Blog, Staple Stories

A Bottle of Orange Squash – Balancing the Books

When I was a student I worked as a volunteer in a hospice serving drinks to the patients and their relatives. One morning I went into a room and met a young mother who was clearly 30-40 years younger than any of the other patients. She asked me if I would buy her some orange squash and as I was back in the next day I readily agreed.

That afternoon I went to my nearest supermarket and bought the best and most expensive bottle of orange squash. The following day I went back to the hospice and gave the bottle to the woman. She asked me to take the money from her purse and I explained that it was fine and was a gift. I then stupidly had an argument with this dying young woman about who should pay for the orange squash.

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Staple Stories

Say It With Flowers

Leeds City Council approached me to gauge whether No.6 would be interested in sponsoring hanging baskets in the city centre. Initially, I was very dubious but requested some details on costs and possible locations.

I couldn’t believe our luck when I saw the map. I realised how cost effectively we could position ourselves audaciously within the physical centre of the legal market. This would allow us to create impact, promote brand awareness and position us as a chambers with a cutting edge.

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Staple Stories

The Scottish £10 Note

We are now hooked on going to Scotland every Easter. We split our time between Janet’s cousin’s farm on the east coast near Buckie and at Mellon Udrigle on the west coast just up from Gairloch. I have such a great time there and really switch off. It is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I have ever been. After our holiday in 2013 we returned home with a Scottish £10 note. People are sometimes wary of accepting them in England.

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Staple Stories

Setting The Pace

My first boss and the person who recruited me to P&G was the charismatic, smooth and sharp Duncan Anderson. He had an electric charm, I have never met a better sales person – he also had a great and irreverent sense of humour. I remember him with a glint in his eyes composing a card to our arch rivals Lever Brothers (who also happened to have an office in Harrogate). He wove this great story about a truce and suspension of hostilities over the festive period – wonderful nonsense for soap sellers.

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