Christmas

Christmas
Originally uploaded by CopperPhoenix

Merry Christmas to you all! A big thank you to our customers and we look forward to offering a wider range of services in 2011. We'll let you know when the new website goes live.

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Harrier Jump Jets Take Off For Final Show

Britain's Harrier jump jets have taken off today on what is billed as their "final flight" before Government spending cuts fall on them and they are withdrawn.

The 16-strong fleet of famous and distinctive aircraft headed off into the sky above RAF Cottesmore in the East Midlands on a farewell journey due to take them over several other RAF bases. Weather permitting, they are scheduled to fly over the local town centres of Stamford and Oakham as well as Lincoln Cathedral before landing back at RAF Cottesmore later.

The jets date back to the 1960s when the first generation of Harriers were built in the UK and in 1969 the Royal Air Force became the first in the world to use the jets' unusual vertical take-off and landing abilities. This distinctive feature previously only possible with helicopters and other rotary wing aircraft, enabled the Harriers to fly in and out of areas near to the battlefield that conventional aircraft couldn't reach. It meant they did not need airstrips and could hide more effectively.

They became famous for their ability to hover above the ground and proved themselves against faster supersonic jets during the Falklands Conflict in 1982, the Harrier being a sub-sonic aircraft. They developed their own fighting tactics, using their directional jet nozzles to stop in mid air, let enemy aircraft pass then attack.

But the Harriers fell victim to the recent bout of cuts, coupled with the loss of the aircraft carriers from which the Harriers operated from, when the Government announced the Harriers would be removed from service in this autumn's defence review.

The farewell flight is in celebration of their retirement, the Ministry of Defence said.

 

They will be missed!

--

Tim Davies

www.copperphoenix.co.uk 

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Another Satisfied Copper Phoenix Customer!

Dear Tim

It is only in recent years that law forms have been allowed to promote themselves which means that marketing is something that is relatively new to the legal profession.

Your marketing health check was a real eye-opener and showed us how important a proper marketing strategy is to our business.  The written report you produced following our meeting gave us an honest and objective view of our current marketing methods and suggested areas that could be improved.  Not only did we immediately see ways in which we could increase our visibility in the market place, you showed us how we can actually monitor any future marketing strategies to make sure that our efforts achieve the desired results.

For ongoing marketing services the prices you have quoted are unbelievably competitive and I have no hesitation in recommending your services to any business owner who needs to implement or rethink their marketing strategy.

Yours sincerely




Heather Childs
ALAN HODGE SOLICITORS

 

 

 

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A Satisfied Customer!

Dear Tim,

 

I wanted to say how much I have appreciated your assistance and professionalism in drastically increasing my understanding of social media and technological marketing.

I am, I thought, a complete geek and I thought I was able to teach myself most of the stuff necessary to increase my online presence. However, where I have been unable to gain a complete understanding, your advice and help had led to my realization that in fact I am a terrible self-teacher and I should leave it to the professionals. Following our most recent newsletter training session, hits to my site doubled within 8 hours and on my Flickr gallery, where my daily average is between 30 and 50 hits, I topped out at 394 yesterday at 9:15pm.

I had seen smaller spikes before but nothing on this scale and I have no doubt it is a direct result of your help and training - and this of course is closely watched daily and we’ll have to organise another session to track the next stage.

I would not only recommend but urge anyone I know to you for your remarkably in depth and varied knowledge of how to increase visibility, online or otherwise.

Yours sincerely
Rupert Marlow

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If World War One Was a Pub Fight

This is a light hearted but surprisingly true take on the causes and outcome of WW1. My Thanks to Steve Bolt for passing it to me!

 

 

Germany, Austria and Italy are standing together in the middle of a pub when Serbia bumps into Austria and spills Austria’s pint.

Austria demands Serbia buy it a complete new suit because there are splashes on its trouser leg.

Germany expresses its support for Austria’s point of view.

Britain recommends that everyone calm down a bit.

Serbia points out that it can’t afford a whole suit, but offers to pay for the cleaning of Austria’s trousers.

Russia and Serbia look at Austria.

Austria asks Serbia who it’s looking at.

Russia suggests that Austria should leave its little brother alone.

Austria inquires as to whose army will assist Russia in compelling it to do so.

Germany appeals to Britain that France has been looking at it, and that this is sufficiently out of order that Britain should not intervene.

Britain replies that France can look at who it wants to, that Britain is looking at Germany too, and what is Germany going to do about it?

Germany tells Russia to stop looking at Austria, or Germany will render Russia incapable of such action.

Britain and France ask Germany whether it’s looking at Belgium.

Turkey and Germany go off into a corner and whisper. When they come back, Turkey makes a show of not looking at anyone.

Germany rolls up its sleeves, looks at France, and punches Belgium.

France and Britain punch Germany. Austria punches Russia. Germany punches Britain and France with one hand and Russia with the other.

Russia throws a punch at Germany, but misses and nearly falls over. Japan calls over from the other side of the room that it’s on Britain’s side, but stays there. Italy surprises everyone by punching Austria.

Australia punches Turkey, and gets punched back. There are no hard feelings because Britain made Australia do it.

France gets thrown through a plate glass window, but gets back up and carries on fighting. Russia gets thrown through another one, gets knocked out, suffers brain damage, and wakes up with a complete personality change.

Italy throws a punch at Austria and misses, but Austria falls over anyway. Italy raises both fists in the air and runs round the room chanting.

America waits till Germany is about to fall over from sustained punching from Britain and France, then walks over and smashes it with a bar stool, then pretends it won the fight all by itself.

By now all the chairs are broken and the big mirror over the bar is shattered. Britain, France and America agree that Germany threw the first punch, so the whole thing is Germany’s fault . While Germany is still unconscious, they go through its pockets, steal its wallet, and buy drinks for all their friends.

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Last flying Vulcan runs out of time on Thursday 28th 2010

Thursday’s Trust meeting could ground or sell one of Britain’s most loved aircraft

The last flying Vulcan, which thrilled almost two million people this year, could be grounded or sold abroad due to lack of money. At a meeting on the evening of October 28^th, the Vulcan To The Sky Trust which owns the aircraft, will decide if it has raised enough funds to continue.

“By Thursday evening, we need to be sure that we will have £300,000 by the end of the week. If there is any doubt, she will follow Concorde into permanent retirement or be sold to a collector almost certainly abroad,” warns trust CEO Dr Robert Pleming.

“If we don’t make it, a heritage icon as popular as The Tower of London may never be seen by the British public again.”

Pleming says that the Vulcan is one of the UK’s most popular heritage attractions and an increasingly engaging part of technology and history education. Yet it receives no Government funding. “We have a great business plan for 2011 that will substantially improve our commercial funding,” says Pleming. “But the stark reality is that we look unlikely to survive beyond October.”

To make a donation to save the Vulcan see http://www.vulcantothesky.org/donate.html

 

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Comprehensive Spending Review and Heritage/Tourism

Leisure sector organisations have issued a mixed response to the chancellor's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) published yesterday (20 October).
George Osborne announced a 25 per cent cut in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) budget, which will run over the course of the review period to 2014-15.

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted it was a 'good settlement' and will help enable the government to "protect our sporting and cultural core for the long term". Hunt indicated that a 41 per cent cut in administrative costs is to help prioritise front-line public services, while reiterating plans to provide an additional £150m of Lottery funding after 2012.

However, DCMS budget cuts are set to have a knock-on effect as organisations funded by the department face up to overall cuts of at least 28 per cent to their respective budgets.

Arts: Arts Council England (ACE) has warned that a 29.6 per cent cut to its budget will "inevitably" have consequences for the UK's cultural industry.
ACE chief executive Alan Davey said: "[We] will seek to minimise the effect of any cuts to the portfolio of arts organisations we regularly fund and will consider the overall position when it meets on 25 October.

Museums and Heritage: English Heritage has said that it is "disappointed" that it will face a 32 per cent reduction in grant funding from the government - more than the DCMS' overall cut of 25 per cent.

Baroness Andrews, chair of English Heritage, said: "The 32 per cent cut to English Heritage's grant from government will be exceptionally challenging to manage after years of funding decline - £130m real-term cuts over 13 years. "It will require us to make some tough decisions. We will work with the Heritage Lottery Fund to ensure there is no overlap or duplication in the services we provide."

Elsewhere, the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) has welcomed the news that the government will contribute £20m in grant-in-aid funding over the course of the review period. NHMF chair Dame Jenny Abramsky said: "We are pleased that in difficult circumstances the important role of the National Heritage Memorial Fund - the emergency fund to save our most important and precious heritage - has been recognised.

"Of course, it is disappointing that this is less than the grant in aid since 2007 of £10m per year, but, in these difficult times, we will continue to do our utmost to play a vital part in saving great heritage right across the UK."

Museums Association (MA) president Vanessa Trevelyan said the 15 per cent cuts to Renaissance and national museums were not as bad as first feared. Trevelyan admitted that regional museums could be worst affected by local authority spending cuts, while plans to reduce administration costs "shows a lack of understanding".

 

However, the move to retain free entry at museums and galleries has not been universally welcomed, with the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA) criticising the decision.

BALPPA chief executive Martin Barratt said: "I was not surprised to learn that the government will continue to fund free entry to museums, it's in the coalition document and is therefore considered sacrosanct even though it's barmy. We're heading into a period when the effort to market England will rely less on government agencies and more on the initiative of groups of attraction operators."

Tourism: National tourism agency VisitBritain faces one of the largest overall budget cuts within the DCMS' remit, with a 34 per cent reduction confirmed following the CSR. VisitBritain chair Christopher Rodrigues said the agency would examine its operations in order to keep it's Olympic strategy on course and look to slash overheads. Rodrigues said: "This government understands the value VisitBritain brings to Britain's tourism industry, but this is tough love. VisitBritain will respond to the settlement by further cutting overheads and reducing its physical network overseas to retain as much money as possible for our global marketing effort."

However, Tourism Alliance chair Ken Robinson said the cuts went against Prime Minister David Cameron's recent pledge to promote the UK's tourism industry. Robinson said: "With DCMS saying that all sectors must share the pain, we expected cuts. We know that VisitBritain and VisitEngland will respond, using every pound wisely.

"However, the Treasury's attitude to tourism, not recognising that investment in the sector brings immediate and high returns to Britain, is short sighted."
Training: One of Osborne's signature pledges within the CSR is the news that at least 75,000 apprenticeship places are to be created each year by 2014.

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