insight Tag

A window into your soul… not quite but hasn’t this new age of virtual meetings given us all a wonderful peek into each others lives.  Historically a work meeting was in quite a controlled environment, be it a board room, meeting table and the like, but now we have been thrown into an era where your opposite numbers could literally be anywhere and subject to the randomness of real life. We have seen meetings interrupted by a

There is an art to customer service that I worried was waining for a while, but I see hope as I think it’s coming back. In my much younger years I spent a lot of time in bars, on the service side not as a customer…well admittedly not all the time. Under the wing of a brilliant restauranteur and talented sommelier, we were taught drinks and food service. It was a really enjoyable time in

The usefulness of the good old newspaper has taken a tragic decline in the last decade, so much so it’s rarely even found coddling your fish and chips. Just to be clear this isn’t going to be a story with a fairytale ending of ‘happily ever after’, but it may create some hope for the printed pieces we have long taken for granted.

On a rainy Sunday afternoon I recently found myself engrossed in the 2014 historic drama 'The Imitation Game’, lead character Alan Turing portrayed eloquently by the enigmatic Benedict Cumberbatch. For those who have not caught this flick, it is highly recommended, if not for the various acting triumphs, then at least for its historic significance. Now this isn’t a sappy film review as such, think more along the lines of a time for recognition and

Madness, isn’t it, how it has taken a global pandemic to help us appreciate all the good stuff that’s actually right under our noses? I think I speak for many when I say that recent events have prompted us to reassess the stuff we truly value in life, and seek to make improvements where we can - let's talk about the Life Upgrade.

Let’s go back. It’s December 2019, Boris has recently been elected Prime Minister, Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You is Spotify’s most played song of the decade, Gavin & Stacey has us all on tenterhooks with that proposal, and ignorance masquerades as bliss.

In 2019 research showed… (now I know many will wince at an article that starts like this but bear with it, it’s pretty interesting…) that shoppers were actively avoiding the wave of self-serve checkouts and online automation that appeared in favour of staffed stores. The report noted that consumers actually value the tactile experience and human interaction over the distance that self-serve puts between them and the product. The drive for a traditional customer service

As you stroll to your local cafe or perhaps simply take an amble in your park you’ll likely take your surroundings for granted. What you don’t realise is that by you simply being there, part of that micro-climate and community, interacting in your own unique way, you are adding to its ‘sense of place’.

Design, right now, couldn’t be more important, and we’re not just saying that because we’re biased. On the most fundamental level, well designed visual cues - we’re talking posters, signage, floor-markings - all play a critical role in signposting public safety, but there’s no excuse for these to be boring.