Happy 59th Tony

Here's Tony Lowe from our stores. Today Tony is celebrating his 59th birthday.Tony joined Instanta almost nine years ago after a number of years in the fire service.Very much a family man, Tony, who is married to Janet,has five children Lisa, Steven, Rick, Rob and Kim who range in age from 33 to 18 and this has been a very busy year in the family as three new grandchildren have arrived since he was 58 making four in total.Tony is a keen computer fan and tells me that he is getting the computer game Napoleon Total War for his birthday.He supports Burnley FC (well nobody's perfect).Regular spares customers will know Tony well for his polite and friendly service and I am sure that they will join me in wishing him the very best for today.



It looks like a good game. How things have changed since I first played the computer game Pong which consisted of a couple of white blocks bouncing around a screen. Boy did we feel cool in the pub at 18 playing it all night.



I introduced Chris, David and Nick (some of our new colleagues from Zip) to the staff here yesterday.For once I forgot my camera so I will have to put a photo up next time they visit. The day went extremely well and I think both parties learned a great deal from it. The dust from the merger is just starting to settle. Marion and I are totally relieved to have been able to make the announcement.Several months of clandestine discussions and secret meetings are not easy but we think that the final result will be good for all parties involved.



Here are some of our new Australian owner's team. Bottom left, alongside his son George, is the charismatic and dynamic Michael Crouch AO who founded Zip and who has been heavily involved with me and Marion during our negotiations. Michael has been an excellent person to deal with and we are really looking forward to introducing him to everyone at Instanta. Top left is Michael Lee who we have also met.He is the Chief Operating Officer and Group Finance Director (and a Spurs fan).Also on the top row are Alan Butler Group Director (Sales and Marketing) and Brian Chertkow (Manufacturing Director).We have not met them or George yet but are again looking forward to welcoming them to sunny Southport.

I'll close today with the trailer for Tony's birthday present. It's a long way from Pong.