Singing waiters steal the show at Drapers’ Hall

On Friday 14 November, I attended my first ever event for CanTech International, the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association (MPMA) annual dinner held at Drapers’ Hall in London.

To say I was a tad overwhelmed would be an understatement. Talk about fancy! As a new face to the crowd, walking into a packed hall full of industry veterans dressed to the nines was certainly an experience I won’t forget for a long time. I spent the first hour after my arrival almost in a trance, in awe of the architecture and feeling very much like I had been thrown in the deep end.

Eventually though, dinner was served, and I was seated at Table 16 – right in the corner next to the live band! Their music set the tone for the entire evening, as not long after food was brought out, and then we were all treated to the biggest surprise of the evening –  the West End Singing Waiters.

Despite not being included in the guest list, the singing waiters completely dictated the tone of the evening. What was initially a completely formal event soon transformed into a fun mess of singing and dancing – with singalong pop tracks replacing the brass band entirely. When I learned about this event weeks ago, I had never imagined that this would be the icebreaker! It did a fantastic job of it though, and pleasant conversation persisted long after the waiters had sung their final piece.

As the evening wound to a close, the penultimate speech came from the chairman of the association, Geoff Courtney, in which CanTech International featured (and I hid under the table), and he announced the winner for the 2025 Best in Metal award – going to Emballator for its Fleetwood Colour Perfect paint can. Afterwards, we were treated to standup comedy from speaker Sean Collins who rounded out the evening.

Thank you so much again to the MPMA for our invitation and for allowing me to attend in place of my colleagues. It was definitely a night to remember.

• Matthew Camp (he/him), CanTech International Editorial Assistant
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