Thank you Michael

No time for blogging yesterday as Michael Crouch came to visit Instanta and take me and Marion out for lunch. I must express my sincere thanks to Michael for taking the time and for travelling so far out of his way to see us. Michael is the Australian owner and founder of the Zip Group which he created over fifty years ago and which he has developed into the runaway success that it is today.

And speaking of runaway success leads me seamlessly to last night's Orange Wednesday offering at the local Vue. With the cinema foyer heaving with Harry Potter fans, we went in the other direction and watched the new Wesley Snipes film "Unstoppable". It's a classic old fashioned disaster movie starting with the introduction of the characters and then quickly throwing them all into the disaster mix. But there's nothing wrong with old fashioned and the film had this viewer on the edge of his seat throughout. It's filmed with great pace and everything about it looks very real which is a refreshing change after the glut of CGI in all the recent blockbusters. If you wanted to be critical you could pick plenty of holes in the film but, if you just want to enjoy yourself,  simply sit back and enjoy 98 minutes of great entertainment. Instead of watching in our staid British silence, we would have loved to see this in an American cinema as I am sure that the showing would have been enlivened even more by the unrestrained,  whooping and cheering that you get in the USA .

Although we don't retire officially until Tuesday, the staff at Instanta are giving me and Marion a send off at a popular local  Chinese restaurant tomorrow evening. We're looking forward to it. It will be very strange attending our last ever Instanta do. Please don't expect any speeches. I'm not sure that we could find the words too easily.

Although Factory Leader Tony Mercer did tell me a story yesterday that would go down well in an after dinner speech. He has saved this for now when we are retiring. Tony is our longest serving employee but tells me that he got the job entirely by accident. It seems that he was playing truant from school when his dad spotted him in Southport. "What are you doing out of school?" asked his dad. Always a quick thinker, Tony spotted the nearby Employment Office and, in a flash, said that he had been given time off to visit the labour exchange and look for a job. Doubting the veracity of Tony's claim, his dad insisted on accompanying him into the office where they saw the Instanta job advertised. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I'll leave you today with an ode to Gillian McKeith.

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.