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Winter sun

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

I can’t believe how cold it is, this week. It’s the absolute definition of the term ‘cold snap’, in my view… sharp and sudden. I think it’s come as a shock because it was so mild in November and December – and for most of January. Until this week, I think I’d only seen frost twice since a whole year ago.

It definitely makes you think about escaping to warmer climes. Neither Anya or I can do that at present, as we’re both dealing with some critical business issues – she at her job, which is still fairly new; and me in my own business, which I’m still developing – but I can understand why people do it if they have some spare time and money.

Apparently, the most popular winter sun destinations are Florida, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and the Caribbean. They’re fairly predictable – but they’re joined by Egypt, Gambia, Goa, Tunisia and Morocco, which are definitely less so. These are all places I’d be happy to visit, but might feel a little confused being in such exotic surroundings in February! I also think it’d be a particularly harsh post-holiday return to normality.

Lifting your spirits in winter doesn’t have to be a temperature-focused exercise, however, as there are lots of UK breaks that can take your mind off how cold it is. It’s also worth remembering that it’s March next month, which signals springtime. I’m really looking forward to heading south to Gloucestershire for the Cheltenham Festival. Fingers crossed the climate will have well and truly warmed up by then…

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Clothes shopping

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Anya is ALREADY planning her outfits for our Gloucestershire trip in March – especially Cheltenham Ladies Day. I’m all for it, as I want her to look nice on my arm, of course… providing she doesn’t want to me to spend ages trekking around shops with her to buy them. I actually quite enjoy shopping, though more so when I’m getting things for myself! But if we take a few joint trips, it should be okay.

Fortunately, the sales are still on, so if we go in the next few weeks, it shouldn’t cost an absolute fortune. The January sales seem to differ hugely between different shops. Some started at midnight on Christmas Day, this time around… and some even before that! I suppose with economic times being tough, retailers are recognising that if they want to shift stock, they have to make people feel that they are getting a good deal.

Clothes shopping during sales can be very stressful, though. Manchester has a lot of great shops – especially department stores – but even the high-end ones are bedlam at this time of year. I really hate going into a shop and finding piles of clothes strewn all over the place and racks of outfits with their hangers all tangled up. It just makes the whole process hard work.

People are so determined to get decent stuff for their money, though, that a lot of the time they just don’t care. That’s especially the case with Ladies Day at the horses. Women go to extremes to look great and match up to celebrities and so on. I’m relieved I just need to get myself a few nice suits.

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What will 2012 bring for business?

Friday, January 6th, 2012

So, January again, eh? It’s so strange to be at the start of another year. It seems about five minutes since we were beginning the 2000s… and here we are, two years into the next decade! Hopefully 2012 will start to see an improvement in the economic troubles of the times and therefore also in business fortunes.

It certainly helps that we have lots of events happening this year. In 2011 we had the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which uplifted the spirits (and pockets) of many… but we also had a lot of turmoil, with unrest around the world and riots in UK cities, including right here in Manchester. Whatever the cause – whether anger at the police, the general financial crisis, or people wanting new trainers and iPads but not wanting to pay for them – it both highlighted and created a lot of bad feeling about the state of our country. But it was good to see people coming together to clear up and get businesses back on track.

This year, the Summer Olympic Games in London is the hottest topic – and will hopefully bring a torrent of tourist trade to the British Isles, as well as some much-needed confidence and cheer to our collective consciousness. It’s amazing that an event only lasting a couple of weeks can create such an enormous fuss, but if it makes people keener to enjoy life and spend money, it can only be a good thing.

Also happening this year is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – celebrating 60 years on the throne – and a new exploration of Mars. Anya and I have our visit to the Cheltenham Festival 2012 coming up, which we’re really looking forward to – but other than that we haven’t made any firm plans, yet. We should probably start looking at the calendar!

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Office Christmas parties

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

As I run my own business (and its relaunched form is in its early days), I don’t really arrange a Christmas do, as such – unless you count Anya and I going out for a nice meal.

I think it’s great for companies to take their staff out and reward them and it’s also nice to spend some time with your workmates that isn’t dominated by computers and deadlines. It does vary, though. I’ve been on some spectacularly bad ones! I think a lot of bosses dread them because they worry that someone (or several people) will enjoy the booze a bit too much and end up being a bit too honest about their views of the workplace. I’ve even heard about fights breaking out.

Providing food definitely seems to help with that, rather than everyone getting stuck into drinks at 5pm and not stopping until 12 hours later. That’s a recipe for disaster. But it can be quite difficult to organise food that everyone is happy with – and menus for groups can be a nightmare. It seems to work best when people either choose their courses in advance or there’s some kind of buffet arrangement.

Anya’s company had theirs last night – quite a classy do, I have to admit. They invited everyone’s partners, which was very generous of them. Not cheap! It’s a more modern way of doing things too, I suppose – takes away that sleazy image of office Christmas parties being all about inappropriate behaviour with people you draw up spreadsheets with. There were a few single people, of course, who were allowed to bring a friend instead – but it definitely makes things a bit less intense.

Who knows… maybe next year I’ll have enough staff to host my own do!

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Family, friends, partner and clients… the annual juggling act

Sunday, December 11th, 2011

Life can be very complicated at Christmas, I’ve found. I’ve got Anya and lots of friends here in Manchester, the parents in Bournemouth… and further friends scattered all over the place. I’d love to see them all, but it’s just not possible.

Anya’s family lives in Scotland (that’s the current place, anyway), so that’s another problem… but she’s planning to invite them down here. I wasn’t too keen at first, but it is mostly her flat, I suppose. And we have spent a lot of time with my parents this year. We’ll probably pop down to Bournemouth at some point, but I think they’ll be fine… they have such a massive network of friends down there. A load of my uncles and aunts are nearby too.

I’ve also got clients to think about – many of whom are having Christmas drinks and mince pie drop-ins that I’ve been invited to. I’m grateful, but it’s so difficult to get around them all! I could use the car, but it’ll spoil the Christmas cheer a little if I can’t drink!

I am looking forward to seeing as many people as possible, though. That’s what makes it truly feel like Christmas, in my mind. Though seeing people does tend to mean you’ll have at least one of those awkward moments when one of you has bought a present and the other hasn’t. I’m having enough trouble as it is thinking of things for family and Anya.

For Anya, I think I might write some Cheltenham Gold Cup odds in a Christmas card and wrap it up like a present, as she’s so excited about the Gloucestershire trip in March! Reminding her about it will take some of the pressure off my other Christmas present choices! Though I’m sure I’ll think of a few more. I am the creative type, after all.

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Things to do in the new year…

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

I know we’re only just into December, but Gary Vine is a man who likes to plan ahead. That’s what gives me the edge in business, I think. I’ve therefore started to plan a few things I want to achieve in the early part of next year.

Number one is recruitment. That really is something that I want to sort out as soon as possible. I learned a few things from my first round of advertising and interviews that I’m keen to put into practice, so I can find a good person to rely on.

The second is enjoying myself and doing new things. Mine and Anya’s planned trip to Gloucestershire is still on track – though I need to start monitoring Cheltenham Gold Cup odds if I want a chance of winning some money on the horses. That really would make it complete! And it wouldn’t look half bad in front of any new business connections I make.

The third is exercise. I feel I’ve let that slip a bit, recently. Anya is really into her gym membership and if she signs me up, she’ll get a bonus and I’ll get a discount. Happy all round. I don’t think she believes I’m serious, but I want to get back into shape – especially after all the food and drink I plan to consume over the festive season!

And fourth… I’d like to build my business even further, of course! The sky is the limit. I need to have a continual focus on business development and see where it takes me – without taking my eye off the ball with regard to my existing work. It’s a difficult balance, but I believe I’m up to the task.

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DIY

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

I had to do some DIY today. I should probably mention up front that generally, do-it-yourself labour isn’t something that Gary Vine does. Some people get a lot of joy from fiddling about with their properties, gardens and cars – but not me, I’m afraid. I usually have far more interesting things to spend my time on, if I’m honest!

But sometimes, it’s just necessary – especially when the significant lady in your life is planning to do it instead. There’s a shelving unit that I bought for my home office and I haven’t had the chance to put it up yet. It’s been leaning against the wall, all boxed up. Anya kept saying I was putting it off because I didn’t know how and I’m lazy, but it’s not that at all – I genuinely haven’t had time. Then, the other day, I walked in and she was sat there unpacking it with an electric drill beside her! Seriously!

I told her straight away to stop being so daft… and so today, here I was. I said I’d do it within two days if she’d promise to leave it alone.

It went okay, actually – the shelves look good. I’m secretly quite glad that I was prompted to get on with it. Anya said I put some of the pieces in the wrong way, which is why there’s chipboard showing instead of smooth wood – but really, it’s hardly the end of the world, is it?

There’s not too much to this DIY stuff really. I don’t know why everyone makes out that it’s so macho. A college friend of mine is an engineer now and everyone thinks he’s so manly and impressive and all that. He’s always talking about things like torque wrenches and hydraulic bolt tensioners. Zzzzzzz. They’re vital to their industry, of course – but hardly a dinner table topic. I always try to steer the conversation towards business strategy instead. He looks at me as though I’ve got two heads.

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Minibreaks

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

Anya said to me the other day that she thinks we need to do more activities together – more ‘quality time’ and that kind of thing. I wasn’t quite sure what she meant, at first, but then she said she was thinking about visiting places.

I’m more of a home-city person, really… I could be happy spending all my time working at my home office and popping out for business lunches – and spending evenings in Manchester’s great restaurants and bars. There are a lot more to choose from than you might think, if you know where to look. Especially in the Northern Quarter! But sometimes it is refreshing to get out into different areas, I suppose. Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire all have loads of interesting places to visit – and Derbyshire and Yorkshire aren’t far away either.

Anya wants to go to a horseracing event. I think it’s because this new job of hers is giving her ideas. She wants an excuse to buy some nice clothes and pose! There could be something in it for me, too, though – events like this can be great for networking and generally raising your business profile. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is on in March 2012, and even though it’s quite a leap from Manchester, my business has a wide reach – I can serve people all over the country.

I’ve heard that Cheltenham is the most well-reputed National Hunt event, so naturally there should be a great calibre of people there… the sort it can be handy to get to know. I think it could actually be quite fun having a few days in Gloucestershire. Or maybe a week. I imagine Anya will get all soppy about the idea of staying in the Cotswolds. I suppose it can’t harm – as long as she lets me have a couple of evenings out in Cheltenham! Apparently they’ve got some great nightspots.

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Post-riot fallout

Friday, August 12th, 2011

Oh no.

After the recent riot I had ironically in my own flat, it seems I may have destroyed my own business! Anya has been missing for days now, and I think looters have stolen all her stuff because I can’t find it anywhere! They even took her passport!

So I have decided to do the only thing I can do when things go wrong – go back to my mum’s house! She lives in Bournemouth, so there is plenty to see and do. If I’m honest though, I’m missing the bright lights and urban sophistication of Starbucks. Do they have any outside of Manchester? I hope so, I need to be creative and that can’t happen without my trademark tomato latte with extra steam and fish juice.

As for Gary Vine Associates, I’m not quite sure what the next move is. I’m not quite oi-vay when it comes to small business employment law – am I insured if I start an ironic riot in my own flat?

It was quite difficult moving back to Bournemouth from Manchester, even if it is just for a short time. For starters, they only seem to have one type of lager here: lager. Secondly, I can’t get onto my wifi connection from Manchester, which is ridiculous as I pay £40 per month for that! I have tried bringing the internet computer with me but it just isn’t working. Lastly, I miss the buzz of the big city. Years and years of history with soulless flats built on top. I love it!

I’m going to spend the next few days chillaxing and considering my future. Business, as a wise man once said, “is a bloody minefield, Tim and you’ve just stood on a whole load of electronic massive bombs, you idiot. YOU’RE SACKED!”

(HRH Alan Sugars!)

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Wednesday laughs

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

As a high-powered businessman with a small company of two, it’s important for me to take off my suit, slap on some mid-range outlet store clothes and let my receding hair down. How do I do this? Simples!!! (Compare the Meerkat LOLboom)

Vikram Yoga
Vikram Yoga is different from regular Yoga because it is run by that guy who played Vikram in Coronation Street. Yeah, this guy…

Vikram Coronation Street

Basically, you all go into a room wearing t-shirts with a big ‘V’ cut off of them and jogging bottoms, then you just sit down but in different ways, but with Vikram from Coronation Street there. Every 20 minutes, to the second, he’ll shout out something like “Dev, it’s my life!” to keep the proles happy. £78.

Driving
I love my car as is, guys, but sometimes it’s good to just rent one for a laugh, you know? You can rent any car you like, take it out for a spin, then drop it back no hassle. It’s like being a child at the nursery school toybox but over 30 years old! Vroom vroom! Check out this sick rental:

carrrr

Food
Last but not least, it’s good to settle down at the end of any long day with a good old scran. “Work, play and food,” that’s what Gary Vine says. “But not just any food,” is what Gary Vine also says. E.g., be fussy and like it. I only eat food beginning with the letter K some days. Other days I’ll only go for yams originating from north-west regions of 3rd world countries. When I’m feeling particularly crazy, I send my skin a big fat WTF?! in the form of a Triple Pancake Burger with extra ham and syrup. It’s little tricks like these that keep me the unpredictable man about town I intentionally try very hard to come accross as!

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