On the evening of the Thursday 28th of May, over 770 of the industry's finest arrived at the Grosvenor Hotel, Park Lane, London to enjoy a truely remarkable Indian-themed evening at the ABFA Annual Dinner 2009.

The expectations for 2009's Annual Dinner numbers were low, due to recent economic climate. Nevertheless this year the number of attendees again demonstrated how popular this event is and what an important social engagement this event is in the industry's calendar.

The evening began with a Champagne Reception on the balcony of the Great Room where guests were welcomed by the ABFA team and Toastmaster. The balcony was the perfect place to network and gave guests their first view of the wonderful Indian-themed room below where the evening would continue.

Once everyone was seated, Tim Corbett, ABFA Chairman, kicked off the evening with a welcome speech where he mentioned recent financial melt down across Europe and how many of us are finding that our organisations are having to make significant changes. Also there was said that during the year the association has been a prime mover behind the creation of the EU Forum. This was followed by grace from Edward Wilde.

The Indian themed food was delicious, proving the Grosvenor, once again, to be the perfect venue for this prestigious event. During dinner Tim took the stage to introduce a charity raffle, more of that later, but between the main course and the dessert the audience were in for a surprise with a touch of Indian entertainment performed by 'Angel Dancers'. They held everyone's attention and their performance certainly lifted the atmosphere of the evening.

After dinner we held our charity raffle in aid of The Gene Machine, a leukaemia charity founded by Hilary Craft at Regency Factors. We are pleased to announce that over £9,600 was raised on the night and this is going towards the funding of a Research Scientist at the Haematology Department, Manchester Royal Infirmary. We cannot thank you all enough for your generous donations in support of such a worthwhile cause.

Next our after-dinner speaker, TV presenter, impressionist and comedian Jon Culshaw, took to the stage and performed many of his impressions of famous people. His rather quirky humour received great reaction from the audience.

After a final thank you from Tim, it was time for the party to begin and it started in full swing with a great selection of modern and pop hits which encouraged many onto the floor to dance the night away. The party was lively and the music, drinks and dancing went on well into the night.

We hope that all those that attended enjoyed it as much as we did. We look forward to welcoming you again next year at Maurice Craft's Annual Dinner! Details and location to be announced nearer the time.

More photos of this event are available from our photo gallery.