Educational Awards Dinner

This year's ABFA Educational Awards Dinner was held on Thursday 4th March 2010 at The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington. This event saw 131 people from the invoice finance industry attend this black tie affair to recognise and celebrate the efforts of those professionals within the industry who have applied themselves to further their qualifications and careers. It was rewarding to see our members applauding the achievements of their most deserving staff.

The evening began at 7.15 with a glass of champagne at the Welcome Reception. Maurice Craft, ABFA Chairman and Managing Director of Regency Factors, welcomed everyone to the event and held the attention of the guests as he reminded us of extensive work of the Educational Foundation in 2009 and the importance of training and education in the current economic climate.

Following dinner, Martin Bayfield, took the stage to present the awards. Martin, an ex British Lion rugby players with 31 international caps playing in the 1992 and 1995 Grand Slam sides, hosted the award ceremony with humour and shared lots of situations he has found himself in and stories during his carrier. Sponsors then started reading out the winners of the awards. The awards ceremony consisted of 8 publicised awards generously sponsored by organisations who continue to contribute greatly to the success of the ABFA. Congratulations to all of the award winners, who are listed below.

After the awards ceremony Martin continued to inspire and amuse the audience during an after-dinner speech consisting of more tales from his outstanding rugby career. Throughout the proceedings Martin was relaxed and professional and his presentation skills contributed greatly to everyone's enjoyment of the night. Finally, it was time to get everyone up and moving on the dancefloor. As always with this event, the celebrations went on well into the night!

A wonderful evening was had by all and many congratulations to all those students nominated and to all the winners below!

Photos of this great night will be available shortly.