Bert
Bucknall – A True Professional
5th February 1917 - 23rd March
2005
A
name that should be familiar to everyone with any connection to
Housing Finance, Bert Bucknall died in March after a short illness.
Bert’s career began in the car industry of the Midlands in
1933, but he soon moved to local government, and after an interruption
for World War II, qualified as an accountant and his career as
a Local Authority Treasurer took him from his home town of Bedworth,
through Irlam and Ebbw Vale to Dorking (later Mole Valley) up until
his retirement in 1982. But that was only the first part of his
career, he became a Consultant to a City money-broking firm and
has remained a key member of the Beha Williams Norman Ltd team
up to now, with “Bert’s Briefing Notes” becoming
an institution amongst BWNL’s client base.
Throughout his career, Bert specialised in housing finance, as an advisor to the local authority associations, as CIPFA spokesperson on the issue, as lecturer and speaker, as columnist (for Local Government Chronicle) and as author / editor of the two editions of “Housing Finance”. From 1982 to 1992 he served as a Board Member and Chairman of the Finance Committee of Hanover Housing Association and he contributed his skills to local charities and organisations with his usual diligence and professionalism.
Everyone who knew Bert will have fond memories of him, he had the rare gift of always being kind and generous with his time, whatever the pressures on him. He always remembered names and connections and built a network of friendships all over the country. Everyone who worked for him admired him and liked him. He could dissect the latest law, regulation or circular and make it readily understandable.
John Beha, who worked closely with him for the last 18 years, remembers him as “Certainly the nicest person I ever met in my professional career, but also one of the sharpest minds. I will always remember what he has taught me and I know that is true of hundreds of people up and down the country whose professional and personal lives he has touched. We will all miss him”
Throughout his career, Bert specialised in housing finance, as an advisor to the local authority associations, as CIPFA spokesperson on the issue, as lecturer and speaker, as columnist (for Local Government Chronicle) and as author / editor of the two editions of “Housing Finance”. From 1982 to 1992 he served as a Board Member and Chairman of the Finance Committee of Hanover Housing Association and he contributed his skills to local charities and organisations with his usual diligence and professionalism.
Everyone who knew Bert will have fond memories of him, he had the rare gift of always being kind and generous with his time, whatever the pressures on him. He always remembered names and connections and built a network of friendships all over the country. Everyone who worked for him admired him and liked him. He could dissect the latest law, regulation or circular and make it readily understandable.
John Beha, who worked closely with him for the last 18 years, remembers him as “Certainly the nicest person I ever met in my professional career, but also one of the sharpest minds. I will always remember what he has taught me and I know that is true of hundreds of people up and down the country whose professional and personal lives he has touched. We will all miss him”