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Clean sweep

Imagine, dear reader, being able to wash your undergarments without ever leaving the comfort of your company car. Well, now you can.

Johnson Cleaners, dry cleaning firm, has invested a six-figure sum in order to launch the UK’s first ever drive-thru dry cleaners.

Johnson Cleaners currently has 461 stores nationwide and has now invested £130,000 to develop the new concept store in Burton, Staffordshire.

The drive-thru dry cleaners – a concept which has proved popular in US but has never been tried in the UK market before - was unveiled last month. It aims to create "the highest levels of convenience for customers", allowing them to drop off and collect dry cleaning and laundry without leaving their car.

Braking point

In other car-based news, a businessman who drives 40,000 miles a year says he now saves money on fuel by driving much more economically – after being caught speeding.

Steve Owen, a product sales manager at a Bridgnorth business, said he improved both his driving skills and the performance of his company car after choosing to attend a four hour speed awareness course instead of receiving points on his licence.

He has now proposed the idea of driver training to his company, Ruskin Air Management, which is provided by Shropshire's TTC Automotive, the corporate training arm of speed awareness course provider, the TTC Group, of Hadley Park, Telford.

"I attended the course at Worcester with heavy heart expecting a dull four hours. My experience was actually very different. The course was informative and challenged my, and I'm sure other people's, attitudes to speed and driving."

Just a week after the course Steve said he found it much easier to drive within speed limits using a speed limiter, journeys didn’t take much longer, and he was less stressed as now he didn’t need to watch the rear view mirror "for blue lights". He now kept a good "two second" gap behind the vehicle in front.

"I hope I am now a little better on the road and my fuel consumption has improved from 40 to 50 miles per gallon, a 25 per cent difference."

Steve said he was also spared a speeding conviction after being tailgated on a 40mph section of the Bridgnorth to Kidderminster Road soon after the course.

"My reaction to this before would probably have been to increase my speed but following the course I didn't."

Half a mile further, the two cars passed two police officers conducting speed checks.

"I am sure it is a direct result of my speed awareness course that I took the action I did. It saved me and the guy on my tail, another speeding fine."

I bet Steve's colleagues are delighted.

Feeling the pinch

People will nick anything these days, it seems, if you listen to Cushman and Wakefield.

Thefts of metal from commercial properties in the West Midlands have increased dramatically in 2011 - and landlords are set to count the cost.

It is believed that just over half of the region’s vacant properties may have been targeted by criminals in the past year, according to independent research by The Vacant Property Specialists (VPS).

The thieves' main targets are warehouses that have become empty, thanks to the recession. The metals they mainly seek are copper and lead, both of which have increased hugely in terms of their scrap value in recent years, not least due to rising demand from the Far East.

Copper cabling and pipework, and lead from rooftops are among the most highly targeted fixtures. There is also the danger of other thieves attacking the same site, as they will perceive it as an easy target, says Cushman and Wakefield.

Where there's muck there’s brass, we guess.