Christmas Message 2017/2018

Your local accountants Lambert Chapman LLP take a break from their day jobs to present a special, festive edition of The Generation Game! Nice to see you, to see you… NICE!

On behalf of all the Staff and Partners at Lambert Chapman LLP, may we take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful 2018.

In our efforts to raise a smile this Christmas, please share this video with your friends, family and colleagues…

Play video on YouTube

A note from Nick Forsyth:

Following on from our Dads Army video from 2016 was always going to be tough, so I was plying my mind early this year for inspiration. As usual, the build up has seen us all being asked “what’s happening this year?” and so it was handy that I had come up with more than one idea.

A few weeks back, I was at our joint Inheritance Tax seminar with Birkett Long and Nicola Ward asked me what we were up to. “We’ve picked an idea but we haven’t filmed yet,” I advised to which she replied, “picked?”

“Yes, I produced two scripts this year from which to choose” and proceeded to tell her about the 50^th Anniversary Beatles Sgt. Pepper script which received less support. “How were you going to do that?” she asked and so I proceeded to tell her how it would have begun.  “Sounds good” she said, “I would like to see it…”

Having got back to the office, I told Katie who still felt that more people would recognise the alternative script. She was right of course, as Katie usually is when it comes to these decisions, and so we opted to go for a Lambert Chapman version of the TV classic Generation Game, which also suited this year being a tribute to dear old ‘Uncle’ Bruce who of course died in August.

Now, being a Forsyth I’ve been called ‘Bruce’ many times over the years – it’s never permanently stuck, but I fancy most Forsyths have had it applied at one time or another. And then I watched his episode of BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ to discover that his surname wasn’t Forsyth, but Johnson! Who knew?

The thing with being a Forsyth is that whenever I need to provide my surname, I get asked do you have an ‘e’ on the end of it? I can’t count the number of times I have been asked, but if you say “does Bruce have an ‘e’ on his surname?” they immediately say “No” – so why ask me? What they are actually referring to is the name Forsyte which is an altogether different saga! Anyway…

The Generation Game began when I was 9 and in our family, we sat down most weeks to watch the programme. It was a big hit as it was when it returned again in the 1990’s. Whilst both Larry Grayson and Jim Davidson did fine jobs as the host, it was Bruce who everybody remembers for his delivery and now legendary catchphrases.

Choosing it also allowed us to get double value from the £5 we spent in the local charity shop on the dress for our Making Tax Digital videos which Sean and I carefully selected one lunchtime, with the help from shop assistants and customers and it fits John, ahem, Marge like a glove…

Other things to look out for; there’s a carefully placed graphic on the screen that spares any blushes during the ‘bedroom scene’ (hopefully a director’s cut won’t become available!), Nigel breaks his reindeer prop during the ‘rooftop scene’, keep an eye out for a nod to our now retired Partner Chris Harman, keep tabs on the catchphrases and of course – feel free to join in and cause some noise in your office!

We have a new videographer this year in James Garrett from HNE Media Services Ltd who had also filmed our #MTD films earlier in the year. We are really pleased with his results and also thank Katie for her efforts in securing props and liaising with us all on filming and direction.

We really do have a lot of fun making these annual videos – an alternative to the traditional firm Christmas card – and we hope you enjoy watching it.

Merry Christmas!