Surely this program should be renamed! Channel 5 has really pushed the boat out this year! The Celebrity Big Brother house is jam-packed full of weirdos and wannabes with a very light splattering of genuine celebrities. Among the lineup is Frankie Cocozza who is more famed for his illicit drug taking and promiscuity than his lack of singing talent and Natasha Giggs who has achieved ‘celebrity status’ for having an 8 year extra marital affair with her husband’s brother! Alongside a couple of playboy bunny twins, X Factor rejects and a couple of glamour models for good measure. It is embarrassing to think that Britain craves and relishes this kind of down market entertainment.

I suppose it is a ‘guilty pleasure’ for the 3.5 million viewers who have chosen to tune in and I would also applaud the original innovation of this game show, but it seems Channel 5 are really scraping the barrel with the motley crew that will be reaping the rewards from their ill gotten gains. I do not sit on the moral high ground, but it just niggles me to think that such wannabe’s can actually be given such TV coverage.

Take Natasha Giggs; a woman who had an 8 year affair with Manchester United Super Star Ryan Giggs, although married to his brother and then sold her story to the highest bidder before actually confessing her fornication’s to her husband,; then jetting off on holiday, whilst her Mother was left to break the bad news in the form of The News of The World! Her family must be so proud of her rise to fame and ‘celebritydom’! In my eyes Giggs would have been much better off booking a high class Manchester Escort, where discretion is guaranteed!

It’s not that I’m against a gaggle of B, C or D list celebrities making fools of themselves on TV, it’s just I don’t think that such negative role models should be given the opportunity to achieve success based solely on their exploits. However, we do all love a bit of gossip and I must admit I am looking forward to whatever beans may be spilled!

Miss Jones- Manchester

Men and money is the simple answer for the majority of women. Health and wealth are in a battle with each other when it comes to breasts implants; money is singing and dancing all the way to the bank, a man’s bank account may I add. Catching a wealthy man means catching his eye and big breasts which are overtly defying gravity can be the starting bloc for some fillies, would you believe? If you are a beautiful woman and have a body to die for, (as the old saying goes) in 2011 and subsequent years women paid the price for their decision in enhancing their natural assets, both financially and jeopardising their health, with the sub standard French designer silicon which was used. Breasts implants were designed by men for men; and it is the women who pick up the tab.  Can it be that in the 21^st century women have been duped into believing that false breasts are really what THEY want? Or did the male species need escorting into a restaurant by a pair of breasts with a women attached to them?

Creating a huge demand for a service or product is a real money spinner if the margins are right. Then of course the clinic will go even further and offer credit facilities through a third party, yet even more income for the surgeons and the clinic to entice women to purchase these whoppers. Obviously, these credit services are competitive with the charges of a bank … I think not.

So Ladies, you were perfect all along. Were you pressured by the mass media and your peers? Still, the final decision was yours…… wasn’t it? I’m sure 40,000 women could not have been fooled by us mere men. There you have it, a total sum of lets say £6,000 for Breasts implants and the French product manufacturers have gone bust with a meagre £2.4000000 of your money. However, I am sure Nicolas Sarkozy will put the world to rights similar to his achievements within the European Union.  Have women been PIP at the post by the megalomania of the male gender again? Not me, I am perfect, so say all
the women in my life.

I. Balls, Manchester

Amy Winehouse – what can I say!? She was a phenomenally talented, hugely unique and creative singer/songwriter and her death has jolted millions. I remember being in absolute awe when I saw her perform at Manchester Academy; she was a truly amazing singer who collaborated soul and jazz and do-wop into an extraordinarily special contemporary sound. It saddens me to think that this gorgeous and talented young woman experienced such tragedy and could not be helped to fight her internal demons; it has been said that Amy suffered from manic depression and bi-polar disorder and refused to accept prescriptive medication to combat this illness, in fear that it would dampen or kill her creativity and so she chose to self medicate in the form of highly addictive drugs and alcohol. Yes, she received some bad press relating to some shambolic stage appearances and yes, there were fights and seriously controversial material posted in our newspapers; but this woman should have been taken better care of in my view; at the tender age of 27, she has joined the exclusive company of  iconic artists such as Curt Cobain, Janice Joplin, Jim Morrisson and jimi Hendrix, who all suffered from mental illness and related drug abuse and subsequently died at the age of 27 also. As one of her fans, I have witnessed a tragic decline, leading to the untimely death of a legendary soul singer. Amy, your life was full of sweet sorrow, but you will live on in the hearts of your family, friends and fans and your music will live on for decades and decades. Peace be with you Amy Winehouse. x

Another year at Tatton ended in glorious sunshine and thousands of flower lovers flocked to the Exclusive event. On arrival on Sunday morning we expected the best of the five day event. Being based in the Country Living marquee we were surrounded by clothing, jewellery and other niceties to temp us into spending our well earnt and less abundant spare cash, but the flower show is of course all about the great outdoors and how to keep our lives at one with nature and celebrate the fabulous variety of plants now available to keep our gardens colourful and green.

The main focal point for me was the garden designers. They are undoubtedly artists in their own right all using a variety of textures and colours in their designs and a fabulously large amount of recycled materials are now widely used for their structures. Metals. woods and water features change the way we use our space now, making our gardens the most relaxing place in extended living spaces. The garden flows freely from outside to in and inspires us to look after these outdoor spaces and keep them unique to our individualism as a human being. Hard work it may be but so rewarding to see the end result whether it be a large garden in Cheshire or an inner city yard in Manchester.

The gold winner in garden design really was a cut above the rest however, and on so many different levels. Just talking about the inspiration and concept brought tears to many eyes and so unbelievably thought provoking and still very shocking 17 years after the story started. The garden was designed by Bill Butterworth and symbolises the story of Agnes who escaped the genocide which happened in Rwanda in the not so distant past. She, at the age of seven fled the Hutu, as more than one million Tutsi we literally butchered all around her. Bodies lay piled high in the streets and clothing and shoes were all that was left of the rotting corpses after many days of the atrocities.

This garden takes you through her journey. She escaped the culling, loosing her family and ran to the only place she could. It was escaping one danger to another as she ran into the jungle of the Congo, where she ran for seven years from the militias. She was eventually rescued by the Red Cross and brought to England. As many Rwandans she has been through so much and is looking for her ‘Promised Land’.

The garden works on so many levels provoking thought and increasing awareness. It is an amazing installation taking you through the impression of the jungle, the genocide and on to the ‘Promised Land’. It incorporates poetry and screens and photographs and totally deserves its gold medal.

The garden was designed for SURF Survivors Fund who works to improve the lives of Rwandan genocide survivors. The garden has raised awareness of The Design CIC, a company who provide a unique environmental design service for clients with funds and in turn the profits go the charities without funds. The ideas and concepts are obviously amazing and work outstanding. They sum up surely how we should be living our lives. We can surround ourselves with nice things inside and out but there is a bigger world out there that could do with much support and here you get people who love what they do, putting something back. They get my vote and it is commendable to see in an unstable world. The Flower Show is much more spiritual and soulful than it is given credit for. Can it help you down the road to inner peace? Well it can make it a beautiful landscape to travel through to get there.

Started with a £500 birthday gift 40 years ago “Mulberry” was valued at £1Billion last week. The designer “Brand” loved by celebrities the label moves in exclusive company, saw its founder Roger Saul removed from the boardroom in 2003. The boardroom coup engineered by Singaporean billionaire Christina Ong. Having purchased 42% of the Mulberry shares Ong called a shareholders extraordinary meeting with the result that Saul had to step down as Chairman of the company he created. The following year he sold the remainder of his shares and retreated to Sharpham Park, a 100 year old deer park and farm in Somerset.

The family business included Rogers mother as a sleeping partner. She was good at managing people and kept an eye on quality control. Dad helped out with budgets and sourcing leather. Sister Elizabeth designed the company emblem which is known throughout the world. Mulberry was named after the old tree planted in the grounds of Rogers old school. Originally buying belts from hippies and selling them on to High street fashion brands. Buying leather in Bermondsey London, Roger began making belts on the families kitchen table. Using heavy saddle leather to create the brand Le Style Anglais the company clicked as a brand. The next decade saw the brand become one of the leading accessory labels. With demand for his products throughout the UK. London and Manchester became important domestic markets. America emerged as the leading market accounting for over 40% of the turnover. In 1980 the company was awarded the Queens Award for Export, in 1992 Roger was voted British Classic Designer of the Year. The downturn in business in 2000 took Mulberry into partnership with “Chalice” the company owned by Ong. An ill fated partnership for Saul. Mulberry has gone from strength to strength last week’s valuation a testament to Ongs continued leadership.

As for the man who lost it all Roger Saul he now runs the Charlton House Hotel in Shepton Mallet described by Hip Hotels as one of the best 25 hotels in the world.

What is it with hackers? They seem to be everywhere, phones and servers for the internet are being infiltrated causing information to be stolen that belongs to the general public but alas also blue chip companies and government departments. Is it because the algorithms for these servers are not as intellectually protected as they should be?

Computer hackers are on the increase and the public should be aware that giving personal details and their credit card information to companies over the internet may ultimately cause their details being stolen. So beware and be cautious when surfing the net it is a place where devils hang out to profiteer personally. Having said that, a rather large company in America, namely Booz Allen Hamilton has recently been hacked. Could this happen in the city of London or indeed any one of the provincial cities such as Manchester? There have been many high profile relocations to Manchester city centre and its surrounding areas; one example is the BBC who has now secured plush offices on the edge of the city, Salford Quays, aptly now called Media City. Let us hope that these large companies do not have their files affected or their information stolen.

The lesson to learn perhaps is that algorithms which encrypt data should be more sophisticated to stop the nasty minds out in cyberspace cracking their code .Now what do most of the general public know of algorithms? Very little I presume however in the not too distant future it maybe come apparent that knowledge really is power and the teaching of theses codes will become more prevalent in primary and secondary schools not just universities. Let us hope so, it is for the benefit of us. Cyberspace is a complicated place and one that will become very familiar to all as we become more dependent on computers. Watch this space or should I say cyberspace?

The weekend is here in Manchester and the city is a hustle and bustle.

Friday has arrived at last in Manchester! The office finished early, 7pm, and weary young people look forward to 2 days of release. The office team and all the sales staff have been working relentlessly to get to page 1 on Google. It has been hell. Will we ever get there? I am sure all SEO companies must feel the same with thousands of clients wanting the same thing.  But we are not an SEO company, we are little and have a great business that worked when we could advertise in print. Those days are gone; we no longer pay a fortune to the Manchester Evening News for advertising, we now have algorithms to conquer. Perhaps one day they will be my friend.

1=ti=t’i+OI-1=2-1… How can I make this my friend? I am a sales person and I have met thousands of different types of people whom I have had to gel with. Never in a million years did I think that I would meet something that is a universe away from my life. Could I ever feel charisma with an algorithm? The choice is not mine.

This little company has experienced many SEO companies, all with their own agenda. And why shouldn’t they feather their own nest, its business at the end of the day. However when a company employs the services of an SEO company it puts its faith in the lap of the Gods, it trusts. Now in business that is the fatal flaw. People who take risks are business people; they fall by the sword, but only their sword.

This very small team in Manchester tonight got to page 1 on Google. A million tears have been cried, a thousand tempers have been lost, faith was faltering, broken backs have had to learn to walk again…lots of families thought they had lost everything and still we kept on going. No SEO company, no knowledge did we have, we have spent long and lonely hours adhering to the rules of white hat, something we have never faltered from. Mr. Cutts, there is no video we have not watched and hung onto your every word, there are no books we have not read, 25 hours a day have been spent on trying  just trying… and today it happened. A team in Manchester tonight are happy, in fact ecstatic, young people have become old, on this very special day I hope they find their youth again .Mr. Matt Cutts, I hope one day you come to Manchester, we have a thousand questions with no answers, and there is nobody else to trust.

A.Company. That got to No.1 without a SEO company!

Summertime and the living is easy in Manchester.

Manchester city centre is a fabulous place to work and live. Apartments span through out the very heart of the city. However, it has taken me 5 months to find a place I can call home. Sure there are those fabulous penthouses that just ooze opulence and unfortunately for me they reflect the highest of prices. I viewed a most outstanding residence in the heart of Manchester city centre, Spinning fields, and was somewhat astounded when informed it was on offer at £7,000 per calendar month!! Now daddy offered to help but stupidly I refused his most kind offer. I qualified from Oxford last year and was determined to stand on my own two feet. How I wish I had swallowed my pride and let mummy persuade me to accept daddy’s offer until I started earning enough to pay my own way.

Alas, I was lucky enough to share a rather darling of a house in Wilmslow; my chum from University has been relocated to fabulous Manchester so he was ever so kind to let me occupy his pad for a little while.  How can I ever pay him back? I have managed to save a good deposit and have now have a spectacular apartment at the Left Bank, exactly where I wanted to be. Work is at the corporate headquarters in The Square at Spinning fields so everything is literally on my door step. I have all the wacky and wonderful wine bars embracing my little piece of heaven and restaurants spilling out on every corner of Manchester. I just love all the night clubs that have the company of actors, the sporting fraternity and the professional jet set, such exclusive company.

So my decision to relocate to Manchester has proven to be a major success not only in my working life but also in my new social sector. Yes it does rain quite a lot in Manchester that I cannot dispute but the nature and kindness of the fabulous Mancunians is just second to none. Being a banker in these times of austerity can be a little unnerving in certain environments especially for a girl from Kent, however, finding this most beautiful bijou apartment has been a spectacular piece of luck.. A kind thank you I think to the very professional gentlemen, whose estate agents just made it all happen rather quickly in the end, James you are a gent. Manchester has now become my home and it is everything I hoped it would be and more. If there is anybody out there deliberating a move to the trendy city of Manchester then do please take my word for it, it will be a move you shall never regret I can assure you.

Katie@Spinningfields/Manchester.

Stories in comics which include The Sun seem to be running at a parallel today. Which is the fantasy? I ask myself.  Muscles are flexing at the M.E.N Arena as they are at the Home Affairs Committee in London. The only character missing in Manchester today is Wonder Woman Rebekah Brooks as she is standing by her man Rupert Murdoch and therefore we count our blessings in Manchester.

Undoubtedly Rupert will be arriving at Gotham City, sorry, I mean London in his proverbial Bat mobile and surely will be somewhat apprehensive about the questions today by MP’s on the subject of phone hacking by Wonder Woman’s minions at her paper The News of The World.

Superman, Mr. Cameron has cut his visit short in South Africa and will arrive back with his exclusive chums, Batman, Robin, Wonder woman and the unforgettable Andy Coulson, alias, The Joker, to win the day for News International perhaps?

Keep following this story through out the day to see how the story of villains and the Good Guys unfold.

There are more questions than answers….. unfortunately.

“Most humble day of my life”, says Mr. Rupert Murdoch. The media mogul genuinely seemed sorry for the actions of the people around his business. The man in question took his eye off the ball, did his handover to his son catch him out or did this strong and powerful man of yesteryear just get older? At 80 years old and with a wife half his age he must wake up every morning upright and smiling. Today was different, and it is often said that real life is far more interesting than fantasy. It certainly was for the whole world looking on at this saga. No better story has the News of the World written than the one that unfolded today on its owner.

Mr. Rupert Murdoch has led a full and interesting life and he now has the opportunity to put things right for the people he and his company have taken advantage of.  There are many and Exclusive Company is just one of them. Can a business get too big to control for one person? It seems so.

I am sure a man of this stature will endeavour to right the wrongs. One thing that is apparent to all is that the back door is not for the lowly. In fact it appears the back door is where the powerful are infiltrated. The question to be asked is, “Does the man who is seen to run a country really the man in control?” I think not. Like many others before him, David Cameron is just another power crazed individual who has never really won a race in his life. The people in control are very rarely seen, their reward is not fame and their names will not be written in history books. Their reward is self satisfaction and vanity is not a prerequisite.  

I. Balls. Manchester

Will David Cameron be attending the Annual Conservative Conference in Manchester later this year? Will Nick Clegg step into Cameron’s shoes and what designer shoes they are! They dance with News International owner Mr. Rupert Murdoch and enjoy a spin with Rebekah Brooks. With profits at BSkyB reaching nearly 1billion pounds it should be the best party ever thrown in the city centre of Manchester.

Although Mr. Murdoch only owns 39% of British Sky Broadcasting, (Sky to the lay man); it leaves me wondering who owns the majority share of 61%. There are approximately 10 million Sky customers all waiting to be influenced by the mogul himself, obviously after chatting through a few minor details for the people of Great Britain with David and maybe also the Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. If Murdoch for the sake of plurality has to choose between his papers, The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times has a precedent already been set with The News of the World? For the sake of Murdoch’s beloved Sky and total ownership of it, the future of these aforementioned papers looks bleak.

The media empire mingling with government has to come to an end for the sake of democracy. Is that not what millions of men died for in WW1 and WW11? So let us all hope that the Competition Commission does the right thing and decides against the Murdoch dynasty taking full ownership of BSkyB. Mr. Cameron will be left wishing he had decided to win the election on merit rather than the backing of his chum… now who could that be? Who would have thought that a man being educated at the most prestigious Eton and then going onto Oxford University could be so vain as to think that the British people would not find him out. There is a saying, “You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time”… especially the Great people of Great Britain.

The party in Manchester will no doubt be conservative this year and be attended by such exclusive company, however my opinion is that the clever Cameron will have lost his clout and will not be seen in Manchester in October this year or indeed any year to come.