M & A Rainmaker

It was amazing to have a tour of the new Jetts 24 Hour Fitness Gym on Oxford Road Manchester.

This is the entrance ….. and the back looks like this ….

and this is the where Jetts intends to have outdoor exercises …..

It is a superb location and as you can see surrounded by apartment blocks and restaurants and cafes.

The people walking around the square are very affluent and multi cultural.

 

Once through the front door and reception you proceed down the stairs to this fabulous space …

and here are just a few images from inside …

the equipment and layout is top class and really on point …

There are some excellent initial offers to join this Jetts HERE.

This is the third gym for this owner and more to come for him.

We were able to take new franchise owners for the Midlands area around this gym and they talked to Manchester’s owners. There will be rapid expansion in the Midlands too now.

I have recently had some pretty bad experiences with so called Hotdesking facilities in Birmingham, UK and this got me thinking about the subject.

I think part of the problem is that they are more experimental models than professional businesses and the people that are running them are just not up to the task. Simple questions,enquiries,suggestions and even help given get very weird responses and you just wonder where these people have been, are coming from and why they are suddenly hosting Hotdesking facilities. Desperation springs to mind ??

In all the years that I have been meeting people in Birmingham in hotels I have never experienced any negative issues. In fact the reverse. As I cast my mind back over hundreds of meeting I can only remember positive experiences.

Over the last year I have used The Malmaison and Marco Pierre Whites in particular. Both are great but of course MPW has the advantage of the amazing views. I have always had good service at the Ibis Chinatown and there is another hotel where I had amazing support from staff with my laptop connectivity – will update soon.

It really begs a few questions:

– Why would you use a Hotdesking facility rather than e.g. a Hotel or Coffee Bar ??

– What are the most important criteria for a venue to meet with somebody ??

– What is the best place to open up your smartphone, notepad or laptop and get a bit of work done ???

There are probably a few other questions that could be asked aswell.

I am going to leave this article for further updates soon.

The ever popular Professional Beauty Manchester Show will be at the Central Convention Complex on the 13th and 14th of October

Motives Cosmetics and Beauty does not have a stand this year but Vice President Loren Ridinger is planning to be in Manchester for an event on the 28th October

Motives is planning to be at next years event ( 2014 ) but could not quite make this year. However, Loren is determined to get Motives and Shop.com known in the Manchester area and so she is planning to hold an event on the 28th October at 7.30 in Central Manchester ( details will be announced here soon ) where the Motives range can be seen. ( Please take a look at the Motives portal HERE for an overview of the products ).

Motives recently showcased at the New York International Beauty Show and here’s a great video showing how well that went:

Did you see how busy the stand was ???? 

LEAVE THE VIDEO RUNNING FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MOTIVES.

We look forward to having a similar stand at next years Professional Beauty.

In the meantime we would like to meet people interested in Beauty, Fashion and Health generally and also Bloggers and shop and website owners who might be interested in integrating the Motives and Shop.com portals into their own websites. If you don’t have a blog or website – No problem !!

Other relevant people would be make up artists, salon and spa owners.

Please leave a comment here, Contact me on Facebook or Twitter ( @cwindley ) or skype me on chris.windley for further details. I will update soon.

THIS LADY HAS SPENT 22 YEARS at the Top of Market America – Which Lady will do the same for Market United Kingdom ??

I always wondered how it was that Lichfield Trent Valley Railway Station was a portacabin and there was no cafe for refreshments !!  I sort of assumed that somehow the London to North rail line used to go through Lichfield City Station somehow but recently learnt that the old Lichfield Trent Valley Railway station burnt down in the 1990’s ( Apparently most of it was made of wood ) ?? Well I should remember that as I was around here then …..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichfield_Trent_Valley_railway_station

Apparently this ( above ) was the first station built in 1847 and the photos below were taken in 1962. Now either of these looks more like the sort of railway station that Lichfield should have !!

STOP PRESS !!!!!

Coffee and cakes from Coco Meli Bakery now available at Lichfield Trent Valley Station

http://www.cocomelibakery.co.uk/

See a steam train passing through Lichfield Trent Valley Station in 1955 here:

http://myrailwaystation.com/RAILWAY%20STATIONS/pages/LICHFIELD%20%20TRENT%20%20VALLEY%20%20STATION%20with%2046131%20passing%20through%20c1955_jpg.htm

See a trainload of troops at Lichfield Trent Valley in 1954 here:

http://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/engine/resource/exhibition/standard/child.asp?txtKeywords=&lstContext=&lstResourceType=&lstExhibitionType=&chkPurchaseVisible=&txtDateFrom=&txtDateTo=&x1=&y1=&x2=&y2=&scale=&theme=325&album=&resource=6142&viewpage=%2Fengine%2Fresource%2Fexhibition%2Fstandard%2Fdefault.asp&originator=%2Fengine%2Ftheme%2Fdefault.asp&page=1&records=630&direction=2&pointer=611&text=0&exhibition=1297&offset=0

Instead we have the portacabins that you see on the left here ( looking North )

and in the photo below ( looking South ) you can see the ” High Level ” line that goes to Birmingham via Lichfield City Station.

As can be seen from the railmap below Lichfield Trent Valley Station is a stop for Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

from: http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/routes-stations/ltv/

Local Bus Routes:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/ltv/localarea.html

Parking at Lichfield Trent Valley ( N.B. Parking is limited – Don’t leave it until the last minute to park here. Might be best to get a lift/taxi !! )

http://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/carpark/lichfield_trent_valley_station/ws14/britannia_enterprise_park/

Get a Taxi

http://www.taxiregister.com/Lichfield

Full National Rail Map ( You can get to and from Birmingham via Lichfield City Station – which is just down the road – walk up to the High Level crossing at Lichfield Trent Valley for this)

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/maps/OfficialNationalRailmaplarge.pdf

To get to Derby ( by train )  you have to go to Tamworth or Burton on Trent ( preferred I think ) .

Little known fact:

The train line that passes over the top of Lichfield Trent Valley merges with the Tamworth – Burton line near Alrewas. So Lichfield and Burton are directly connected by rail.

More on Lichfield Trent Valley Train Station here:

http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/Stations/lichfield_trent_valley.php