The Rolls was due for its service last weekend, so I duly popped along to the dealership and left it for its annual once-over. Okay, I don’t actually own a Rolls Royce – it’s just what I’ve christened my car. The morning had been planned down to the minute and once all the booking-in palaver […]
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Three years ago, two members of our team walked out of the office with a box of branded jotter pads and packets of sweets. It doesn’t sound like much, but they headed off to nearby industrial parks and trading estates with a simple plan … To visit as many businesses as possible, explain in 60 […]
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For some, the first day of Spring is the Vernal Equinox. For others, it’s the meteorological 1st of March. For the equine world, it’s the glorious spectacle of national hunt racing at Cheltenham. But for me, it’s apple tree pruning before my collection of Bardsey, Bramley, Nant Gwrtheyrn and Anglesey Pig Snouts burst into life. […]
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A wet shave is undoubtedly one of life’s great luxuries. And whilst we wouldn’t like to admit it, sourcing the right product is something which should never be rushed. Great time and attention are given over to this daily ritual without which we simply can’t face the day’s many trials and tribulations. After all, can […]
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You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to know that the world can be a dangerous place. Even if you’ve only got half an ear tuned into the news there’s always some alarming development around the globe. Today it’s on the Russian/Ukrainian border. Tomorrow it’ll be somewhere else. But if you really want to experience […]
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Made any New Year’s resolutions? Me neither. Save for one. I’m done with rushing around trying to change the world around me. Stick at it religiously and by the end of the year you feel like a slither of giant alien leeches have sucked the lifeblood out of you. I mean, boy does it take […]
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Marathon runners feel it at around 18 miles. A wall of pain that feels like you’ll never break through it. But one foot at a time, you do. Work can be a bit like that too, sometimes. Last week my right-hand man was off for a well-deserved week away and I hit my 18-mile barrier […]
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Sport is probably as close as it comes to having a national religion. For some, it’s the most important thing in the world. And millions of us engage in it every single day. In the end, it’s tribal loyalty to their club or society … For me, I’ve always marvelled at the powerful lessons sport […]
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If I’d have succumbed to every takeaway promotion during lockdown, I’d have a waistline something close to the circumference of the London Eye. Thankfully, I didn’t, and I don’t. But it’s been hard. Takeaway meals from local pubs and restaurants were one of the great success stories of the pandemic and showed how the more […]
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Let’s be honest, we’ve all done it. With too much to do and not enough time to do it that webinar you signed up for bites the dust. It sounded interesting at the time but right now it feels as attractive as sawing off your right foot. You send your apologies saying that unfortunately, you […]
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For most of us, the loo is a wonderful refuge from life’s struggles. Once we’re locked in, all the horrors of the world are safely locked out … or so we like to think. That’s certainly what Walter Erhart from Graz in Austria thought recently as he settled down for the luxurious experience of one […]
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Euro 2020 might have been dominating the TV schedules recently but there’s something else on the telly which has been doing something quite remarkable. Clarkson’s Farm. Whilst Amazon won’t reveal any viewing figures, all they’ll say is that it’s definitely moved the needle. Management-speak for the numbers have leapt off the graph and are heading […]
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For some, fear is jumping out of a plane for the first time and hoping to heck that the bundle of material strapped to your back is going to open before you hit terminal velocity. For others, it might be potholing and trying to ignore the millions of tons of rock above your head and […]
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It’s best to check first. Who you are sending promotional material to, I mean. And, more importantly, what you are trying to sell to them. Marketeers are always blathering on about how important it is to segment our lists. And I guess we all sort of know what they mean but nothing makes the point […]
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So, the Euros are upon us and whether you are football mad or not, the tournament is sure to bring a much-needed feelgood factor to the nation. Some people think it’s all about the football but there’s an interesting takeaway for all of us in business too. Whilst much of the attention is on Gareth […]
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An unexpected run of eye operations has led to some enforced and unwelcome time away from my desk. And whilst Audible is my trusted companion of choice during any down-time, the telly has provided some light relief – especially when concentration levels fall to the level of a 5-year-old who’s just gorged on a ton […]
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The Pepperoni and Chorizo wood-fired pizza we ordered from a local restaurant recently was lipsmackingly delicious and definitely one to order again. But it very nearly didn’t happen. It had come by recommendation so with the weekend coming up I jumped on to the restaurant’s website and searched high and low – but any mention […]
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Scientists may be able to split the atom over breakfast or explain how much a neutron weighs – even if it is in largely unintelligible language. But they aren’t best known for crafting an adept turn of phrase. But Einstein was different. Not only was he a genius but he understood human behaviour. Never more […]
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Never look a gift horse in the mouth – so the saying goes. But then again, it’s not such a bad idea to give it a bloody good dental check if you get the chance. Not a million miles away from what seems to have been happening to poor AstraZeneca these last few weeks. Agreeing […]
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Albert Einstein once said: ‘If I had one hour to solve a problem and my life depended on finding a solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask. For once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” Our lives may not […]
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If you enjoy the occasional slurp of red wine, you’ll probably know that a glass of Italian Amarone is a wonderful treat. The trouble is that it comes with a rather hefty price tag. Which, given the process of making it, is not surprising. Harvested by hand, the grapes are picked, sorted, and carefully inspected […]
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On the 18th of December, the dashing Count rocketed across the finishing line and into the record books. Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat had just set the first land speed record of 39.24mph and the date was December 1898. And his car? An electric-powered Jeantaud Duc, apparently. Who’d have guessed that EVs were all the rage […]
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After a tiring 12-hour shift, PC John Byrne was looking forward to getting back to the station and clocking off. Just as he thought he could relax his phone buzzed and a message popped up on the screen. One he couldn’t ignore. As the adrenalin surged through his veins, on went the blue lights and […]
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They say there’s nothing new under the sun and they’re probably right. Adverts for 2021 calendars are arriving thick and fast. Big ones, little ones, wide ones, and tall ones – all with one unbreakable rule which I’ll tell you about in a mo. But one caught my eye – waxing lyrical about its amazing […]
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Whether you are a Formula 1 nut or not (I’m not, by the way) you’ve got to admire the way they use data. Because the pointy heads in Formula 1 certainly know how to use it and it’s a lesson which should resonate with anyone serious about the success of their website. The reason this story stands […]
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For over a millennium the great Lighthouse of Alexandria shone out over the Nile Delta. Flames leaping skyward atop its 350-foot stone tower to guide ships into the bustling port of Alexandria. As one of the Seven Wonders of the World it is undoubtedly the most famous lighthouse in antiquity. The world over, lighthouses have […]
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Every week I chat about something which catches my imagination. Something to help you promote your business more effectively and … help you steal a march on the competition. But the chances are that it’s not always about what’s on your mind right now. So, that got me thinking. They say that to get the […]
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Boarding a flight to nowhere and landing right back where you started from isn’t everyone’s idea of fun. Most of us, if truth be told, prefer to land in a different place from where we took-off. And with airlines and their planes Covid-clamped that’s not quite as easy as it used to be. But who […]
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It may be rarely talked about, but the Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the British Museum. It’s more than 2,000 years old but it holds a very valuable lesson to anyone sweating over fresh content for anything from a web page to a new brochure. Created in around 196 BC […]
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Soon after my Monday posts have been broadcast the “out of office” replies come trickling in. They’re brief and business like and completely devoid of any personality, but they’ve been designed to do a job and they do it well. But last week one stood out like a beacon in a sea of grey. It […]
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An email I received just after New Year grabbed my attention right away. I think it was from a guy called Pete, but I can’t be sure. We’d been thinking on and off about how to solve a dilemma and the email which had just pinged into my inbox suggested that he might have an […]
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