Chris's Blog

New & exclusive home wares, stationery and gifts for summer.

From our press office

Exclusive new and inspiring home ware, stationery and gifts have been created for home and garden by Shruti Designs.

Inspired by nature and the world around us, these new collections make perfect gifts for summer occasions, or simply provide a good reason to treat yourself.

Be a domestic goddess with the best-selling bright sewing box at £14.99

Stylish cushions and throws for the garden from £15.99.

Garden and travel journals from £5.99

Accessories for the home like the best-selling watering can doorstop from £8.99

Eco notebooks, VW camper items and aprons for the master chef in your life.

Buy at selected independent gift boutiques nationwide or direct from Shruti. 

 

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Head First Marketing & Public Relations, Gloucestershire

Get to great

We've been working with Chris Whyatt on the launch and promotion of Get to Great, developing promotional print, video and web

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Head First Marketing & Public Relations, Gloucestershire.

‘No need to cry over spilt milk’ say British inventing duo

From our Press Office

Ok, so a milk spillage probably isn’t something we’d get upset about. But what if the liquid spilled was expensive, harmful, or even toxic – it could be a different story! 

That’s why two brothers from Malvern in Worcestershire have designed and developed the Easy Fill safety spout, an innovative, cost effective spout for domestic, commercial and marine use that prevents spillages from 99% of all cans.

Fuel is increasingly expensive and extremely flammable, which means that spillages are costly, as well as dangerous. The spout’s creators, brothers Richard and Jim George, wanted to create a simple spout that could be attached to any 1 gallon can, and used to dispense petrol and diesel safely, and without spillages.

The spout is also great for pouring other types of liquid; screen wash, cleaning chemicals and even water.

They’ve designed the shape of the spout to ensure that liquid can be poured surge-free, and the simple screw attachment makes it easy to connect, as well as secure. The design also means that you can pour as much, or as little as you need – the spout automatically cuts off the flow when the desired level is reached.

The British tradition of innovative ideas, made famous by inventors like Trevor Baylis and James Dyson, is a real inspiration for the two brothers. Richard commented ‘It’s great to see British inventors challenging conventional design and creating products that are simple but effective. We want to continue this tradition’.

Not only are the designers of this invention British, but the production of the new product has been achieved entirely within the UK – from design to manufacture.

The Easy Fill safety spout costs £4.49. See it in action here.

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Head First Marketing & Public Relations, Gloucestershire

Making a noise about libraries

People feel strongly about libraries, and we're no different.

Google and Wikipedia have usurped many aspects of the reference library, and fiction has been made available in supermarkets for less than the price a bottle of wine, so it's hardly suprising that library usage is declining. But whether people use them or not, try and close one, and there's an outcry.

However, libraries are changing.

We've worked with Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Library Authorities  on a wide range of projects-strategies, research, income generation and new branch openings. We've even hooked them up with amazon via a white box solution (  painted in their corporate colours).

Gloucestershire has a 39 branch network, and David Paynter has done an excellent job of contemporising many of them ( as funding has allowed).

Visit Bishops Cleeve, Dursley, Longlevens or the new library soon to be opened in Cirencester, and you'll see how dusty, dowdy and quiet libraries have been brought into today, with lots of colour, noise, activity and new content and media formats.

You'll find:

- Plasma screens highlighting the latest DVD rentals, or showing sport on Sunday

- Music playing-everything from Handel to Hendrix

- Internet Cafe's with free web access for all for a couple of hours

- Wii gaming areas and Playstation games to borrow

- Baby changing facilities and childrens events

- Free wireless usage for all those with a laptop or itouch

- RFID ( so staff can help customers, not just stamp books)

- The latest best-sellers, and not an old dog eared romance novel in sight

..and consequently the number of visitors to the libraries increasing dramatically

Head First is delighted to be involved with the new Cirencester Library opening this autumn, and be working with Wiltshire on their development plans for 2009 and beyond.

 

 

The new Dursley Library, Glos.

Distinctive branding for Gloucestershire Libraries

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Head First Marketing & Public Relations, Gloucestershire.

Some nice glossy coverage last month ( just a couple of highlights)

Pleased to see some good coverage for our client House of Mosaics last month...

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Head First Marketing & Public Relations, Gloucestershire.

Top performer to raise the curtain for new state-of-the-art venue

From our Press Office

In fact it won’t just be curtains that are raised at Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury’s new £28 million entertainment venue, due to open in Spring 2009. Trans Lyft Lifting Technology, the UK’s top performing provider of lifting solutions, has just been asked to design and build two lifts that will have the capacity to move sets, scenery and equipment weighing up to 12 tonnes!

For the designers of the multi-purpose development in Frankwell, it’s important that the cutting edge design on the outside and luxurious comfort inside should be matched by technologically advanced backstage facilities. The new lifts will allow automatic operation up to a height of three and a half metres. Their advanced design will also enable them to cope with the movement of delicate equipment and scenery on and offstage as the lifts’ positions can be controlled with accuracy to the nearest millimetre, minimising the risk of damage.

The team at Lifting Technology have used their sophisticated scissor lift system to successfully provide lifting solutions for clients and projects throughout the UK, and have recently supplied lifts for another important cultural building – Buxton’s historic opera house. For George Scholes, Managing Director, working on public developments like these is a rewarding experience. ‘It’s great to be able to use the expertise we’ve gained working on schemes in industry and commerce for such exciting arts and community projects’.

He added "The company’s enviable reputation has made it impossible for Willmott Dixon, the main contractor on the development, to deny Lifting Technology this new challenge'.

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Head First Marketing & Public Relations, Gloucestershire.

2008 media campaign for House of Mosaics

In collaboration with Blue Moon we've created a campaign for House of Mosaics that will be appearing in Elle Decoration throughout the year and various other titles, supported by an ongoing PR campaign.

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How many people does it take to lift 128 fridge freezers?

From our Press Office

Thankfully, no one at Comet’s new distribution centre in Skelmersdale lifts such heavy appliances. Instead, Trans Lyft Lifting Technology, a company that specialises in lifting solutions for industry and commerce, designed and built 16 Translyft double decker scissor lifts to do the job for them. Each lift can hold over 6 cubic metres in volume, meaning that together, all 16 can lift the equivalent of 1024 microwaves, 256 washing machines, or 128 fridge freezers.

As Skelmersdale is one of Comet’s biggest and busiest distribution centres in the UK, loading and unloading goods as efficiently as possible is vital. Trans Lyft Lifting Technology worked in partnership with other contractors to provide scissor lift tables that can load and unload from double deck trailers in one rotation. Extra features such as bridging plates, and barriers fitted with sensors to keep the lift secure were also included. These small details ensure that docking is completed with maximum efficiency and safety.
For such a large and complex development, it was important that staff at Lifting Technology were involved from the outset. George Scholes, Managing Director commented ‘We get involved right from the planning stages of projects. We then talk to manufacturing and submit the designs we need and the lift tables are constructed specifically for the specified application’.

Lifting Technology’s expertise and experience in the design, installation and maintenance of quality lifting solutions has been recognised by Comet. The retail giant was so impressed with the finished lifts, that Trans Lyft Lifting Technology has now been asked to work on similar solutions at other sites.

Graeme Garside, Operations Manager at the Skelmersdale Comet Warehouse said, “ Partnering with Trans Lyft Lifting Technology helped improve operating efficiencies and meet all our safety requirments. Overall, they provided a first class design and installation service and continue to service and repair all our Loading Bay equipment. Their fast turnaround minimises downtime in our operation, particularly at peak times ’

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Europe's largest recycling centre to open in West Midlands

From our Press Office

Lawrence's Managing Director David Lawrence discusses plans with Conservative party leader David Cameron at the Kidderminster site.

Family waste management firm Lawrence is opening a state-of-the-art recycling facility in the West Midlands in Summer 2008. At a cost of more than £5 million, covering over 16 acres and aiming to recycle the majority of its waste, the Forge Recycling Centre will be the largest of its kind in Europe.

The centre is on a brownfield site in Kidderminster – a former forge works which will be renovated to create an indoor facility for cleaning and sorting waste and producing reusable materials including metals, plastics, sand and stone. Plans for the centre also include building a viewing platform so that visitors, including school parties, can see the recycling journey, in which something discarded as rubbish is transformed into a product ready to be used again.

Conservative party leader David Cameron, who visited the site last year with Lawrence’s Managing Director David Lawrence commented on the plans and processes, saying ‘It looks very impressive, and to have more recycling of building materials makes perfect sense. An initiative and enterprising scheme like this to recycle building materials can make sure that the gravel, shale, bricks and stones that we need to build new houses can come from recycled sources’

The Forge is the latest chapter in the Lawrence family business success story. Established as a small skip hire company 24 years ago, the business has grown to meet the demands of green consumers and government sustainability strategies to reduce, re-use and recycle waste. Opening the Forge will position the company at the forefront of recycling in Europe.

David Lawrence, Managing Director of Lawrence Recycling & Waste Management, says: “Over the last 20 years, the environmental landscape has shifted dramatically to address the way we use – and dispose of – our non reusable fossil fuels. The Forge Recycling Centre will reduce pressure on overstretched landfill sites, transform more waste into useful materials and help local homes and businesses to cut their carbon footprint.”

Environmental and transport assessments of the site praised the minimal environmental impact of the proposed centre, for recycling waste as near to its place of origin as possible on an existing industrial estate.
Once fully operational, the centre will create up to 100 jobs in an area with high levels of unemployment.

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Head First launches Zerostress spring campaign...

Our Spring campaign for premium German furniture manufacturer Himolla Zerostress launches this week with a website promotion, national door drop, and press campaign.

Working in collaboration with Acumen Partners, and Blue Moon Creative we've created an integrated national promotion for leading Zerostress retailers around the first special edition luxury leather recliner, the White Avon.

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Head First Marketing & PR, Gloucestershire. We get your news into the press.