Joyce's Column: November

I wonder what the attraction that Benidorm has for male parties, it must have something good, as another party of males partied there recently. This time it was HC Terminals Bob Hepworth and 10 male friends, they went for ‘Bob’s Surprise Party’ as he was celebrating a birthday, one that used to be the pension age for men (see Bob I didn’t actually give your age.)  Bob says it was a great do, with a party of 60ish year olds acting like 20 year olds, now on that my mind boggles!! Anyway, Happy Belated Birthday wishes to you Bob and here’s to many more to come, and obviously many more parties too.

While Bob was in Benidorm he went to see Derek Hepple who lives in Spain and has done for many years now, Derek had a long career in the industry and used to work for Bell Fruit in the North East of England and the worked at Funtime for Bob. According to Bob, Derek is enjoying life in Spain, but then again Derek always enjoyed life. I remember the first time I met Derek, he was suited and booted as they say, but he was the first man I had seen dressed this way but not wearing any socks, Derek and socks did not agree with each other, he liked freedom on his feet. Anyway, I am sure that he enjoyed Bob’s visit to him and they did a lot of chatting and maybe the odd vino or two (bottles maybe) and I am sure that many of us older hands remember Derek and would like to extend out best wishes to him

Thanks to Karen Cooke and her team for the organisation of an excellent ACOS show recently held in London at the ILEC Conference Centre within the IBIS Hotel near Earls Court, which is an ideal and easy venue to get to. The hotel has undergone a great facelift making it more comfortable both in the rooms and the public areas including the restaurant, and the breakfast was excellent. There was if course the Party Night at The Prince which also celebrated 50 years of BACTA, and the party included all drinks, food and live music, and for those that wanted they were able to dance the night away. There is no doubt about it that when it comes to organising a show that Karen is an excellent organiser and she now has a new Northern show in Manchester on 29 and 30 April 2025 named Amusement & Retail Entertainment Expo to be held at The Cotton Sheds, Victoria Warehouse M17 1AB, there is also a Conference to be held at the same venue 28 April 2025 prior to the show opening on 29 April 2025. There is good tram service which goes close to the venue, and the hotel for the event is The Football Hotel around 4/6 minutes walk away from the exhibition venue. The show is proving to be popular with exhibitors and bookings for stand space are coming in thick and fast, so come on make a note of the dates and come along and visit, as the saying goes ‘If you have never been to Manchester you have never lived’ so come along and ‘live’ in Manchester.

Many thanks to Steph Norbury for an excellent dinner together during ACOS, we had a lovely meal and few glasses of alcohol to say the least, but the company was the main thing, and one thing for sure Steph is good company.

Good to see Dave Garforth ex Concept Games at the show, Dave retired a couple of years ago but decided to pay a visit to catch-up with old friends, before he sets off on his Worldwide travels once again. He has planned to go to Thailand and Bali for Christmas, so Christmas is now only just around the corner so you will soon be living it up again and enjoying some n ice hot sun hopefully. It is always nice to see you at the shows Dave, so please keep coming to them so we can enjoy your company.

Parveen Sharma the ex BACTA employee visited the after-show party at The Prince, she now has a new position as Marketing Manager for a very up-market company dealing with travel and events, and this involves a lot of travelling abroad for Parveen too, and she’s off to Oman soon and looking forward to it. Parveen was of course her usual bright and bubbly self and the camera on her phone never stopped snapping all night long.

A gentleman named Mr Strudwick approached me at the party and said he had been coming to the shows for many years and he remembered me from the shows years back, he said I was always smiling and welcoming and it was always a great pleasure to see me, needless to say he made my night and I can assure you Mr Strudwick I will always welcome you for sure.

Many thanks to E-Service’s Paul Scott for his kind assistance at the party. I had high heeled shoes on and needed as we say to ‘pay a visit’ but there were stairs to go down to get there, and after a few Campari and Orange drinks I decided I should maybe change my shoes and out on my flat one. The problem was I was sat on a very high stool and my shoes had straps on them and I just couldn’t get them off. I asked Paul for his help and being the gentleman that he is he went about the task of taking my high heels off my feet and putting my flat shoes onto my feet. I felt like Cinderella must have felt when Prince Charming put the slipper on her foot and it fitted, and I was so happy to be in my flat shoes and Paul was certainly my Prince Charming.

My 2 Irish boys Andy Thompson and Philip Doherty turned up at ACOS, it was the first time they had ever attended it, and I had persuaded them when I sent time with them in Dublin that they should come to the show. They both enjoyed it and were also taking time out to do some site seeing in London after the show. These 2 boys were like Paul Scott of E Service perfect gentlemen who escorted me to the tube station and assisted me with my luggage (I never travel light) so they saved my arms from being pulled from the sockets, thanks boys.

Sterling Amusements John Marriott and his friend Jason McDonald ensured I was fed and watered at the party and were my party partners for the night. Despite the fact the I left early (yes I know party pooper) they offered to escort me to my hotel but it was only about a 4 minute walk away from the party venue that I didn’t need escorting, but they insisted that I text them when I got back to the hotel to let them know I had arrived back OK.

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28 November 2024

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