Business Diary: November 1

Keith Jones, the chief executive of JJB Sports, has a CV which includes stints at a host of big name retailers, including DSG International, Virgin and B&Q.

He’s also picked up an MBA from Manchester Business School.

But his career began in a van. In the mid 1980s, if you ordered goods from Currys in the north west, there was a chance that Mr Jones would be the man who delivered them to you. So he knows there’s no excuse for sloppy customer service at any level.

“What I learned, as a result of being a van driver, was the importance of delivering services to a customer at the final point of contact,’’ he told Diary during a trip to see the new JJB Sports store in Albion Street, Leeds.

“All of the great work done by my colleagues in store could be either enhanced or ruined as a result of what happened when I delivered the washing machine and installed it to the customer’s home.

“I never lost sight of that being enormously significant.”

A brand’s reputation, it seems, can be tarnished by a single churlish van driver.

Number’s up for the bingo wing

EVER keen to make sure their products do what they say on the tin, the ladies in the Asda press office had fun yesterday trying on the new George anti-bingo wing T-shirt.

The new £9 ‘Thingo’ T-shirt uses elastic and mesh to minimise unsightly under-arm flab, nicknamed the bingo wing as it shakes when you wave your bingo winning numbers.

“We’ve been checking they work,” said Asda’s Bee Hessell. “They do, the difference is absolutely amazing.”

So what do the lads in the office make of all this impromptu stripping off?

“We’ve been discreet, but there haven’t been any boys in the office nearby today,” laughed Bee.

Charity tribute to former business editor

FORMER business editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post Nigel Scott was remembered at a charity quiz.

Chris Norton, event organiser and managing director of Dinosaur PR, said: “I decided to hold an event last year because Nigel was a good friend of mine and I wanted to do something that would honour his name and was fun. This year’s event was a huge success with hacks and flacks coming from all across the region and helping to raise more than £2,000. We were particularly delighted to have Nigel’s family in attendance. The atmosphere, as always, was competitive but good natured – I am looking forward to doing it all again next year.”

Last year’s event attracted almost 100 people but this year it was nearly twice that size.

The money raised goes to Prince of Wales Hospice, Pontefract and Macmillan Cancer Support.

A means of sales support for Avacta

DIAGNOSTICS specialist Avacta is only too aware of the pitfalls of selling products abroad.

So much so, that the Wetherby-based company has enlisted distributors to market its diagnostic devices around the globe and into the US.

But could the AIM-listed company manage it alone, without the big-name distributors it’s lined up? The answer from chief executive Alastair Smith is a resounding “no”.

“My view would be that it would be impossible to support instrumentation in Japan, China and South East Asia,” he said. “In the US we would have tried in one way or another. But that would also become quite costly. The bottom of the Atlantic is littered with the bodies of small British companies that have tried to sell and support in the US.”

Church insurer’s bonfire message

THERE are all sorts of health and safety warnings doing the rounds this week ahead of Bonfire Night but one in particular caught Diary’s eye.

Specialist insurer Congregational & General is urging churches planning public firework displays to keep crowds and buildings safe.

The company has issued a number of safety guidelines that are available online on its Safer Places of Worship website with church organisers urged to follow simple procedures.

Margaret Slater, Congregational’s marketing manager, said: “Bonfire Night is a fantastic institution and 99 times out of a 100 displays take place with no cause for concern. However, on occasion you do hear of injuries to people or damage to buildings resulting from careless behaviour.”