thanks for the help and suggestions Harlan. Your final assumption is
correct - that the cell location differs. It's a bit involved to
explain exactly what i need this for without you seeing the
spreadsheet; to be honest i'm probably making it over complicated in
pursuit of unnecessary flexibility but once you start down the route,
the challenge grips you!

however, i may well replace the named range with a formula as you
suggest - it seems the logical thing to do.

thanks again for all your help, and to everyone else who contributed.

Rob