Leicester’s business community let its hair down to a bit of Madonna, The Specials and The Smiths at a Suits & Vinyl DJ fundraiser, at the Queen of Bradgate pub.
The night, organised by county businessmen Matt Moore and Ian Guyler, raised more than £1,000 for the Leicester Hospitals Charity.
More than 100 bankers, lawyers, accountants and members of the construction, property and design sectors rummaged through their lofts to hunt out some old vinyl for the guest DJs to play.
Matt Moore was joined on the decks by Leicester sports legends George Chuter and Paul Nixon, alongside some of the guys from FourFour DJ Academy in Nottingham and headline DJ Philip George – a platinum selling artist who had a number 2 hit in 2014 with Wish You Were Mine.
Leicester lawyer Richard Osborn, regional director for Excello Law, said: “It was fantastic to see so many music-loving members of the Leicester business community coming together for a great evening at the inaugural Suits & Vinyl event in aid of the Leicester Hospitals Charity Appeal.
“Hopefully it will be the first of many - I still have lots of vinyl to get through!”
Liam Ruffle, a senior manager at Mazars in Meridian Business Park, said: “This was a fantastic event and a very good evening.
“Most importantly it was all for a great cause.
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“It was well attended by the local business community, and I hope it will be a regular event on the calendar going forward.”
Holly Lockley, an associate of Shakespeare Martineau law firm in Leicester, said: “I hadn’t been to anything like this business-wise before in Leicester.
“It was great to catch up with old faces and meet some new ones, listening and bopping away to all those vinyl classics in aid of a great local charity.”
Former Leicester Tigers and England hooker George Chuter even took a turn on the decks.
He said: “I had a cracking evening lacing up some tracks.
“There seemed to be an 80s-heavy theme, which was fine by me as it was great to hear some of the old classics on vinyl. They really do sound different compared to CDs or digital formats.
“As always, it was great to support a fantastic local cause, and a big well-done to Ian Guyler and Matt Moore for coming up with the concept, and carrying it off so successfully.
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“I’ll be scouring the markets for more vinyl in preparation for the next one.”
For both Matt and Ian, Leicester Hospitals Charity has personal resonance.
Matt said: “From my perspective, a number of mine and my wife’s family members have been treated there and so it is a cause literally close to my heart – being a local event supporting a local hospital charity it was great to see so many music loving business friends and colleagues enjoying it.”
Ian said: “I had a wonderful, caring and re-assuring experience in Glenfield Heart Hospital earlier this year having two stents ‘plumbed in’.
“So what better way to say thank you to the staff at Ward 28 Glenfield Heart Hospital than by bringing friends old and new, business colleagues and music together raising much needed funds for them?”