The Rabbit Guide bucks trend with escalating value despite recession
Dec 24 2008 By John Bright
News reaches me Rob Blyth, winner of a bottle of Champagne and a brand new Rabbit Guide to Birmingham (the independent guide book produced by Charles Smith and David Clarke) was so delighted with his success at the recent launch he took it to bed with him.
Instead of the wife?
No, apparently she was there too.
But my informant was less than clear as to whether the bottle of Champagne accompanied them.
Now that would have been stylish.
Meanwhile, Alas Clarke and Smith (yes, there’s a sort of thin one and a sort of fat one; or should that be two fat ones) have been busy promoting the sales of the thing – with the news that first edition copies are being advertised on collectable book store websites.
Apparently, the going rate for one in good condition is £25 – compared to its original cost of £9.95.
“House values have plummeted; stock prices plunged – but the Rabbit Guide Index has gone up a whopping 150 per cent. Where else can you get such a great return?” goes the lads’ line.
Stretching it a bit, I think.
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We all saunter round to Llewela Bailey’s farewell bash.
And jolly good it was too.
Held at The Fountain pub at Cheapside in Birmingham. Beer and curry from 6pm onwards.
That’s Bright’s sort of bash.
The girl has departed from Central TV after 20 years’ sterling service.
We shall miss her. Indeed the whole West Midlands will miss her.
But her departure is best put in her own words …
“It only seems like yesterday I adjusted the shoulder pads, ran a comb through my bubble perm, and entered the factory gates of Central TV. The memories, twenty years on are glorious. I remember a time when camera crews were just that and the standby pile involved a man called Dennis on red alert. There were moments of fun, frolics and laughter, with the downers – usually when the social bar was shut.
“I remember sharing late shift tuck with a boyish Mike Blair and being introduced to Bob (Warman) when he was a ladies’ man. Two decades later it’s a blur of changing sets, hairstyles and ‘yes indeedys’.
“I’ve loved every single minute of it but the time has come to hang up my earpiece and sign off before I turn into the office crone.” Surely not! And the party went off “in true Bailey style (yes, I was once that party girl)”.
Hurrah for the party girl and best wishes for the future.
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Our Man in Samui
In one of the more ironical tales reaching my desk this year, I understand PricewaterhouseCoopers’ global marketing chap Nick Venning was marooned on holiday in the Gulf of Thailand recently.
Being used to jumping jets at a moment’s notice, how frustrating for him!
However, finally managing to escape via Singapore (and conducting a midnight conference call from Changi airport transit lounge en route) our erstwhile Robinson Crusoe reached Heathrow at 5.55am on a Friday morning to be at his desk in Birmingham shortly after 9am. Such dedication typical of Birmingham business people of course!
The only problem is Nick arrives at the office dressed in cream coloured linen jacket, short sleeved shirt and two-toned brown sandals (without socks).
The security staff at PwC are rumoured to have recorded Graham Greene’s Man from Havana had entered the building!
I understand later that day Nick was seen at the St Basil’s Big Sleep-Out but none of the 450-odd souls present reported on his attire for the evening.
Presumably they thought it was pyjamas.
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Sometimes some of the best PR campaigns are the simplest and the cheapest.
So take a bow ART – Aston Reinvestment Trust.
It has involved sending chocolate to a target audience and, with a spot of help from Bright, provoked Post headlines about how the organisation had £1million or so to ‘give away’ which nobody wanted.
And the second generation of the push has now hit the streets, with a Bounty bar reaching Bright himself, albeit I think he would probably prefer a chunk of the “two per cent bounty (get it?) for successful introductions”.
Old chum Steve Walker, chief executive of ART, writes: “Thought I should send you the latest ‘bribery’ instalment.”
