Latest news
Good ads never die as long as they surprise you
When I’m not PR-ing, I work with Louise Dyer, founder of Dart Design, as a brand consultant. I love it, because I love the whole process of branding. And that started at Ogilvy & Mather, a great ad agency, my first job, and where I stayed for 10 years, it was THAT amazing. Promoting, […]
Good things come in small packages!
Well I wouldn’t exactly call a domestic boiler a “small package” but what would any of us do without a boiler to keep our homes warm and our water hot? (Well, if you’ve ever had your boiler break down during the coldest snap, you do know.) Recently Intergas Heating, a Dutch boiler company, has been […]
Ultimate multi-tasking
The East Anglian Daily Times ran my article on what some of us do when the going gets tough. I’ve reproduced it here for you: As single mum of three teenage kids, one at Uni, two about to go, and still paying off a huge mortgage, job insecurity was the last thing I needed. Then […]
Sticks and stones
Whoever said “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me” didn’t really understand how the world works. I’ll never condone violence, but today, thanks to the ease with which anyone can post an unkind remark or wage an unrelenting bullying campaign, thousands of people can behave in the most appallingly violent way. […]
Oscar winners and losers
We all know it’s the winning that counts not the taking part, so I can understand the disappointment that some actors must be feeling right now. Worthy winners don’t usually win, but this year I think there must be few people who could argue that any bad decisions have been made – apart from the […]
The culture of a company: it can make or break you
The news of Rod McKenzie’s departure from the BBC isn’t so much a surprise as a shock. The shock is that action was finally taken. That so many people felt under such threat for so long, complained and absolutely nothing was done about it, speaks volumes about the culture still well-entrenched at this bastion of […]
Minds are like parachutes – they only function when open
As we’re entering the season of good will everyone is swiftly becoming overtaken by Christmas ads, Christmas card lists, presents lists, shopping lists, and just more lists really. And, if you’ve got children, the race to reach the bottom of those lists becomes that little bit more frenzied. The next three weeks will be full […]
If you want to save money this winter, fill your freezer with cardboard
It’s Energy Saving Week soon (21-25 October), and that’s roughly when I start wishing I’d taken care of all those draughty problems in my behemoth of a home during those long hot summer months. I really can do little to warm it up as it’s a listed building, which doesn’t mean it can’t be warm […]
Why the UK should take tips from the German car industry
The UK car industry was once one of Germany’s biggest competitors; now it has become one of its biggest assets, says author Dominic Sandbrook. How did Germany accelerate away? Forty years ago, Germany’s biggest carmakers were putting the finishing touches to a product that would change their image forever. The Volkswagen Golf is one of […]
If you really want to help your kids with their homework, you need to do yours first
Every parent, irrespective of their age, will have lent a hand with their children’s homework. None of us saw this as meddling did we? We wanted to be involved, help their understanding and, possibly, make sure they were at least as good as the best or better. When my daughter was 11 she had to […]
