Business Diary: January 28

Karen Milner (pictured left) joins (left to right) Diane Cheesebrough, Chief Operating Officer; Bernadette Byrne, Client Services Director; Michele Gould, Main Board Director; Larry Gould, Chief Executive Officer; Matthew Toynton, Chief Financial Officer; Kenny Sendel, Group Chief Technical Officer; Josh Gould, Chief Commercial Officer.

Diary was heartened to hear about a Yorkshire company that has got the balance just right.

Thebigword, which is one of Britain’s biggest translation and interpreting companies, has achieved a perfect balance between men and women on its company board.

When it comes to length of service with the company, the women actually outrank the men, notching up a total of 65 years compared with the men’s 47 years.

The appointment of Karen Milner as director of human resources means that the board now has four men and four women.

Ms Milner joined thebigword 10 years ago, as a project manager and she has worked her way up through the ranks, becoming head of human resources in 2012.

Ms Milner helped to develop thebigword’s apprenticeship programme which has received two awards and a commendation from the Deputy Prime Minister.

Ms Milner said: “It’s a tremendous privilege and responsibility to be appointed a member of the board of thebigword. I’m very excited at the opportunity to further develop the initiatives I’ve put in place on employee engagement, worldwide training and – very importantly – identifying leadership talent.”

Moving up a gear

Many business leaders dream of a life in the fast lane.

One Yorkshire entrepreneur now has the chance to power ahead with his driving ambition.

The founder and managing director of Leeds-based SimpleUsability Behavioural Research, Guy Redwood, has become the latest driver to join the Ginetta Racing Drivers’ Club.

Mr Redwood is a keen motorsport fan who, despite a strong interest in engineering, has had his racing experience limited to pit lane viewing and a few two-seater road cars.

He said: “The hand-held, low time-commitment introduction to racing was really attractive. It means the majority of my time will be spent having fun – instead of having to learn how to get a licence, research safety kit, sign up for race series and all the other time-consuming aspects that have prevented me following my dream in the past.”

Mr Redwood noticed the Ginetta factory in Garforth during the commute to his home in York. Following a quick internet search, he subscribed to the Ginetta social media channels where he found out more about the Ginetta Racing Drivers Club.

He decided to get involved after watching a presentation from entrepreneur Lawrence Tomlinson, who is the chairman of Ginetta Cars.

Despite having no motor racing experience, Mr Redwood is keen to enjoy the atmosphere, “geek out” on the engineering aspect of the Ginetta Racing Drivers’ Club and learn how to race.

Mr Tomlinson said: “Guy is the second Yorkshire businessman to sign up for the Ginetta Racing Drivers’ Club. It’s the ideal starting point for busy people looking for an exhilarating pastime without the stress of excessive demands on the diary.”

Morrisons’ top cat

We know that Morrisons is looking at ways to increase customer loyalty, but on the other side of the Pennines it already has some ardent fans.

Brutus ‘The Morrisons Cat’ has more than 5,000 likes on Facebook attracting fans from as far afield as Australia, Taiwan and America who are keen to catch a glimpse of their favourite moggy parading in the Morrisons car park in Saltney or having a snooze in one of the trolley baby carriers.

Brutus became a global sensation after his story was posted on Lovemeow – a website for cat lovers.

He has been a regular at the Morrisons in Saltney ever since it was built in 2011.

Owner Claire Hardy said: “At the beginning of December he had just reached 2,500 likes and I think it had gone up to no more than approximately 2,650 the last I checked.

“Suddenly about four or five days ago when I checked his page the number of likes had reached almost 5,000!

“I stared at it for a while thinking it must be an error, but I soon found out that a Facebook page/blog called Lovemeow had shared Brutus’s Facebook page.

“I’m signing him up to a talent agency. Hopefully, Morrisons will decide that he should start starring in their adverts.”

Geordie TV duo Ant and Dec, the current faces of Bradford-based Morrisons, might need to watch out.

Brutus looks like he could charge a lot less.