Business Diary: June 4

SHEFFIELD technology entrepreneur David Richards revealed yesterday that middle-aged women have been “throwing themselves” at him on Twitter, the social messaging website.

At first, our modest businessman was puzzled. Then he realised why: “A lead male stripper (Dreamboys) has the same name!”

Apparently, the Dreamboys are Britain’s most famous male strip group. Their website reveals that they are looking for a new tour assistant for their mammoth 54-date UK tour. An opportunity for Mr Richards perhaps?

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The chief executive of WANdisco could always leave his hat on...

Tailor-made campaign

A TAILORING company is doing its bit to help tackle youth unemployment.

A Suit That Fits, which has studios in Leeds and Sheffield, is calling on the men and women of Britain to donate their unwanted suits via its Suit For Success campaign.

The donated suits will be gifted to one of the firm’s three partners: Amber and Centrepoint, which both help young people disadvantaged as a result of homelessness, and Right Futures, which works with young people who are not in employment, education or training to find their first long-term role.

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Once the young people have been suited and booted, A Suit That Fits and Right Futures will work with Amber and Centrepoint to help find some of them work experience placements.

In spring last year, A Suit That Fits launched the inaugural A Suit For Success campaign, which helped homeless, unemployed people back into work. This year the focus is on helping young, unemployed people.

Until this Friday, unwanted suits can be donated and as a reward, those donating will receive a £50 voucher to spend on bespoke tailoring in one of the 33 A Suit That Fits studios nationwide.

David Hathiramani, founder of A Suit That Fits, said, “Since we launched in 2006, we have been donating our sample suits to homelessness charities. Last year, when we called the men and women of Britain to donate their unwanted suits, we were overwhelmed by the response. So this year, in light of the 75,800 young people who are long-term unemployed in Britain, we want to reach out to them.”

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Visit www.aSuitThatFits.com/aSuitForSuccess to find out where and when you can drop your suit off.

Something’s cooking

Once, consumers seeking ideas for new dishes had to wait until the likes of Fanny Craddock appeared on their TV screens.

Now, with the power of the internet, an audience can be summoned with the click of a mouse.

This month, the retailer Booths will launch a series of live interactive ‘cook-alongs’, filmed in-store in front of an audience of customers and streamed live via a Google+ Hangout.

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According to a release that was served up for Diary, the supermarket chain claims to be the first in its sector “to use the social platform to host a live cook-along of this scale in Europe”.

Marketing manager for Booths, Danny Martin, said: “We understand the value of integrating social media into the shopping experience and are constantly looking to innovate and pioneer the latest ways to interact with our customers.”

The #BoothsCookAlong event comes following the success of Booths’ live ‘Twitter parties’ in the run up to Christmas 2012.

Booths hosted its weekly #BoothsCheers events to promote festive wines and beers and engage customers in online discussions using the hashtag #BoothsCheers.

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Booths, which has 29 stores in Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Cheshire, was founded in 1847 by Edwin Booth, and continues to operate as a family business. We can only imagine what Mr Booth’s Twitter hashtag might have been.

Dine with intent

EVER wondered what it would be like to dine in a giant tipi?

Well, James Barrett is to open a pop-up restaurant, from June 27 to 30, offering the opportunity to experience exactly that.

With an indoor fire and open kitchen inside the Totally Tipi tent, food made using ingredients sourced from local suppliers is to be dished up at farm-based conference venue Green Directions in Stannington.

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The idea was conceived after Mark Woodward of Green Directions met Totally Tipi’s Jay and Laura to talk about collaborating on projects.

They needed someone with the culinary expertise, which is when James, formerly of Fischers in Baslow and now running a bistro and café in Sheffield, joined the party.

Visit http://popuptipirestaurant.blogspot.co.uk