Quiz Night Final 2013
The Key elements to a successful (and fun) quiz night are competitiveness, high vigor and a little dash of cunning! All were certainly apparent in the mix at the 2013 ABFA Quiz Final, held at the Über-hip City Centre Metro Bar and Grill, Birmingham.
The 21st November saw ten teams from the ABF industry around the UK test their knowledge against some of the sharpest brains in the industry. Four previous rounds of quiz nights sorted the corn from the chaff and produced ten teams of razor-sharp minds to battle out the final.
The evening was generously sponsored by FRP Advisory and Lionel Blackledge – head of National Asset Based Lending; introduced the evening’s proceedings, along with the charismatic Quiz Master Jack Waley-Cohen. Breaking with tradition, Lionel kicked of the evening by announcing the winners of the ‘Best team name’ award right away. This prize went to, ‘The Good, the Bad & we left Dave Long at home’ as Dave Long was unable to attend and really had been ‘left at home’. Lionel then declared that, "the gloves are off" to add fuel to the competitive spirit and set the tone for the evening.
The opening round was the ‘Blockbuster round’. Ten questions with the first letter of each correct question aptly making up the anagram ‘FORMIDABLE’. Supported by an entertaining mix of visual and audio accompaniments, the teams were kept guessing at every stage with questions such as, What is the name of Paddington Bear’s Aunt in Peru?, Which word, coined by Richard Dawkins in ‘The Selfish Gene’, is now commonly used to refer to a concept on the internet that spreads virally? And, probably the question that caused the most consternation of the evening, How many one pound coins would you need to stack up to be exactly the same height as a two pound coin on its side? Not to be outdone, the venue contributed greatly to the success of the night. Quiz participants were treated to the plush surroundings of the bar and an excellent hot buffet.
By the fourth leg of the quiz, the blitz round – participants were fully immersed in the activities and friendly competitiveness had reached its peak, creating a great atmosphere. This round also produced the most entertaining exclamation of the evening when the answers were announced. The question was: Who replaced Andrew Strauss as England Test cricket captain in 2012? Just as the mixed cries of relief, surprise and exclamation receded after the Quizmaster’s announcement of, “Alistair Cook” a female voice exclaimed, “I did call him Cock though!” very much to the amusement of her team.
After six rounds, the excitement was not over as the scores were very, very close indeed. At the end of the final round, and with just four points separating the top three teams, the winners of the 2014 Quiz Night Final were, There’s no F in Invoice with a total of 90 points. Diamonds Aren’t Forever came a very close second with 87 points and Universally Challenged third with 86 points!
The standard of competition this year was exceptional with just seven points separating the top five teams. The ABFA would like to thank all the teams who took part in the Quiz Night Final, as well as the teams who have participated in quiz nights throughout the year. Particular thanks are extended to FRP Advisory for sponsoring the event and to Jack, the Quiz Master as well as Abbie who had the unenviable job of compiling scores before the next round. We would also like to extend our thanks to Adam and all the staff at Metro Bar and Grill, Birmingham as well as the event photographer, Lia Vittone. Congratulations are in order for this year’s winning team and runners up from last year, There’s no F in Invoice and also to all the teams that made it through to the final.
Click here to view the Quiz Night Final photo gallery.
Click here to view the Republic of Ireland Quiz night photo gallery.
