Merry Christmas!

IRRV Scottish Association President's Christmas Reception

And, when in Edinburgh, the President also addressed IRRV Scottish Association President's Christmas Reception - see below:

Another visit to Scotland ...

On 13th December, Dave gave the Presidential Address to the joint meeting of the IRRV Scottish Association and IRRV Scottish Forum in Edinburgh - see right.

IRRV Chief Executive David Magor and IRRV Council Member Ian Ferguson also spoke at the joint meeting - see photo below of David Magor speaking and Ian Ferguson looking on:

Scottish Benefits Conference

On 5th and 6th December, Dave attended the IRRV Scottish Benefits Conference 2012.

Very well-attended and well-received, Dave gave the Presidential Address (see right).

Update on Dave's chosen charity!

In June 2013, there is a planned charity golf challenge with Rossendales versus Equita.

More details - to be announced soon!

Dave's "Just Giving Page"

Please visit Dave's JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/David-Chapman5.

Dave says:

 

As President of the IRRV I have a fantastic opportunity and responsibility to raise money for a very deserving charity.  I have chosen Rossendale Hospice because its local and i believe local charities find it that much harder to raise funds so all donations make a real difference.

 

I have always lived and worked in Rossendale or close by and so many people that I know and love have been affected by their great work.  So please dig deep and support my presidential year..

 

I will be doing as much as I can and really value your support.

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

 

So please dig deep and donate now.

Dave's November Update

After the euphoria of receiving the President’s chain of office from Roger Messenger at the Telford conference on October 4th, I was quickly introduced into the role of President attending the Association Representatives Meeting on the last day of Conference in the Conference hotel. 

It was really heartwarming to be welcomed and appreciated by so many Revenues and Benefits professionals, with whom I had previously been a counterpart in the very same meetings. Immediately after the meeting, I arranged a planning meeting for the year ahead with the Chief Executive, David, at a secret venue in Oxfordshire on the Monday 8th.   Here I received diary dates of known events, and looked at identifying future Council Meeting dates. I also advised my charity for the year would be Rossendale Hospice, and agreed to set up a Just Giving site to facilitate any donations. Apart from that initial flurry of activity, I enjoyed a relatively quiet month in October and couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about, it was simply business as usual or so I thought?

November the 8th saw my first official function, where I flew out to Rome to attend the Tegova (The European Group of Valuers Association) Conference and General Assembly, a three day event in the beautiful historic and ancient capital of Italy. It was truly an experience to hear the interpreters grappling with valuation terminology delivered through our headsets as we listened to though provoking papers from across Europe. I had to check sometimes that I was on the correct language channel, and I have to say, pronouncing IRRV is difficult in any language!!

One thing became very clear, how really well thought of the Institute is within these European circles, of course there is no higher testimony to that than the fact that Roger Messenger is the current Chair of that Association.  I was made to feel very welcome and soon found that I knew more about valuation than I had thought, I also realized there were very real opportunities to expand both the membership and influence of the Institute across Europe.

My worst memory of the trip was the 6 hour delay I endured at the Leonardo Da Vinci Airport, for the return flight, which meant I now landed in Manchester at 2:30 in the morning, with a train booked for my first Council Meeting in London departing at 7.30am. Of course I advised my Chief Executive that I may possibly be late or even stuck in Rome for my very first Meeting chairing the Council!

As it happened I managed 2 hours sleep before boarding my train to London and chairing my first Council on the 12th November.  The same week on the Friday I attended my first Association Dinner, in honour of Andrew Solley the President of the East Midlands Association (see right) at the Casa in Chesterfield. A wonderful  event at one of the best hotel venues on the circuit. There were 125 guests in attendance and the time went so fast it was 1.30am before I knew it. (My wife Phyl, later told me it was 1.30am we retired, by the way).

I now have two weeks rest (and back to the day job at Rossendales), before my next two Institute events both in Scotland in December, (hope it doesn’t snow) and more of those in my next update.

Our new President - Dave Chapman

Dave became IRRV President at Annual Conference at Telford in October 2012, taking over from Roger Messenger, President in 2011/12.

Dave qualified as a Corporate Member in 1995.  He has been a member of the IRRV Lancashire & Cheshire Association Executive Committee since 1998 and previously held the post of Association Secretary. He was also the Association President in 2003/2004. Dave was elected to the IRRV Council in 2005 and is a former Chair of the Institute's Law and Research Committee and a former Faculty Chair. 

He began his career in Local Government in 1985 with Rossendale Borough Council where he was the Senior Recovery Officer when moving to Hyndburn Borough Council in 1995 to take up the post of Assistant Local Taxation Manager. In 1999 Dave then moved to Bury MBC in Greater Manchester as Revenues Manager, a post he held for 5 years until February 2004, when he took up the challenge of a role in the private sector as Client Services Executive with Rossendales Limited. Within 2 years, Dave was appointed to the board of Directors and has now also been elected to serve on the Council of the Enforcement Services Association.

Dave is a regular speaker at Association meetings and events having also spoken at both the National and the Collection and Enforcement Conferences.   He is a current tutor for the IRRV in Introduction to the Law of Council Tax.  An author for Distance Learning material and contributor to Insight. Dave is a regular tutor for the Keele revision course.