MK Advertiser Blog

Budget Rent-a-Car’s success as one of the top three global car and van rental companies was demonstrated once again when it recently scooped the Institute of Transport Management (ITM) ‘UK Car Rental Company of the Year 2008′ award.

The ITM annual awards recognise companies both large and small which have made exceptional contributions to the transport industry. Budget was chosen for its dedication to the industry by providing consistently good value, quality car rental and excellent customer service despite tough market conditions.

Andy Lewis, Head of Marketing and E-Commerce, Budget Rent-a-Car said: “We are honoured to receive this recognition, particularly as we are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year.

“The award is an acknowledgement of our continued commitment to the industry and our customers. We are dedicated to providing the highest levels of service, and are continually striving to set new standards in car rental.”

Patrick Sheedy, Media and PR Director for the ITM added: “Budget Rent-a-Car stands out from the crowd by maintaining excellent rates for the ordinary customer and consistently providing quality products and services while operating the highest standards of business practice.”

We are obviously delighted to be part of a Budget Car & Van Rental network that is recognised as providing quality service at excellent rates by the Institute of Travel Management.

Our aim to not simply to maintain such high standards but to continually strive to exceed them.

We look forward to being of service to you.

Spooners Restaurant are holding a first class seafood buffet on 22 August where you’ll have the chance to also enjoy a drink from their Pimms fountain on arrival. Why not join them and open some crab legs, peel some shrimp, sip some clam chowder and enjoy the wonderful seafood salads, a variety of seafood dishes, vegetables, salad bar and much more. Do not forget to leave room for our mouthwatering desserts. Only £35 per person.

Starters include Mushroom julienne, Fish soup, Smoked salmon and leek tart, Smoked sturgeon bliny, An exotic fruit platter with cassis puree. Main Course (Buffet) includes colossal cocktail shrimp, giant snow crab legs, Russian style dill-poached crayfish, langoustine and poached Lobster, all served with special house cocktail sauce. Salmon poached in a dry white wine and sturgeon kebab served with a tarragon and watercress creme-fraiche sauce. Fresh anchovies in brine and a delicious selection of shell-fish.

From the salad bar you’ll have a choice of mixed green salad, grilled peppers, marinated mushrooms, coleslaw salad, Russian pickles, Seafood salad, sliced tomato, onions and cucumber plus the Chef’s slection of dressings.

Finally from the dessert menu, there is a choice of Chocolate Fondue with seasonal fruits, Baked Camembert with crudities, Napoleon, multi-layered home made puff pastry, filled with delicious home made custard, Baby meringue with seasonal fruit and vodka compote or Home made Tiramisu with filtered coffee to finish.

Please call 01908 584 385 for reservations.

Jonathan Todd, owner of The Plough in Wavendon, had a second reason to celebrate at his restaurant during a black tie dinner for the restaurant’s first birthday celebrations on Wednesday 16th July.

Restaurant Guide publisher, Paul Allen, from the Foodie Square Guide, awarded The Plough Wavendon as ‘Buckinghamshire Restaurant of the Year 2008.’ The annual award - in its sixth year - was bestowed upon the restaurant as voted for by the readers of The Foodie Square Guide.

Paul Allen commented : “The restaurants we feature in The Foodie Square Guide are recommended to us by our readers. Nominations are received from the readers and restaurant goers across Buckinghamshire and beyond - throughout the year, and the annual ‘Restaurant of the Year’ award is announced in July. We are extremely pleased to see The Plough Wavendon achieve this in their first year of trading. We take into account all our customer comments and feedback and this is used to determine the winner of the award. Jon Todd, Grant and his remarkable team have done Buckinghamshire proud with their attention to detail from the food and wine, to the landscaped areas. Congratulations to them on becoming Buckinghamshire Restaurant of the Year 2008.”

Todd commented, “We are extremely proud of The Plough’s latest award. It is testament to the commitment and ideals our restaurant offers the diners here in the Milton Keynes countryside. Grant is passionate about the food and service we deliver. His support for local businesses, and in turn the local economy allows him to further enhance his position as one of the region’s leading chefs: something that I, as a successful Milton Keynes businessman, fully appreciate and support. He can justifiably be proud of this award - it is voted for by the public and is a glowing confirmation of their support in what he does.”

Chef Grant Hawthorne commented “It’s been my ambition to become the best restaurant here at The Plough Wavendon. I have been given an amazing opportunity to do so and I’m extremely grateful for the support of Jon in helping me to achieve this. Our award-winning, fine dining restaurant in Milton Keynes is where my passion and demonstration of the art and craft of cooking is to be found. I’m humbled by the guest’s recognition and respectful of the honour that goes with this Foodie Award. What a wonderful birthday surprise!”

Grant recently launched his 9-course summer Degustation menu, with the added option of having a flight of wines to match each course. He added “The Plough’s complimentary luxury transport, 400 bin wine list and some of the UK’s best dishes are to be found here, 7 miles from Central Milton Keynes. The tasting menu simply adds to our fine dining experience.”

Drop into the Embankment Hotel in Bedford for a bite to eat or a drink and you’ll notice a fair few changes about the place. That’s because Andrew Coath, the new owner of the imposing half-timbered Victorian inn on Bedford’s riverside has already been hard at work with his team trying out some fantastic new dishes on the menu as well as giving the pub a much-need facelift.

Andrew is something of an expert when it comes to opening great pubs serving outstanding quality, fresh food and drink in friendly and relaxed surroundings. His two other pubs in the area - The Black Horse in Woburn and The Swan in Salford - have both helped put good food firmly on the map locally and given everyone a warm welcome to everyone who steps foot inside. Andrew has picked up a number of awards along the way, including being named Food Pub Manager of the Year 2007 and winning the British Institute of Innkeeping’s Licensee of the Year Award, making him officially the best landlord in Britain last year.

Now he’s looking forward to creating another lovely place to eat, drink and stay in Bedford. “The Embankment’s got so much going for it, being in such a great place overlooking the river and just a stone’s throw from the town centre” he says. “Already we’ve transformed what’s on the menu; we’ve raised the quality of the food, bring in fresh, simple dishes made by chefs with the best seasonal produce we can buy. We’ve introduced delicious afternoon teas and morning coffees and some great new wines, ales and beers. And that’s just a start; later in the year we’ll be joined by a new head chef who trained with the Roux brothers who’ll be bringing even more exciting ideas to the menu. We’re also planning to complete a revamp of the pub as well as every one of the 20 hotel rooms, so by early 2009, it’s all going to look quite different!”

Work will commence on the refit later in 2008, with the new Embankment Hotel officially launched in February next year. Until then, Andrew wants to make sure as many people as possible know about the positive changes at the pub.

“We’re working hard to create a really wonderful place to relax and enjoy great food where people can feel really at home” adds Andrew. “We believe that our place should be your place and want to give the people of Bedford the kind of home they can be truly proud to call their local.”

Andrew is one of the Directors of the award-winning Peach Pub Company, who have a small group of pubs renowned for great quality food, drink and service across the midlands and the North Home Counties. Peach is one of the brightest companies in the pub world and is run by people who love food, like to have fun, and care about the planet.

Angela Sherman, professional copywriter from Content Creation, highlights the key things to remember when writing articles…..

Writing articles is one of the most powerful parts of your marketing toolkit. A good article can last long into the future, help you drive more traffic to your website and send clients to your door. They’re easy to write, they’re low cost and they set you up as an expert in your field. Plus, by offering good value in your articles, you build trust and credibility.

1. CHOOSE YOUR TOPIC. Your article might convey news about something to do with your business. Or you might write a useful ‘top tips’ article offering the reader a solution to a problem. Alternatively, focus on a topical issue, a recurring problem for your readership or a perennial question in your reader’s mind. Include interesting insights or helpful solutions. Pick up on things your clients say, observe the things people do - and then address common myths or misconceptions.

2. USE YOUR ARTICLE IN PRINT AND ON THE WEB. Whatever your topic, make the most of your article. Print it, upload it to your website, use it on your blog, send it to online publishers, include it with your proposals, use it as a handout, use it in a newsletter, email it to your clients and contacts, submit it to a magazine, post it on an ‘articles’ website (see Top Tip 10), send it to your alliance partners for inclusion in their own newsletters…..there are all sorts of ways to make an article your best marketing friend!

3. RESEARCH WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR - AND WHAT THEY REALLY WANT. In business people often want to read something useful and practical - something that speaks their language. By writing articles like this, you become their trusted advisor. Scour the trade press, search engines, relevant blogs, forums and newsgroups, etc. On the web, what ‘keywords’ will people use to search for the topic in your article? Make sure you include these words in your article. Do your research.

4. BRAINSTORM IDEAS AROUND YOUR TOPIC. If you’re not sure where to start, try this: Use an egg-timer or other time-limiting device. Write down words related to your topic - just words. Keep writing - don’t stop. Then expand each word or idea with other single words or phrases and then explain those words with additional ideas or phrases - and so on. All ideas are good! Now decide what your key issue / argument is and put your thoughts into some kind of numerical order.

5. CREATE A TITLE OR HEADING. Your title is CRITICAL both for humans and search engines. The title gets your article read by both. If writing for the web, include an appropriate search engine keyword in your title. Example: if you’re an image consultant, the title “10 easy ways to look great and win your next promotion” is good for human beings, but the title “Corporate attire for men - 10 easy ways to look great and win your next promotion” is much better for search engines, because it is more specific and would be picked up by people using the keywords “corporate attire for men.”

6. DRAFT YOUR INTRODUCTION. Why this topic? Why now? Tell your reader what you’re going to tell them and highlight the key insight you’ll explore. Perhaps start with an anecdote. Imagine you’re talking to a friend - that will set a good conversational tone. Add your name and position between the heading and the introduction, e.g. “Jo Smith of ABC Co. Ltd explains….”

7. WRITE YOUR BODY TEXT AND BREAK IT UP WITH SUBHEADINGS. Take the points you’ve brainstormed, develop them and take the reader step-by-step through your article. Keep it punchy. Add keywords, as appropriate. Perhaps use a quote from the relevant person, perhaps one of your peers or a client or an acknowledged expert in your field. If you’re writing for the web, link to a specific page of your website to help generate traffic. The content of your article must be interesting enough for someone to click on the link - so make sure you use a good keyword as the link text. If you’re sending your article for someone else to publish, check how many words they need. Leave the reader wanting more. If you’ve written a long article, could you break it up into a series of shorter ones? That would be ideal for a blog or for a magazine.

8. MAKE IT READABLE. Use more “you” words than “we” or “I”. Vary the pace by varying paragraph lengths and sentence lengths. Use one idea / subject per paragraph. Read it aloud to check that it flows.

9. CONCLUSION / SUMMARY. Tell them what you’ve told them and leave your key point or key question in their minds. Include a ‘call to action’, i.e. tell people what to do next. This encourages people to contact you and shows them why it’s worthwhile. Add your credentials and contact details at the end. If your article is for the web, include a link to a specific page on your website and always include “http://” if you’re mentioning your actual URL. Alternatively, use your best keyword as a link. Once you’ve written your article, sleep on it. Then cut down the number of words and get someone else to read it!

10. CONSIDER POSTING YOUR ARTICLE ON FREE ‘ARTICLES WEBSITES’. Write a useful article and post it on an articles website. These are essentially directories of articles on all sorts of topics. Articles posted on these sites will show up in general search results for your topic, as long as you’ve included the appropriate keywords. Link the article to a specific page or your website or blog - or to a separate sales page if you’re promoting a specific product. Then send your article to just a few articles websites initially (see below) - and measure the results! Browse some of the following sites* and see who else is writing in your field and how they structure and link their articles:

www.ezinearticles.com    www.articledashboard.com    www.articlecity.com    www.buzzle.com    www.ideamarketers.com

*Content Creation and the MK Advertiser does not endorse any of these websites and is not responsible for any of the content on any of these sites.

If you’d like some help creating powerful articles to drive traffic to your website and clients to your door, contact Angela Sherman at Content Creation on 01908 582 231 or visit her website to find out more.

Ray Ripnar of Spooners, is enjoying the challenges that running a restaurant bring. It’s now 3 months since Spooners was sold to himself and his partner Mili. Their new Chef, Vitali is now firmly established in the kitchen where the flavours of Russia mix comfortably on the menu alongside old favourites like Henry Marshall and Bread & Butter Pudding.

Spooners in Woburn have several upcoming events and here are some to consider. Father’s Day (Sunday 15th June). A 3 course luncheon and coffee at £19 per head (children up to 12 years half price). Every father will have a chance to win a prize.

New for the summer - wine and dine lunches. Why not try the new set menu at £12.50 for 2 courses or £15.50 for 3.  These are ideal for special ocassions, business lunches or just relaxing with friends.

From Russia With Love (20th June). A special evening where Spooners will bring the atmosphere and flavours of Russia to you. A 3 course meal, coffee, with a traditional drink and canapes on arrival are charged at just £35 per head. There will also be a quiz on the evening with a prize for the winning table.

With the arrival of summer and hopefully the weather to accompany it, Spooners are offering special summer culinary treats so why not try cooked lobster and exotic salads at this premier establishment?  

Click here to find out more about Spooners.

The stunning garden of The Swan, Salford is the setting once again this year for SNAP up a Frock, an annual extraganza of fabulous designer dress shopping, champagne sipping and lunching, all for charity, taking place on Saturday 13th September.

This annual fundraiser in aid of the Milton Keynes based charity SNAP, which helps young adults with learning difficulties, gets into full swing from 1030am. This is a great opportunity to contribute to a good cause while you have a great day out.

“This year’s SNAP up a Frock event promises to be even bigger and more glamorous than before, with hundreds of dazzling designer bargains just waiting to be snapped up” said Sally Fennemore, Funraising Co-Ordinator for SNAP.

Swan owner Andrew Coath added “SNAP up a Frock is always a fabulous day out. Last year we raised more than £8,000 and this time we’re hoping we’ll be able to raise even more money for a great cause. Please come along and support us on the day so we can make it an even bigger success for SNAP.”

To be sure of a ticket, please contact Sally Fennemore on 01908 586 326. Tickets and further information are also available from The Swan, Salford on 01908 281 008.

Click here to read MK Reviews thoughts on The Swan, Salford.

Did you know that there are over 4,000 children waiting to be adopted this year alone?

St Francis’ Children’s Society - which carries out significant work in Milton Keynes - is a registered charity offering a range of services including  :

• Support and preparation of adoptive parents
• Support for children and adults who have experienced adoption
• Counsel for birth families who have lost a child to adoption

As part of its commitment to finding adoptive parents, the charity is aiming ‘to give the green light’ to those potential adopters most able to consider children who are waiting now for a family. These children include sibling groups of 2 and more children, both preschool and of school age, and older children who are very much waiting for a family to call their own.

The Society is holding an Open Evening at the purpose built offices in Woolstone, Milton Keynes on Tuesday 20th May from 630pm to 830pm. Anyone who is considering adoption is welcome and will be given a chance to meet memebers of the St. Francis’ Children’s Society team.

For more information on attending the Open Evening please contact Chris Large or Jasvir Juss on 01908 572 734.

A message from Rachel and Donald, partners of asscal.co.uk We started the business for two reasons, firstly we were fed up of trekking round shops searching for quality products at decent prices, and secondly we all wanted to be involved in a family project together.  The kids and pets test the products and we sell them. The name asscal comes from amalgamating our kids’ names. We regularly compare our prices and search high and low to reduce our costs so we can pass on super savings to our customers.  We started small and are growing every day. We sell every day items but we strive to find those unusual items, which will make our customers lives a little easier, or just make you smile.    We discovered the MK advertiser by accident but are so pleased we did. They are more than just an advertising company - they are helping us grow very quickly.  We love the fact that they only run genuine business adverts and are not cluttered with pop ups and annoying links.  Since signing up with MK advertiser a month ago we have seen our website hits increase by 20%.  We are based in Milton Keynes and would love our business to grow with the city.  Our flagship seller believe it or not is Swoop the Poop, a demo video for which can be viewed at our sister site asscal.com go on have a look.