Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full person? Are you the victim of pressure or do you thrive under stress? I find it fascinating that people can view the same thing from completely different perspectives and say with absolute certainty that they see total opposites. You can look at a picture and see the most magical inspiration before your eyes, and yet someone else might not give it a second glance. The same applies to everything we do and experience in our lives. What might inspire one person, just doesn’t make sense to another. And so what drives this difference in opinions and views? I heard a great analogy that the brain like a computer, is a processor, however, unlike a… Read the Rest »
It was the perfect New Years Eve. It was 1999. I was in Vermont in the US the home of the famous film, A White Christmas. As the clock struck midnight, I walked outside in the snow hand in hand with the new girl in my life. Its a beautiful place and at the start of the Millennium it was a landmark moment that I am able to look back at. We were not well-off, we had very little and if I am honest, I was barely keeping up with my mortgage repayments, but we had our health and dreams to make a better life. UKFast was only months old and we sat down in front of the log fire the next day and wrote out… Read the Rest »
It seems like a lifetime ago when I arrived in Manchester. What a city, what an era. Bloxham was selling posters in Afflecks Palace, Ferguson had just arrived at United, Tony Wilson was giving the Factory a whole new meaning. Tim Bacon was a barman in JWJohnsons, Oglesby was at Cheadle Hulme where only weeks earlier I’d been playing against him on the great British rugby fields. Bruno was holding centre stage at the French Restaurant, at the then Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Midland Hotel. I was the cheeky piano player busking my way through life. I had never been so poor, but I had certainty that something good was just over the horizon. I learnt pretty early on that it was never going to… Read the Rest »
When I saw the line up of an upcoming event that showed Tony Robbins and Sir Richard Branson as the headline speakers, I was immediately taken aback to see Alan Sugar’s name appear a few weeks later. What is it about this man? He keeps on popping up on British TV, yet he lacks the finesse of Branson and the passion of Robbins. He most certainly lacks the humility that you’ll find in abundance in the other two great men. He comes across as a self opinionated man who likes putting people down to make himself feel better. And by surrounding himself with sycophantic people who do not openly challenge him, it is no surprise that he slipped up this week, after telling engineer Glenn… Read the Rest »
12 years ago I was sat on the side of my bed with my head in my hands struggling to choose a shirt to wear. No amount of reasoning would have helped me rationalise my behaviour. I had started putting on a significant amount of weight, but I was working out in the gym regularly and doing plenty of cardio. It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I hadn’t known Gail long, but long enough for her to want to help me identify the problem. Doctors were unable to help, they checked for diabetes and thyroid, but there was nothing clinically wrong. Yet I was struggling to function. I was getting unnecessarily stressed and the not knowing what was wrong was compounding… Read the Rest »
Last week was undoubtedly a great week for Manchester. With both Manchester’s Premiership football clubs reminding the rest of the world that top class football is alive and well in the Northwest. Yet in spite of history being made last weekend and the 1st and 3rd places confirmed today, Manchester United and Manchester City were completely outplayed and overshadowed on the Internet with news circulating that a premiership football player put out a super injunction to prevent his name being published in an English Newspaper. The irony is, even though no one is allowed to publish information about the football player, the whole world seems pretty confident of who it is thanks to the Internet. Tonight a Scottish newspaper effectively ended the anonymous court order… Read the Rest »
Someone recently asked my advice on Planning and would I blog about my thoughts on the matter. It’s a great subject and there are many ways to approach planning. It wont surprise you that I probably start in the completely opposite place to most and miss out the bit that everyone else considers important. My “planning” is almost non-existant. All my work done is long before any planning would normally take place, at the “dreaming” stage. It’s a side that is drilled out of us at an early age, usually in school and by our elders. Yet the dreaming stage is the most fun and its where the magic happens. I have my own theories on planning, however they are all inspired by others and… Read the Rest »
I was at a crossroads. There are a number of different routes I could take at this point and driving on ahead seems like a potentially futile journey. It was earlier this year when I could have gone one of 2 directions. Do I carry on the potentially expensive quest of developing our business in a carbon neutral fashion? Is there a guarantee at the end of it, I will find a viable alternative? I was ready to throw in the towel, when I was challenged by one of the worlds greatest entrepreneurs. He didn’t directly challenge me, yet his words spoke volumes. I cannot give up. Here is a man who is pioneering space travel, undoubtedly one of the hardest of any of man’s… Read the Rest »
When you find yourself deep underground and no air to breath, it is safe to say you are having a life changing moment. But how does one event, just a matter of a few hours one day in the distant past make such a difference to people. Yet the more successful and driven people I meet, they all seem to have some sort of inspiration that comes from a deeper place. I know confidently, I would not be the man I am today if I’d not been buried in an avalanche. I’d have carried on, talking about how great one day I’d be, and although working incredibly long hours I’d have never been truly successful. I think I was directionless. What my accident gave me… Read the Rest »
I am currently in Wales in the mountains, doing a bit of blue grey-sky thinking. I am here planning the next exciting stages of UKFast. Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to take advice from some extraordinary entrepreneurs. As a result I have helped catapult UKFast on to a very exciting stage in its development. We have grown year on year, not just in profits and turnover but in our resolve to make a difference. By rubbing shoulders with people playing at a higher level than you, you most certainly develop at a faster rate. We employ superstars. Are you in a position where you feel you have something extra special to offer? You maybe like me 20 something years ago…. Read the Rest »
