Business Diary: July 10

This came after fellow member of the Two Valleys Chapter of Business Network International, Isla Salisbury, who provides remote administrative services, asked Mr Martin if he had an old laptop which a friend could take with her on a charity mission to Kenya.

“I rooted round and put together a laptop which booted up and worked fine,” said Mr Martin.

Lynus Cheplonga, the grateful recipient of the laptop, sent a letter thanking Mr Martin for the computer: “It is hard to find a job in Kenya but this will help me start a business and also help me educate my children.”

“I must admit Isla’s new ‘client’ was not the normal type of business referral we expect from colleagues,” said Mr Martin. “But receiving a testimonial from Lynus brought a lump to the throat of most of us at the meeting and certainly made the effort worthwhile.”

Just do the maths . . .

ROBIN Luscombe, owner of car dealership Luscombe Suzuki Leeds, couldn’t resist a sneaky sales pitch in a recent interview.

“What we are finding now [in the retail car market] is that with modern technology you can get a car that’s £20 or £30 odd or even no road tax that will do 50 plus miles to the gallon that’s £6,000, £7,000, £8,000...

“If you do the sums on someone that has got an old banger, that’s doing 25 or 30 miles to the gallon with the cost of fuel and the cost of road tax it actually does make it financially better to buy a new car.”

But, asks Diary, what about depreciation?

He answers: “If you have a car that’s doing 30 miles to the gallon and it costs £160, £170 a year to tax, I can sell you a new car for £6,000, there’s no road tax at all and it will do 60 miles to the gallon.

“So every time you put £20 in the tank, you’re only putting a tenner in. If you use a car, you’re probably putting £40 a week of fuel in the car, if you’re going back and forth to work, that means that you’re putting £20 a week, so you’re saving £80 a month, then you’ve got another £160 a year you are saving in road tax – you can be into £100 a month, and you’ve got no bills because you’ve got warranty, so you can be into £100 a month savings in running costs quite easily – £100 a month is going to buy you that car.”

Diary admires his tenacity – Mr Luscombe is clearly not one to miss an opportunity for a sale.

Dogged speaker

Much has been made of new banking player Metro Bank’s love of dogs.

The bank, which promises to offer a much better service than traditional banks, is famous for welcoming dogs into its branches, offering them fresh water bowls, dog treats and a warm welcome.

“We understand how important man’s best friend is to our dog-loving customers so we actively welcome dogs into our bank,” said a spokesman.

“We are all about convenience and being a dog-friendly bank is part of this. Bring your dog in when you next visit – we’d love to meet them.”

But this canine affection landed Metro Bank’s Newcastle-born co-founder Anthony Thompson in trouble during a speech to a group of financiers from Inner Mongolia.

“We welcome dogs as part of our culture,” he explained to the audience, before really putting his foot in it by adding: “We love dogs, but just not the way you do in Mongolia”.

His comments were met with a frosty response.

Maybe Geordie humour hasn’t reached Inner Mongolia yet.

Monastic intervention

Packaging experts at Sheffield Hallam University have helped friars to rethink the branding of an ale which was first brewed in the 17th century.

The university’s Design Futures team worked with monks at Ampleforth Abbey to develop a new brand and packaging design for their Ampleforth Abbey Beer, which has just been re-launched. The ale will be on show in shops and bars throughout the UK after the monks decided their beer needed a 21st century reboot.

The monks contacted Design Futures after hearing about the rebranding project that the team carried out with organic brewers Little Valley Brewery, which is based in Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. John Kirkby, creative director of Design Futures, said: “The abbey is steeped in history and tradition but we wanted to avoid too many monastic cliches.”