered by very modest expenses but I know the costs involved in getting to and staying in London and completely understand that not everyone has the means to do this, hence, I would never be against having the ICB event in other cities, but I see James' point that it would have to be relatively close to London so that their own offices would not be closed for too long. In my numerous visits I have found, whenever I had time biggrin , many a pleasant watering hole where I could get a very reasonably priced beer or glass of wine. The £10 whisky was indeed purchased in the Savoy after the awards dinner but I can assure you that neither my wife nor bank manager would be happy if I were to repeat that too often.

From Glasgow, getting to Birmingham by train is fine and I really like travelling by train as it is very relaxing. However, since BMI were swallowed up by BA there seems to be a lack of a Glasgow / Birmingham link if a quick flight home was required.

Dave, I understand where you are coming from re the zombie aspect after the awards dinner. Somehow I got through Wednesday on just 3rhs sleep but I didn't feel the real impact until I arrived at my home town of Gourock at 23:40, which was when the true tiredness set in. However, splitting the awards & summit would only take me away from the day to day college work for an other couple of days, which causes its own inconveniences. A student survey is a good idea and I'm sure the ICB would be interested in the results, unless, of course, they've already carried out their own.

Wishing you both and all forum users a good week biggrin