Insider Media Limited

The chips are up

Never let it be said that PR supremo Jill Priest doesn't know her food – or what food we like. A recent candid email conversation surrounding where to meet for lunch saw Jill and Insider fire back and forth some pretty hectic date-making. We thought we knew our stuff, but when Jill came back with a preview of the chips on offer at Birmingham's finest eateries, then we literally stood and applauded.

This is too good not to share, so, for your records: Opus (duck fat chips); Primitivo (hand cut); Lasan (definitely no chips). This is the sort of PR we love.

In the mix

This week's award for opportunism goes to law firm Higgs & Sons. Amy Hylton, a solicitor at the firm, said the recent controversy between The X Factor girl group Rhythmix and a children's charity of the same name based in Brighton, demonstrates that no matter what your size, researching the name of your business prior to launch is essential.

Amy explained: "Anyone that follows The X Factor will know that Rhythmix had to change its name to Little Mix after the registered charity had concerns about the girl group using the same name and started a campaign to get the group to change its name.

"The case highlights the benefits of having a brand name registered as a trade mark. This was the case for Rhythmix the charity and it certainly reaped the rewards against a party with significantly greater resources!

"I hope local businesses take note of these circumstances and appreciate the advantage that protecting intellectual property can bring."

I think we know what Amy does with her Saturday and Sunday evenings (which is, apparently, when the X Factor is shown).

Holiday showdown

Watch out, the tourists are coming! The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA), the trade association for European Tourism, has revealed that London is set to experience a 95 per leisure tourism slump during the Olympic Games in 2012.

Despite ETOA’s predictions that London may suffer a decline in tourists visiting the region, research from the LJForecaster, an industry tool for forecasting UK hotel occupancy rates, shows that Birmingham is bucking this trend.

Compared with the same period in 2011, demand for Birmingham hotel rooms in 2012 is already 4 per cent higher during the Olympic Games and 7 per cent higher for the Paralympic Games.