Heidelberg Castle, Germany - a place where many rare deals have happened

Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the location of the earliest evidence of human life in Europe - the "Heidelberg Man" who lived approximately 1,000,000 years ago (his jaw-bone was discovered in 1907).

During the Nazi regime (1933-1945), Heidelberg was the stronghold of the NSDAP, which was the strongest party in the German elections before 1933.

But on the 6th of April 2009, at a secret location, it has been suggested that a number of industry professionals jointly decided, in these tough times, to share a common goal. Hence, what has since become known as "The pencil agreement", was construed (the following photo shows part of the pact being made).

Tony Hosking (Resource Corp) and Graham Rowlands (NAS) seal the Pencil Agreement.

This historic Heidelberg "meeting" proved that any agreement to new cost saving ventures can often be quite productive. But we question, in this time of high technology, why a "pencil" agreement. Surely these things need to be signed in blood (or at least pen).

Stephen Richards (Secret agent for Amphenol & not shown in the picture), echoed the agreement made although he was slightly less forthcoming with the whole story and insisted they were all "just talking". However, he did suggest there were more pictures to follow. As of yet we have not received any.

Barring all tasteless rumors and tall stories, it is really good to see that there are still plenty of companies in this industry who can enjoy one another's company, share information and comradery (plus cook up rare and intriguing deals). Regardless of the "impending recession", things still look pretty damn healthy on the industry coal face. Cheers guys.

Anybody knowing the real reason for the meeting, please email us and spill the beans.