Scottish Committee Annual Dinner
Norwood Hall Hotel, Aberdeen

Friday 28th April 2006

Norwood Hall Hotel was chosen as an idyllic location for this years Scottish Committee Annual Dinner. Norwood Hall Hotel is a 19th Century four-star Mansion House and is set within 7 acres of private woodland with sweeping staircases and magnificent interior design. The evening started with a drinks reception in the Georgian Bar and a VIP drinks reception in the Library. The atmosphere was perfectly set with music from Four in The Bar. This exhilarating style of jazz set the scene and lifted everyone’s spirits.

At 8pm guests were called in to the Pittfodels room, followed by our VIP guests who were welcomed in to the room with an audacious round of applause. Our Scottish Committee Chairman, Sandra Cassels, opened the evening with a short speech, which included a round up of the years activities and a special thanks to the staff of the EIC Scottish Office. Before the first course the EIC’s Chief Executive, Mike Gregory, offered some wise words for grace. After this a sumptuous four-course dinner was served. During dinner guests were entertained with magical tricks from the very talented Fifth Dimension. Guests were also treated to more music from Four in the Bar.

After dinner, Trevor Garlick; Performance Unit Leader - Central North Sea for BP; gave a short update on BP and on BP’s recent EIC Associate Membership. Trevor then handed over to adventurer and motivational speaker Tom McClean. Tom gave a very inspirational speech on what has most definitely been a remarkable career to date. Tom enthralled his audience with many hair raising exploits. Tom’s stories included sailing across the Atlantic in the worlds smallest Yacht, re-affirming Britain's rights to Rockall (the tiny outcrop of rock in the Atlantic). He helped to design and build a 37ft long bottle-shaped boat, the Typhoo Atlantic Challenger which he sailed from New York to Falmouth in. In 1994, he began his largest and most ambitious project to date - the construction of Moby - Prince of Whales! His next intention is to embark on an exciting adventure to cross the Atlantic from London to New York and back again, once commercial backing has been found.

The Scottish Committee Chairman, Sandra Cassels, closed the evening with a vote of thanks to everyone that had contributed to the evening. This year’s dinner was unarguably a very successful evening enjoyed by the 70 guests that attended. Extremely positive feedback has been received so we are sure that word will spread and more members will take the opportunity to book a table in 2007!!!

We would like to thank all the member companies that took part this year with special thanks to DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary who sponsored the VIP drinks reception and MB Engineering who sponsored the tickets. We would also like to thank all VIP guests who attended and who have supported the EIC during the year. We look forward to seeing you all again next year.

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