Something for the weekend
'tis the season…
Lots of East Midlands businesses think it's time to take a Christmas break – a break from the comfort and joy bit, that is. According to Close Invoice Finance, who reckon themselves to be experts in all things festive despite being asset-based lenders, more than a third of East Midlands companies have scrapped the annual staff booze-up and under-the-mistletoe snogathon to save a bit of cash.
Were that not enough, a good number are making the Christmas break shorter and have reminded staff that unauthorised absence – otherwise known as a duvet day nursing a hangover - will result in disciplinary action. So with that in mind may we wish you all a low alcohol, harder working, company policy observing, shorter and more productive Christmas. Bet that's got you all in festive the mood...
Run for the (c)hills
We're nothing here if not keen students of history, so were very interested to hear of a centenary race to the South Pole, set to begin on New Year's Day, featuring Marc Woods, director of SladenWoods, a Peak District learning and development company.
The race is being run by ultra adventure operator Extreme World Races and is inspired by the 100th anniversary of the original Antarctic challenge. Woods, who has won four gold medals at the Paralympics, having lost a leg to cancer aged 17, is part of one of six teams that will travel a distance of 704km, braving the elements in a bid to raise money for learning disability charity, Mencap. The very best of luck.
Celebrity mismatched press release of the week
Jazz singer Jamie Cullum and model Sophie Dahl are a mismatch – particularly when it comes to disturbed sleeping patterns, Insider was informed this week.
Memoryfoammattressdirect.co.uk told us in a press release that Cullum is likely to endure sleepless nights given he is almost a foot shorter than his wife – but unsurprisingly, also had a solution – a 'memory foam mattress', which it can supply.
The release speculated that the relationship of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman might have suffered similar difficulties which may have led to their problems. It also wondered if these may have subsided now Cruise is paired with Katie Holmes.
Memoryfoammattressdirect.co.uk is definitely concerned about basketball star Shaquille O’Neal’s relationship with Nicole Alexander, who is almost two feet smaller than him, adding: "When he shifts around in his sleep, she is really going to notice."
The website claims to have further examples of mismatched couples on its website who could benefit from a Memoryfoammattressdirect.co.uk mattress to end "short lived celebrity relationships" that are "less irritable and prone to fewer arguments" because of sleeping problems. However, we were more than convinced given the excellent examples in the press release.
