Virgin Trains East Coast: A Lesson in Distasteful Branding
The test of successful branding hinges on three things; Is it meaningful, is it likeable and is it memorable? Or so Matt Symonds of Fortuna Admissions tells me. I honestly don’t know what makes a brand successful, but as I sit here on a train to King’s Cross from Leeds I can’t help but feel a little unsettled by the Virgin branding that litters the iconic InterCity 225’s that have worked the 393-mile long line skirting the spine of Britain since...
A competitive London events sector shows signs of strength in 2015
By Moya Maxwell, chair, Unique Venues of London There are encouraging signs that 2015 is set to be a buoyant year for private events and corporate hospitality, especially from a resurgent domestic market. A survey conducted amongst Unique Venues of London’s 81 member venues found that that 91 per cent of respondents had an optimistic business outlook for 2015 (up eight per cent on 2013’s results). And many members recording that January was the busiest ever for new event enquiries....
Top 30 Landmarks in the World
By Steve Taggart A list of the Top 30 landmarks in the has been revealed with three British entries coming in the top five. France's Eiffel Tower took the top spot but Big Ben, Stonehenge and the Houses of Parliament took positions three, four and five respectively in a great showing from the British Isles. The poll of 2,000 adults also ranked European gems as being the most iconic in the world with the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and...
Food and Drink Guide To St. Patrick’s Day in London
By Jonathan Hatchman The annual celebration of the Patron Saint Patrick of Ireland will take place on Tuesday March 17th, and as expected, it’s not just Dublin and Belfast that will be offering a plethora of celebratory events to mark the affair. Across London, hundreds of pubs, clubs and restaurants will be partaking. But if joining the masses in Leicester Square’s Wetherspoon’s or Yates’, draped in novelty green hats and spilling pints of Guinness all over the place, isn’t for...
The Gunman – Film Review
By Ellery Nick The jibes had already been circulating that after resurrecting Liam Neeson for 2008’s Taken, director Pierre Morel was once again embroiled in the dark arts - having dug up a new middle-aged cadaver to be put to good use in the bone-crunching world of international espionage and quickly assembled guns. The other question was how would a political animal such a Sean Penn fair in the physically precarious world of an action thriller? We need not have...
Wales v Ireland – Best of enemies
Sport News 24/7 By Ellie Caddick @caddicksport @TLE_Sport This time last week most of us were sure that Ireland v England was going to be the game of the championship. The clash would see the two favourites for the championship go head-to-head and whoever could emerge victorious would be on track for the Grand Slam. Just 24 hours earlier Wales would travel to Paris for what looked like the battle for third place. Would France turn up? Would Wales be...
Dialects announce debut EP details
By Grant Bailey (@GrantDBailey) Escaping a really dire Christmas party - This was the premise under which Conor (guitar), Steve (guitar) and Jonathan (drums) first went into a rehearsal space and made simultaneous loud noises. With material Conor had been writing since his previous band ended the trio began creating fledgling pieces of music that would eventually become the songs that comprise debut EP "LTKLTL”. The addition of bassist Ali happened several months later after Steve had asked him if...
Parliamentary sketch 11th March – Make love not nuclear war
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It was an awful PMQs, but luckily for the members of Parliament, every journalist was outside Jeremy Clarkson’s house. This session might have gone unnoticed, like a Russian submarine slipping past the Farne Islands. Well I did watch PMQs, and it reminded me of splitting-up with your partner. When all hope is lost, but you need to wait a few weeks before the removal van arrives, to pass the time you throw insults at each...
Why not treat Mum to a fresher, brighter look this Mothers’ Day?
By Rosie Wilson of CCF Media Mothers’ Day is just around the corner, and so it’s time for the confused masses to wrack their brains once again. Chocolates? Flowers? You might know her better than anyone, but buying your Mum a non-contrived, thoughtful present that she actually wants can be a bit of a challenge. If you ask most women what’s on their wish-list, anti-ageing and looking their best will appear pretty high up. Even when we look after ourselves,...