Today sees Instanta's answer to Tiger Woods reach his 48th birthday. Yes our northern area Sales manager and golfer extraordinaire Peter Brindle is celebrating today. Peter has spent almost 18 of those 48 years here at Instanta where he started as head of our sheet metal department and progressed through buying into his current sales position. Many readers will know Peter and his great sense of humour which is never more in evidence than in his support of Burnley FC. Married to Linda,Peter is a very proud father to John, Lucy and Katie all of whom are a credit to him. Lucy and Katie have been showered with awards at the local school and Peter will soon have to move to accommodate them all.Peter is looking forward to the CEDABOND workshop in May when he will get the chance to play on the Ryder Cup course. If he repeats his legendary feat of a hole in one he will be the toast of the Celtic Manor. Have a great day Peter.
I mentioned here a few weeks ago that I was concerned that Southport was turning into a ghost town. The Shropshire Star came to the same conclusion and ran a report. Our local spokesman for tourism came up with the preposterous response that only seven shops were closed on the famous Lord St and most of these were charity shops. I therefore got up early this morning and braved freezing conditions to carry out my own survey of the beleaguered street before sending off this disgusted of Tunbridge Wells missive to the letters editor.
"As a resident with grave concerns over the town’s decline towards “Ghost Town” status I have to take issue with Sefton Council Tourism spokesman Lord Ronnnie Fearn “Town Closed –apparently Wed Feb 11th”. It is clear that when our spokesman has his head so far in the sand as to state that “On Lord St just seven shops are shut, mostly charity shops” we have scant chance of recovery. A brisk walk along Lord St would show Lord Fearn that there are 147 commercial premises on the shore side. Of these 23 are currently vacant – none of them charity shops. Of the 108 premises that are shops, 20 are empty and 8 are charity shops –that’s over a quarter.
This brief survey does not take into account the empty monoliths of Woolworths. Lloyds Bank and the Carlton Hotel on the opposite side of the road or the gaps in our other main shopping thoroughfare Chapel St.
Whilst the Shropshire Star was wrong to use Scarisbrick Avenue to illustrate the town’s demise, we have little hope when our leaders are oblivious to the severity of the situation."
Maybe Lord Ronnie was trying to play down the gravity of the position to counter bad publicity. After all it is his job to promote the town. I am all in favour of being upbeat when you can be but you can't spin facts and if you attempt to do so you will simply end up with a great deal of egg on your face. His response has given the Shropshire Star more than sufficient ammunition to escalate the feud.
We went to see "Doubt" starring Philip Seymour Hoffman (above) last night. Great performances all round in what was a very good film.
Big Al the accountant phoned to say that the audited accounts are nearly ready. Stretch it out a bit longer Al and we will get another month's credit.
I read that Iceland (pictured above in happier times)is now experiencing an annual inflation rate of 19%. This follows on from the collapse of their banks and the monetary policies taken to try and counteract the problems. We've had bank collapses here and the government is now implementing a softly softly policy of quantitative easing which is getting little attention. What price 19% inflation here before long? Actually being a borrower rather than a saver, I can't wait.
STOP PRESS
Fantastic News. You can now play our son Paul's game The Colour of Money on the internet. To play click here. If you have a webcam and camera even better. More on this tomorrow.
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