Magic Numbers Brings Magic To Pensioner

When Paul looks back on his career achievements he will always be able to do so in the knowledge that in his TV development work at least he made one pensioner's retirement a very happy one. Sixty nine year old Pamela Mullens was having a quiet night in watching TV when she realised that two of her phone's numbers were included in those generated by ITV's Magic Numbers show. She phoned and was lucky enough to be picked for the final challenge. Answering five questions correctly gave her the opportunity to win £350,000 but she also had the chance to win absolutely nothing. In a tense couple of minutes she picked five of the seven boxes that had money in them and none of the dreaded boxes containing an X and in doing so managed to win an enormous £290,000. We enjoyed the show again and are looking forward to a week on Saturday when we are going to be in the audience.



Here's Operations Director Dave Wilson fresh back from his holidays. On Saturday Dave celebrated his 46th birthday so congratulations from me and everyone else here at Instanta. Dave took his kids on an adventure packed break but his son Jack was a little too adventurous on a mountain bike and ended up spending a couple of days in hospital. Happy to say that after an operation to remove debris from a damaged knee Jack was up and about and he is now fully recovered. But I am sure it's a holiday that he and his dad won't forget quickly.



And here's our factory leader Tony Mercer in his new Citroen car. It's been ten years since we last changed Tony's car so it was about time that he had a new one. Mind you he does so little mileage that ten years of Tony's driving is about three of everyone else's. We gave him a budget and Tony chose the car and negotiated a deal with the local Citroen dealer. Seeing what a good deal he got I might have to ask him to start having a word with some of our suppliers.Hope you enjoy it Tony. In another ten years we'll have a look at a new one for you.



The football season hasn't even started yet but already footballers are all over the news for their typically rubbish behaviour. If it isn't Rooney weeing in the street or ex (and possibly shortly to be re-signed)Liverpool star Peter Crouch who, according to the News Of The World allegedly asked a prostitute to perform a sex act in a taxi and asked the taxi driver to negotiate the fee for him as he couldn't speak Spanish, it's the prima donnas who have been called up to the England squad for this week's friendly and have told Capello that they just can't be bothered. What a game eh! Oozing with class.

Last week I posted a video of a policeman dancing in the street. Here's a guy who thought it might be a good idea to do the same. Perhaps it's not that great an idea.

Keeping It In The Family

We need to organise the office in preparation for Marion's departure in the not too distant future and, as usual, our recruitment process began at home and we asked around at Instanta if anybody was aware of someone looking for an office job. And sure enough someone was and we are delighted to welcome 19 year old Haylie to the office (yes that is the way that she spells it).Those of you who know us well will agree that her face looks familiar and it won't surprise you to hear that Haylie is our Service Manager Max Vidal's daughter. This means that, in Haylie and Tony Lowe's son Rob we now have two second generation Instanta employees in our office. Haylie is being trained in all areas of the office and we are sure that she will be a great addition to the company. She tells me that her hobby is shopping. Let's hope that we reach all our bonus targets then.



Here's a man who has hit his targets. Operations Director Dave Wilson has managed to achieve WRAS accreditation once again for our counter top and wall mounted boilers. Despite the hurdles getting ever harder to climb, Dave has climbed them and we have certificates that are valid for five years. If you need details, the DB2000 and the CT Range of boilers are covered until 8 June 2015 by certificate number 1006039. The wall mounted models including WM and WA boilers are valid to the same date under certificate 1006040. Well done Dave. I know how hard a job that was.



One position that we couldn't keep within the Instanta family is that of our new Southern Area Sales Manager. I am nearing the end of the recruitment process now and have been carrying out brief telephone interviews over the last couple of days. Almost all the candidates have phoned now and I am waiting for just a couple more. I have been impressed. They all sounded very pleasant and capable and it's going to be difficult to choose. Fortunately our HR department has a psychometric testing procedure that will assist us in drawing up a shortlist and I look forward to meeting candidates who do well in this very soon.


I have been very selective in my World Cup viewing so far and have only watched the dire England game and the lively Germany Australia match but I have to watch the Brazilians tonight. Ever since they sprang into World consciousness in Mexico and our screens exploded with colour for the first time (we had to go to the next door neighbours as we only had black and white)in 1970 I have awaited their first match with anticipation. I have to say that everything has been a let down since those halcyon days forty years ago but I still live in hope and expect to see a football masterclass tonight. My World Cup gambling fund is almost dry as New Zealand's plucky draw at lunchtime today took me by surprise. Never mind I've still got a bet on Germany and an outside bet on Chile. And as for vuvulzuelas. This blog is officially a vuvulzuela free zone. We've heard enough about them. We've heard them enough.

I'll leave to day with a song for Instanta