I took the train upto Manchester Monday afternoon and was hoping for our best ever frugal friends turn out.My very first frugal friends had been in Manchester,same venue,some ten months before and I had one couple turn up.I was really keeping my fingers crossed that forum members Mr and Mrs Skint would come and I wasn’t disappointed as they arrived a few minutes early.We soon got chatting over a drink and I was amazed at how Lisa and her husband had coped with all that’s been thrown at them,Lisa has MS and her youngest is possibly autistic.Bearing in mind that they have also been through,and successfully concluded,an IVA you can only admire them.
Melanie and Andrew Graveson arrived next and had driven from Wales,Andrew was on soft drinks only so I quickly asked the hotel to cancel the extra brewery delivery that they had lined up for the evening!!
John and Gwen Tegg then came down,having checked in earlier,and as I was getting the drinks in Ian Millington arrived,followed shortly by Mike[Size5].Finally one of John’s business associates joined us,he specialised in web optimisation.So all in all there were ten of us,the best turn out to date.
Conversation covered all areas and it was interesting to have Lisa and husband John there to answer questions from Melanie about how they first came accross the IVA.co.uk website and nice to hear that they got their idea for a full and final settlement directly from advice given by Melanie on the forum.Lisa was also glad to meet Andrew who had arranged the remortgage for their full and final.
Both Ian and Mike came across very well during the evening and are both genuinely concerned with the ever changing debt industry.
It really was a great evening and although Melanie,Andrew,Lisa and John had to leave,as they were driving back,myself,Ian,Size5 and John Tegg continued to chat and drink right through until close to midnight.I lost count of the times I heard ‘let’s just have one more ‘

My next meeting will be in either London or Birmingham in March,look out for details

I drove down to Wales,on the afternoon of the 18th,to meet up with forum experts Andrew Graveson and Melanie Giles.I was due to interview Andrew for IVA.co.uk TV the next day and as I was staying over[400mile round trip]we thought that we would get to gether for a drink and natter the evening before.
Melanie kindly picked me up from my hotel at around 7pm and we met Andrew in a wine bar a couple of miles away in the Cardiff Bay centre.After a few glasses of wine we walked to a local pasta restuarant and quickly downed a three course dinner.Before I knew it had gone midnight and we called it a night.Many thanks to both Melanie and Andrew for a great evening[more thanks to Andrew for picking up the restuarant bill].
The next morning I walked to Andrew’s offices located just opposite Cardiff Bay station and we nipped out and grabbed a coffee.Adrian from Film 121 arrived shortly afterwards and we set up the meeting room ready for the interview.
Andrew owns a debt management company,Brightoak,and also is a mortgage broker.I found his insight into the debt industry most interesting and could sense that he believes very strongly in customer service and the right advice being given as an absolute priority.He seemed to have the same ethos and beliefs as Melanie when it comes to debt issues.
A very enjoyable couple of days and I look forward to meeting Andrew again as he is a regular attendee of both our debt debates and frugal friends meetings

I drove down to Gloucester early today[3 hour drive]to interview forum expert John Tegg,in his home,who posts under the username Coveritall. On arrival his lovely wife Gwen served up coffee and toast whilst John and myself had a good chat.When Adrian arrived,from Film 121,we all went into Johns office and reviewed his various insurance products and his systems.I was very impressed with Johns paperless office and the way that he not only underwrites various policies but also deals with claims etc.He also collects many thousands of pounds in premiums each month.Not bad for a guy who has been through bankruptcy.

His latest product Protectiva is unique and I’m sure will eventually be welcomed by IPs and debtors
I would urge everyone to view my interview with John because his story is an inspiration and difinitive proof that there is life after debt.
After my interview we enjoyed an excellent lunch prepared by Gwen.
I have to say that John and Gwen are two of the nicest people that I have ever met,their success is a credit to them both and much deserved.

Well I had a call abot midday from a reporter/producer from the BBC Breakfast Business News asking if he could come to my work place later that day and interview me about my IVA story and the IVA.co.uk website.Said yes but then wondered how was I going to do the interview with the shop open ?
Anyway the reporter turned up with a camerman at about 3pm and I made them a coffee whilst we had a chat,nice guys and everything seemed fine.I was looking forward to talking up both IVAs and the IVA.co.uk site.I thought as the interview was pre recorded they could edit out any stumbling of words or long pauses so didn’t feel too nervous.
We kicked off but I kept having to stop and serve so in the end I locked the door.
I felt the interview went fairly well,with myself talking for about 30mins.
I was told that it would be shown from 7.50am the next day.
I was up early and out with my stall on the local market but was phoned at about 7.30 by my wife telling me that I had been on the main news ! No mention of the site though
I was then on the main business part of the show with a longer slot but again all mention of the site etc had been edited out.Have to say I felt a little embarrassed by it all and a little angry that no mention of IVA.co.uk was made.
Still getting comments from customers today,most simply say that they saw me on TV,some say well done and a couple of others have said that they didn’t know that I was in financial trouble[i’m not !!]
Let’s hope that next time I can talk about the site and all the good that we do.