Take A Look At Him Now

Happy Birthday today to big Westlife fan Craig Mercer. Craig, who works in our Engineering Department is 24 and will be celebrating with partner Keely and daughter Amelia. Craig has worked for Instanta for almost six years now after being recommended to us by our factory leader Tony who said that Craig was punctual, teetotal and hard working. Well I suppose one out of three ain't bad and what else are you going to say about your son? Craig has plenty of saving graces including being a keen Liverpool supporter, a very good footballer himself and quite a dab hand at golf. Having survived a terrible car crash a few years ago which left him with a metal plate in his back, it is amazing to see the speed and enthusiasm with which he throws himself around the pitch.His performances at our Christmas Karaoke where he gave us his Westlife repertoire were memorable although by that time of the evening he was indeed flying without wings.Have a great day Craig.



We watched "Britain's Got Talent" last night as we were out on Saturday. I have to say that, having not seen any previous series, this show is starting to look like a triumph of production over content. If you boil the hour and a half long show down, you had a kid who could sing a little bit, a good looking bloke who could play sax, a dance troupe who looked like they might be quite good, a drag belly dancer, a singing parrot that refused to sing and a guy who danced like Michael Jackson but, wait for it, WEARING A DARTH VADER HELMET. Strip away the fantastic editing and the gloriously self deprecating humour of Ant and Dec and the fact is that, if this is the best, Britain clearly hasn't got talent. Thrown together at the end of Blackpool pier, these acts would be playing to empty houses.

Here's something I could watch all day long.Most people grow out of tantrums when they reach five. If my kids had behaved like this they would have been sent to bed early.





Here at Instanta things are ticking over quite nicely. Marion and I are off to the CEDA conference at Carden Park in Chester on Friday. It's always a well organised event but, at our age, it is hard to listen to advice from speakers who are invariably a lot younger than us and who are fired up with all that enthusiasm of youth. In the evening it's an awards dinner with black tie. If there's one thing in life I hate it's formal dress but at least I've got my own dinner suit that gets worn about once a year and, at least if still fits twenty years on.



Tomorrow's match against Arsenal at Anfield is hugely important. I am taking our Operations Director David Wilson who (whisper it) is an Arsenal fan and will probably be the only Arsenal fan on the Kop. I hope he enjoys the spectacle but not the result.

I'm sure that you will have enjoyed today's video so much. Let's see it again with some music.