Townhouse Times

Firstly apologies for the silence since Christmas.  2012 or the start of it, has been totally and utterly bonkers.  New business wins, pitches, new projects and existing clients have been wanting things done too (the cheek of it).  So in no particular order here’s a snapshot of the first few weeks of 2012…if it continues like this, the Olympic year will definitely be one to remember:

EuroMillions and The National Lottery

The Townhouse team organised two mega Jackpot EuroMillions press conferences – Mansfield couple; Catherine and Gareth Bull won £40m in late January.  Then last week Nottingham couple Matt Topham and Cassey Carrington won £45m.  Both events were organised and delivered within 24 hours.  And not forgetting Paul and Marie Kibler from Sutton Coldfield won £2m on the National Lottery.  Who says things don’t come in threes?

On top of that there is an unclaimed prize worth £1m in Leicester and last night (Monday 13th) ITV Central launch a competition to find 20 people to run in the first race at the Olympic Park.  The National Lottery Olympic Park Run is on 31st March and the gang here brokered the promotion.  Phew.

Arthur Price

We are delighted with the coverage so far for this new client and have loads in the pipeline which is always healthy.  Over the next few weeks and months there’s going to be  everything from competitions in the local media to new product launches and a few celebrations along the way to commemorate the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  Not forgeting the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic – AP supplied the first class cabins with their cutlery.

New Business and projects

We have a few new projects to announce over the next few weeks which we are chuffed about…watch this space.

Arthur Price has been at the forefront of cutlery and giftware design and manufacturing for 110 years and since 1982 has been based in Lichfield.  To celebrate the Olympic and Jubilee year and 30 years in the city, Arthur Price is starting a tradition of gifting to the first child born of the New Year in Lichfield district.

 
The first such gift for 2012 is an eye-catching specially commissioned solid silver Celtic cup.  Engraved with the name of the little one together with the location of the birth and baby’s weight, the cup will be hallmarked in Birmingham and come in a presentation box and to make the first one extra special, silver items made in 2012 will have an extra hallmark to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.

 
Arthur Price has teamed up with the Mercury to find the first born of 2012 in the Lichfield District.   If you are expecting a new addition and want to be part of the start of a long tradition for the city, make a note of the following email address.  Those who are born within the official boundary of the Lichfield District in the first few hours of the new year, whether it be in a hospital, home or manger should email a photograph and a proof of birth and their contact details to firstborninlichfield2012@arthurprice.com before Wednesday 4^th January, 2012.

Arthur Price together with the Lichfield Mercury will then present the child with the solid silver cup together with a £200 Arthur Price voucher for the parents and they will become the first of a long line of names to adorn a list which will be kept by the Mercury archives.

 
Simon Price, Chief Executive of Arthur Price said: “I have three children and can remember my parents giving them gifts to celebrate their birth and as a son of Lichfield and a traditionalist I thought it would be a great idea to give something special to the first born of every year in Lichfield. At this time of year we should all celebrate the gift of birth and I hope it will become tradition for the district.  As an ex-Sheriff of the city and patron of the We Love Lichfield fund I have a great passion for Lichfield and as a father I want this gesture to be my gift to the people of the city and the first of many.”

 
Further information and about the ‘Arthur Price Lichfield First Born’ visit  www.arthurprice.com or call 01543 257 775.

Happy Birthday Townhouse Communications!

Yes it’s eight years to the day since the doors swung open at Townhouse Towers for the first time.  Time has indeed flown and it doesn’t seem like yesterday when the call came through from our first client RS Components that we had won the project bid and we were all systems go.   Work for safety equipment manufacturer Combisafe quickly followed which made a nice Christmas present and we still work for them, all these years later.

Old this chilly November morning we thought we’d liven up your day with a few facts and figures about the number eight:

• Eight in China and Japan is a lucky number
• A byte is eight bits
• Eight is the atmoic number for oxygen
• All spiders, and more generally all arachnids, have eight legs. Orb-weaver spiders of the cosmopolitan family Areneidae have eight similar eyes
• The lowest stop on a pipe-organ is the eight-foot stop, which is approximately eight feet in length
• In the 2008 Games of the XXIX Olympiad, the official opening was on 08/08/08 at 8:08:08 p.m. local time in Beijing, China
• In cooking recipes, there are approximately 8 pinches to a teaspoon
• Force eight is the first wind strength attributed to a gale on the Beaufort scale when announced on a Shipping Forecast

During the last eight years we’ve worked for some big brands including Starbucks and Vodafone.  Our current client list spans household names such as Sainsbury’s and the National Lottery who we have been working with since 2004, plus great established family businesses like Salts Healthcare.  Many clients have been with us for the majority of the eight years including Dun-Bri Group, Howards and Combisafe.  Looking to the future new clients in our eighth year include The North Face, Peligro Group and Arthur Price.  And so on these occasions its nice to sit down and look back at some of the mad things we have done.

In no particular order here’s a few highlights (well eight actutally, yes I know we are a PR firm):

• Launching a National Lottery scratchcard called ‘Rabbit Riches’ in a village called Bunny
• Creating the world’s first Starbucks Poet Laureate in Birmingham
• Climbing up onto a bridge for a Combisafe photoshoot with a nurse in tow due to the extreme weather conditions (we survived thanks for asking)
• Launching the world’s first Costa Coffee ‘drive-thru’ in Nottingham
• Creating an ad campaign for Dun-Bri Group which was voted one of the most memorable in the commercial vehicle press
• Our first social media campaign for The North Face
• Our first print run for first client RS Components.   The press pass, the fulfillment details…lots of working through the night… and voila a very proud team with our first ‘Townhouse’ produced item
• Going global…BBC World live broadcast to celebrate the largest EuroMillions draw…all from Smethwick in Birmingham

There are lots of other stories but I’ve run out of time plus there’s a few memorable things I simply can’t mention for fear of causing embarrasment to both us and others.

So happy birthday to us and thanks to all those past and present who have helped the gang reach the ripe of age of eight.  Here’s to our tenth, those hormonal teenage years, 21st and so on.

A Nottinghamshire civil war landmark and a Derbyshire forestry centre are set to go head to head in a competition to receive a visit from a BBC Radio 1 DJ and a TV comedian – as part of a celebration of the massive £30m raised each week by National Lottery players for Good Causes across the UK.

The National Lottery has launched a new Facebook campaign featuring BBC Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox and comedian Rufus Hound.  Called ‘Cox & Hound Hit The Road’, the campaign will see the duo spend five days (14-18 November) driving from Scotland to the South coast to explore the projects that have benefited from National Lottery funding.

Where they go and what exactly they do will be determined by public vote through a specially-designed app on the National Lottery Facebook page www.facebook.com/TheNationalLotteryUK.

Ten projects have made the shortlist from the 365,000+ projects to have received funding since The National Lottery began in 1994, revealing a snapshot of the enormous range of Good Causes to have benefitted all over the country – from charity and community to education and the environment, from sport and the arts to health and heritage.

At each project, the duo will have to complete a challenge – from old-fashioned ploughing, woodland laser combat and Welsh choir sing-offs to tubing, sand sculpture competitions and Segway racing.

However, only five of the projects will actually receive a visit from the duo based on Facebook votes from members of the public.  In the Midlands region its Derbyshire versus Nottinghamshire and the battle will be fierce!

Sconce and Devon Park in Newark, Notts is a hive of activity that offers a breadth of opportunities for the surrounding community. An abundance of wildlife can be explored, there’s outdoor play equipment to drag the kids away from their computer screens and Civil War re-enactments centred on the famous Queen’s Sconce monument.

Rosliston Forestry Centre lies at the heart of The National Forest in South Derbyshire, a woodland haven offering outdoor activities, holiday accommodation, family fun and all-year round events.  Thanks to lottery funding, the Centre now offers a whole host of schemes that help people stay active, including cycling, woodland laser combat and falconry.

Road tripper Sara Cox said: “I think the roadtrip is a great idea chance to show everyone who plays or has played The National Lottery, just a glimpse of what their money actually means to local communities.”  Fellow passenger Rufus Hound added: ‘I’ve bought a few National Lottery Scratchcards in my time – I’ve even won a few quid over the years!  For those times I didn’t get lucky, it would be good to see the impact of that cash and how other people have benefited.”

The Facebook app and public voting is live on www.facebook.com/TheNationalLotteryUK. However, voting for each area of the country will close two days before the pair are due to visit. The project (and the challenge) in each area that receives the most number of votes will win, with the next leg of the journey being decided.

Midlands Regional Visit:  Wednesday 16th November

Midlands Voting Closes:  Monday 14th November

Over 70% of the 365,000+ lottery grants made to date have been £10,000 or under, benefitting local communities the length and breadth of the UK.

At 3pm today (Friday 4 November) there is exactly just one calendar month left for the owner of a winning EuroMillions ticket worth £1m  bought in the Cannock Chase district winning ticket to come forward and claim their prize.

Every week EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle guarantees to create two millionaires – one on Tuesday and one on Friday – but with the draw on 7 June 2011 15 UK millionaires were created, with only two of the £1 million prizes still waiting to be claimed.¹ Players in Cannock Chase, where one of the tickets was bought, are being urged to check and double-check their unique EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle selection for the chance to become an instant millionaire.

For every EuroMillions line played, UK players automatically receive a EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle selection printed on their ticket. The winning selection on 7 June 2011 was MWC424302 and the lucky ticket-holder has until 3pm on Sunday 4 December 2011 to make their claim.

If no-one comes forward with the winning ticket before the prize claim deadline, then the prize money, plus all the interest the prize has generated, will go to the Good Causes – adding to the £26 billion already raised through sales of lottery tickets since The National Lottery launched in November 1994.

A National Lottery spokesperson said: “We’re desperate to find this mystery ticket-holder and unite them with their winnings – this amazing prize could really make a huge difference to somebody’s life. Being able to guarantee two UK millionaires every week with Millionaire Raffle is fantastic and we’re urging everyone to check their old EuroMillions tickets again or look anywhere a missing ticket could be hiding so that this
prize can turn someone into the newest member of the lottery millionaire club.

“Try checking in the pockets of clothing, in wallets, bags and down the back of the sofa. We have the champagne on ice and our fingers crossed  hat the lucky winner comes forward to claim their win.”

Anyone who believes they have the winning ticket for any of the National Lottery draws within the 180-day deadline should call the National Lottery Line on 0845 910 0000. Anyone concerned about lost or unchecked tickets may like to consider either setting up a National Lottery Subscription, playing online at www.national-lottery.co.uk or on their mobile phone through Play By Text.  Numbers can be entered in advance and lucky winners are notified online if their numbers come up. For further information call 0845 912 5000 or visit www.national-lottery.co.uk.

¹The EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle draw on 7 June 2011 saw 15 Millionaire Raffle Selections drawn, thereby creating 15 UK millionaires. The number of winning EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle selections still outstanding from this draw correct at time of issue of this release.

We have been appointed by Lichfield based cutlery and gift manufacturer, Arthur Price, to raise its regional profile, launch a series of new colourful and fashionable product ranges targeted at younger audiences, and help with its trade communications.

The family-owned company was founded in 1902 and has been at the forefront of quality cutlery manufacturing and design for over a century. In recent years it has introduced a wide range of contemporary cutlery collections to take society’s changing lifestyles and fashions into account.  Arthur Price has also, in partnership with the likes of designers Laurence Llewleyn-Bowen and Sophie Conran, created many new and exciting gift and china collections and the Townhouse team has been charged with targeting these at a younger audience.

Simon Price, Chief Executive of Arthur Price said “The team at Townhouse were recommended to me and I was impressed with not only their creativity but their passion for my brands and for Lichfield.  Also, all their ideas were on brief and already we are seeing them deliver results.  I’m delighted that we have a new injection of creativity and that we’ve appointed a local company.  I very much believe in supporting local businesses.”

November is the 8^th birthday of Townhouse and the firm is celebrating yet more new business and project wins as it looks back on a successful 2011. Julian Fisher, Townhouse Communications Director said: “We have just been awarded another project with The North Face having started work with them in April this year.  Many of our existing clients are expanding their activity and the addition of Arthur Price to our portfolio is the icing on our birthday (cake) month.  I’m so looking forward to working with a recognisable local brand that has a very proud historic past but also a bright and contemporary future.”

Pictured above is (L-R) Townhouse Account Manager Jane Thomas, Simon Price of Arthur Price and Julian Fisher, Townhouse Director.

Townhouse Communications has also announced that it has chosen ‘We Love Lichfield’ as its charity of choice for 2012.  The money raised by the company in 2012 will be added to the pot, which is already at around £50,000. The money is invested on the stock market, under charity commission guidelines, and the dividends from the fund will then be distributed to local voluntary organisations and groups who apply for a grant in the future. To find out more about making a donation, call the Staffordshire Community Foundation team on 01782 683000 or visit www.staffsfoundation.org.uk/welovelichfield.

Townhouse Communications works for the likes of AXA, Costa Coffee, Decathlon, The North Face and the National Lottery.  Arthur Price is the second local family-owned company on the Townhouse client list – joining 300 year old Birmingham-based medical devices manufacturer Salts Healthcare.

There’s a massive £85m to be won in the EuroMillions SuperDraw on Tuesday 4th October and the team at Townhouse Towers have been busy helping client Camelot promote the draw.  On Friday we caught up with  the ‘Wellingborough Winners’ Sue and Chris Bowers who won £3.5m back in July at the Sainsbury’s where they bought their winning ticket.

Today (Monday) Miss England (Alize Mounter) lived the highlife at one of the Midlands premier hotels Coombe Abbey surrounded by the odd man servant or ten.

What could you do with £85m?  If one UK ticketholder wins the entire £85m jackpot they will rocket to third place on the National Lottery Rich List. The current holders are Colin & Chris Weir from Largs who banked  a massive £161m in July thisyear

• According to Coutts & Co, HRH The Queen’s bankers, it would take a cashier almost 113 hours, or four-and-a-half solid days, to count £85 million in £50 notes
• If you stacked £85 million in £50 notes, the pile would reach approximately 187 metres – that’s just under twice the height of Big Ben and around 9 times higher than the Angel of the North
• If you laid £85m worth of £50 notes from end to end, they would cover a distance of 265km – that’s roughly the distance from London to Manchester
• An £85million EuroMillions jackpot win would earn approximately £4,774 per day in interest alone – that’s £33,418 per week, £143,219 per month and a mammoth£1,742,500 per year.¹

With £85m in the bank you could have some serious spending fun. £85m will buy you:

• Your very own island in the Caribbean paradise of the Bahamas. For £1.2m you could own Little Hog Cay – a 20 acre island with two of its own 75m white sandy beaches
• A house in one of London’s most desirable areas – Kensington. A twelve bedroom mansion in the exclusive SW8 postcode was sold for £78m
• A sportscar any millionaire would be proud to be seen in. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport does 0-60 in 2.5 seconds and will only set you back £2.5m
• The most expensive blue diamond ever sold. At 6 carats and flawlessly cut it was recently sold at auction for £5m.

Coffee chain launches nationwide competition to find new comedic talent

• A third of Brits say they are unable to tell a joke
• 68% have received puzzled looks after cracking a joke
• Brits shy away from punch lines
• Costa launches nationwide hunt for new comedy talent to bring laughter back into our lives –
  Costa Light Comedy Challenge (www.costalightcomedy.co.uk)
  

As the nation enjoys the new Costa Light drink, a study by the company has found that Brits are not enjoying light humour as much.
Millions of Brits have completely lost the art of telling a good joke, a study by Costa Coffee has revealed. Over a third of adults claim not to know a single gag and wouldn’t be able to just rattle one off.
Of those that admitted to not telling jokes, almost half cited being unable to remember the punch line as the main reason and 20 per cent said hey get embarrassed, whilst one in twenty claim they are never in the right ‘mood’ to tell a funny tale.

Cringingly – 68per cent of Brits have received a look of ‘bemusement’ after telling a joke. And one in ten said they don’t like being centre of attention so avoid telling gags in public.

One reason for the decline could be down to technology – 27 per cent prefer to text jokes to friends rather than tell them face to face.
The study found that 13 per cent prefer to share a funny anecdote via email and one in twenty like to tell jokes via social networking sites, whilst a quarter said funny clips on the internet are more likely to have their sides splitting than old fashioned jokes.
Despite the poor delivery of a good quip – 30 per cent believe that sense of humour is the best attribute that Britons possess and nearly half believe that cynicism is what defines British Humour, explaining why over a third of Brits who chose Mock The Week as the TV series that puts a smile on their face.

Comedian Paul Tonkinson said:  “The findings from the Costa Light survey show that technology seems to have taken over as the best way to tell a joke, which is a result of the modern age we now live in.
“Brits are famed for their sense of humour and it’s a great loss to our culture that so many of us can’t tell a good joke any more. Remembering all the detail in a joke and delivering a punch line with impact does take a certain amount of skill and flair – which some are better at than others.”
Researchers found that 20 per cent said it’s easier to text or email a joke as it prevents you looking stupid if you tell it wrong. And over 20 per cent find their friends updates on Facebook and Twitter wittier than an old fashioned gag.
The most popular people to share jokes with are friends and family – only nine per cent would crack a joke with their boss and just two per cent would tell a joke to a neighbour.
Gennaro Pellicia Chief Coffee Taster, said:  “To launch our new drink, Costa Light, we wanted to poll the nation to find out just how light- earted Brits are and whether Brits do in fact have the sense of humour they’re famed for.
“It’s a shame that people are finding less time to have a laugh with each other face to face but we encourage the nation to take time out of their hectic lives and enjoy a coffee with friends.

“Our new coffee, Costa Light, is a light-hearted drink where a shot of Mocha Italia espresso is added to skimmed milk and  uniquely blended to create a milder, well-balanced, light, yet indulgent coffee.”

Despite our poor joke knowledge 72 per cent of people reckon they always look on the light side of life and never let things get them down.

The Costa Light Comedy Challenge launches to get Brits laughing:
As a result of the findings of the research, Costa is helping to bring comedy back into people’s lives.  The Costa Light Comedy Challenge will discover budding new comedians and give them the opportunity of a life-time to get a highly coveted Friday night gig at The Comedy Store in London and Manchester.
There are three stages of the competition:
From the 21^st September 2011, comedians upload a section of their stand-up routine to a dedicated microsite (www.costalightcomedy.co.uk) for public voting. Radio promotions and social media communications drive voting.

1. The top ten entries in five regions get invited to a Costa Light ‘Laugh Off’ at designated Costa Light Comedy Challenge evenings across Britain. Each event will be compered by comedian Paul Tonkinson.
2. Two regional winners from each area attend the final event in front of an invited audience at The Comedy Store in London. The event will be judged by Paul Tonkinson, a representative from both the Comedy Store and Costa Coffee.

The overall winner gets a 10 minute slot at The Comedy Store in both London and Manchester on Friday nights during 2012.
For more information, go to www.costalightcomedy.co.uk

Somewhere in the Cannock Chase district is a EuroMillions ticket worth £1m and the search is on to find its owner who bought it for the draw on 7 June 2011.

 
The team at adventure park GoApe joined the search and have created a giant £1,000,000 attached to rope wires in the middle of Cannock Chase to remind locals they could be a millionaire.

For every EuroMillions line played, UK players automatically receive a EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle selection printed on their ticket. The 1m ticket was bought in Cannock Chase district for the draw on 7 June 2011.  Players have 180 days from the draw date to claim their prize.  The Cannock Chase-bought ticket, with the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle selection MWC424302 is still being sought and the lucky ticket-holder has until 3pm on Sunday 4 December 2011 to make their claim.

Pictured are Loz Walter and Claire Potter from Go Ape.

Dun-Bri Group has officially opened Dun-Bri North, the first regional depot in it’s expansion plan.  Staff and directors celebrated the opening and even took orders before the ribbon was cut.  Speaking of which…

Townhouse supported the opening with stationery, building and vehicle signage, brochures and flyers, press and online advertising and PR.

Best of luck everyone…