E-mail 1 - sent Wednesday 2 January 2008

Subject: CMG wake - The Willow Walk - Friday 29 February 2008

To: (UK) Jonny Andrews; George Argyrides; David Bailey; Steve Baker; Chris Banks; David Bare; Derek Barnby; Martin Barnett; Geoffrey Bedser; Ciaran Bennett; John Benson; Steve Bishop; Sharon Blatchford; Jon Bloom; Kevin Blunsum; Ian Bowen; Bob Brittain; Chris Brown; Dave Brown; Raymond Butt; Alan Butterworth; David Byers; Debbie Campbell-Cooke; Karen Carlile; Stephen Carter; Ian Churchward; Paul Clark; David Clarke; John Clarke; Keith Clarke; Jill Clarkson (née Rowlands); Phil Collomosse; Tony Corner; Andy Cotton; Colin Craig; Susie Craig; Shaun Curtis; Kris Czarnecki; Trevor Davies; Roger Dimmock; Helena Doherty (née Clifford); Richard Dorf; Andy Downie; Tony Dunmore; Mike Dunn; Florence Dwonga; Clare Dyer (née Gidney); Toby Dyer; Dave Emery; Elaine Eustace; Bob Fawcett; Ashley Field; John Figueira; Paul Finch; Howard Fletcher; Roger Foord; Dennis Foster; John Francis; Richard Fullerton; Alan Gardner; Keith Gawler; Christopher Goodchild; John Goode; Gerry Goodright; Andy Gould; Maurice Gray; Norman Green; John Griffiths; Sally Hadley; Christian Hagelsten; Carole Hailey; Sue Harding; Chris Harrison; Simon Harrison; John Hartley; Dominic Hayes; Tony Heath; Chris Hennessy; David Hobbs; Brian Holtham; Tony Hopkins; Martin Houston; Brian Howlett; John Howlett; Christian Hurworth; John Jago; Alan Jenkins; Malcolm John; John Jones; Alan Jopling; Deepak Kandhari; Peter Kember; Jo King; Steve King; Steve Knibbs; Sarah Langley; Graham Law; Frances Lawrence; Kieran Leahy; Graham Legg; Martin Little; Kim Lyle; Jim Mackay; Aidan Magill; Jack Massarano; Peter Mather; Karl Matsell; Stuart Matthew; Andy McCallum; Ken McCarthy; Anne McCartin; Bryan Mills; Sheetal Mistry; Manjeet Mohal; Chris Monro; Roger Montague; Chris Morgan; Mark Mortimer; Alan Moss; John Mulroy; Steve Newman; Jim Nicholas; Aiden O'Brien; Colin Osborn; Robert Osborn; Yvonne Ostensoe; Michael Pace; Graham Palmer; Michelle Palmer; Ken Parker; Andrew Passfield; Nick Peel; Glen Pharoah; Pankaj Popat; Diane Potter (was Luxton); Mike Puttock; Vicky Pyne; Yaelle Ridley; John Rioch; Ian Robinson; Dave Rounds; Mick Sargeant; Laura Scheepers (was Allen); Nick Scholfield; Michelle Seager; John Sharp; Ed Sharpe; Margaret Sidwell; Martin Simmons; Adam Slee; Leigh Smith; Tony Stairmand; Lynn Stapleton; Pete Startup; Marion Stern; Allan Stevens; Richard Summers; Patrick Sunderland; Sue Sunderland (née Grassby); Ian Taylor; Ted Taylor; Simon Thorpe; Tom Tough; Adrian Tunningley; Judy Valentine (née Bennett); Reinalt Vaughan-Williams; Mark Waight; Peter Waller; Brian Walters; Barbara Ward; Dick Warren; Strafford Watson; Greg Webb; Steve Webb; Martin Wheeler; Mike Whitchurch; Ian White; Andy Willingale; Lucy Withnall; Jan Woolf; Richard Wright; Sandra Wright

To: (NL) Manfred Albersen; Piebe Bakker; Gert Jan Balkenende; René Bek; Rolf Bekkering; Gerrit Bonke; Onno Bos; Mimi van Breda Beausar-Lijs; Jacob Bremer; Jack Brits; Roy Broekens; Lisette Broers; Raoul Budding; Peter Collewijn; Marco Deckers; Marco Doorakkers; Johan van Doorn; Frans van Dulst; Richard van Dijk; Peter Engelenberg; Thomas Goebel; Rob van Grieken; Dick Groenenberg; L (Bert) Grootendorst; Ronald van den Haak; Remco de Haan; Albert Hagen; Koen Hamburg; Mike Hayes; Nicole Hazelhoff-Roelfzema; Peter Heldens; Marijke Hendriks; Lourens van Herk; Peter van den Heuvel; Gerard Heij; Sandra Hofmeester; Cees Hogenes; Gert van Huisstede; Mark Huys; Per Jensen; Peter de Jong; Hans Jonker; Rene Katerberg; Evelyn Kelderman; Cisca Kemp; Arie Koster; Sandor Kroon; Misha Lisetsky; Robert Mansour; Jaap S van der Meer; Jacqueline van Meeuwen; Gert Meppelink; Harald van der Meij; Cees Neger; Jos Nieuwenhuizen; Chris Noordam; Gerrit Noorman; Bas Ossewaarde; Carola Persoon; Frits Peters; Koos Piket; Derk Riesthuis; Wim Rimmelzwaan; Frank Roels; Gerard Rooks; Edwin Roos; Tom Rusting; Koen van Rijn; Hugo Schaap; Martijn Schmitz; Arend Schuring; Jan-Mark Slootweg; Fred van der Sluijs; Hans van der Sluijs; Bert Smit; Theo Snijder; Joke Stoop; Cor J M Stutterheim; Ferry Teunisse; Elberti Uiterwaal; Mark Vandervorst; Bart op het Veld; Maarten Vissinga; Dirk van Vliet; Barbara Vollenweider; Richard Voorneveld; Kees de Waard; Wybren van der Wal; Paul Waijers; Jacqueline Wouters; Peter van der Zee; Peter Zuidema; Koos Zwerver

To: (DE) Thomas Asmussen; Udo Bautze; Alexandra Berndt; Dorothea Czirmer ; Burkhard Grün; Marietta Klein; Günther Stolzenberger

To: (FR) Eric d' Hotelans

To: (AUS) Paul Cairns

To: (NZ) Jeremy Hollins; Penelope Osborne

To: (T&T) Barbara Melville (was Foulner)

Hello everyone,

I was attending an excellent lunch just before Christmas and, during the pre-lunch drinks, several of the old CMG lags present were discussing the fact that LogicaCMG is soon to revert to being called just plain old Logica. Most were expressing sadness at the very last vestiges of CMG disappearing and, moreover, surprise that it had taken so long for this to happen (or even that the Logica board - aka Dr Read - had deigned to allow the appellation CMG to be incorporated into the name in the first instance). Anyway, during the discourse, that lovable rogue Tudor Francis accosted me and tried to persuade me that I should organise a wake to honour the old firm’s name. Having thought about it further, reluctantly, I’ve agreed; so here is the invitation.

I thought about holding it in the very first pub in which really vast amounts of ‘PayFact’ computed money was spent - the Bedford in Croydon - but that appears (like CMG) to have been subsumed into the general miasma of history because it no longer exists (are we getting old or are we getting old?) I therefore thought “How about one of the last pubs to be dominated by a truly independent CMG’s staff”: so it’s going to be held at ‘Room 94, Parnell House’ otherwise known as The Willow Walk (for those who don’t know it, it’s at 25 Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1LW see OK, I know, it’s a really boring pub, but it’s the company that counts (no pun intended) and it has a number of advantages: (1) a lot of people already know where it is, (2) it’s a Wetherspoon pub so its beer is a reasonable price, (3) it’s a Wetherspoon pub so there is no loud music, (4) it’s probably big enough that it can accommodate us no matter if 3 or 300+ turn up, (5) there are a number of half reasonable restaurants nearby should people fancy a meal to soak up the beer afterwards (or even before), (6) it’s immediately adjacent to Victoria Station so getting there and home again at a reasonable time shouldn’t be too difficult (but, for some, it still may be - pass me a ‘Post it’ - I’ll explain that on the evening to anyone who doesn’t understand it) and finally, (7) in the unlikely event that any Mainlanders make it across the puddle, it’s only an easy-to-navigate 30 minutes away from Gatwick Airport. [Goed nieuws voor de eventuele Nederlanders die erbij kunnen zijn - zij het wat minder goed nieuws voor mijn portemonnee - om het besluitmakingsproces wat te vergemakkelijken voor jullie, het eerste uur zijn jullie drankjes voor mijn rekening.]

In terms of a date, a Friday seems to be the most popular with those gainfully employed (still the majority - but perhaps only just); principally because there is no need to get up in a rush the following morning - and that answers my earlier question - yes, we are getting old (how could anyone who has experienced a GFC possibly give that as a valid reason). In consequence, I’ve arbitrarily chosen Friday 29 February; being a date that comes only once every four years, so I hope that that makes it memorable.

Now, if you would be so kind, can you do me a couple of favours: (1) please scan the list of names above - where you see names missing (there are literally hundreds) for whom you have a contact and who have had the extreme honour of once being in the employ of CMG (and no matter who - it’s a wake, so let’s bury those hatchets), please let them know about this (and perhaps me also, so that I can chase them) and (2) please confirm to me by return e-mail that you are coming on the night. I intend to issue a list of those who confirm their attendance in order (maybe) to tempt others to come along as well; so, should you have a message for anyone in particular (or everybody in general) to encourage other’s attendance, please include it in your acceptance e-mail. Thank you very much.

Best regards

John