First, I must state that this is not a shameless plug.
Having noticed that the deadline is approaching for the BPIF/Printing World Excellence Awards, this in turn reminded me about a conversation I had recently with Tony Jones, the chief exec at Pensord. Jones has made the most of his firm’s award-winning status and has used it to good effect for both internal and external marketing purposes.
Yesterday I went along to one of the viewing days for the auction of Alden HenDi equipment.
I started off depressed, not least because Alden’s fancy new facility was itself located on one of those brand new faceless industrial estates that seem to spring up on any field near an A-road. This reinforced my feelings that the powers-that-be running the country won’t be happy until every blade of grass on this island is covered in concrete.
Six months ago I wrote a piece about Goodhead Group, asking if it was the biggest single print investment by a private individual anywhere in the world. Looking at the group’s latest results the answer appears to be a resounding “yes”.
Why should I be surprised when a financially secure chap, approaching 60, and with a pension pot with a transferable value of £3.2m, jacks in the day-to-day grind and heads off to enjoy the fruits of his labours? Because the chap in question is Brian Edwards, and I’ve always assumed that he’d have to be carried out of Lavvy St in a box, that’s why.
I tripped along to the St Ives EGM today expecting at least a frisson of excitement – perhaps a red-faced shareholder berating the board, or at the very least a pertinent question or two from the floor about the terms of the disposal of the problem child that has been the group’s US operations.
Fashion e-tailer ASOS has been in the news again this week, bucking the prevailing retail trend by posting Christmas sales that were up 118%.
The company has no stores, of course, but it has described its customer magazine for top female shoppers as its “shop window”. As such, the magazine, which is published bi-monthly and has a circulation of some 430,000, must be deemed a critical element in its ongoing success. This is of course great news in terms of old and new media coming together in a powerful combination.
Today is apparently Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. How apt that it’s the day I end up saying “farewell then” to Cooper Clegg and its remaining 170 employees.
Photobooks and photo gifts in general have been on my mind of late. Earlier this month I ordered a personalised calendar for the first time, as an impromptu gift for my parents who’d found themselves uncharacteristically calendarless at the start of the year.
I’m typing this on a laptop that has a proliferation of stickers on the back of it saying variously “Made in Japan” “Made in Ireland” and, of course, “Made in China”. The computer mouse is a bit more straightforward, just the one “Made in China” label on that. The same applies to a plethora of other everyday items within easy reach. From fridges to fashion, electronics to egg noodles, the world’s fourth-largest economy really has become the manufacturer of the world.
© MA Business & Leisure Limited 2013. Published by MA Business & Leisure Limited, Jesses Farm, Snow Hill, Dinton, SP3 5HN, a company registered in England and Wales no. 02923699. MA Business & Leisure is part of the Mark Allen Group.