Looking back, moving forward.
It’s generally accepted that the end of a calendar year is the designated appropriate time for reflection, for looking back while we rest, to recharge the batteries and prepare to move forward when January is upon us. Then 1st January happens and…
Read post2025 laid bare
Another year is in the books. It only feels like yesterday I was writing the same words about 2024. Time is marching on, tomorrow I’ll be able to say that next year (2027) I’ll be 40. So often I wonder when it…
Read posteoa Conference panel
A month ago today I was sat on a stage in Telford, sharing EO stories alongside Hayley Russel, Stephen Spence and our host Arabella Lewis-Smith. The first day of the eoa conference had been a whirlwind, I was still trying to process…
Read post10 Years of The Force Awakens
Today is the tenth anniversary of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Kudos to David Tree and team for putting on the closest thing to an official celebration of the fifth highest grossing film worldwide, earlier this month in Fordingbridge – because, where…
Read postAlternative Exit podcast
Thank you to Andy Farquharson, and Keely Lead from the eoa, for inviting me to be a guest on an episode of the Alternative Exit podcast, recorded live on the show floor at the era Annual Conference last week. The episode is…
Read postThe Joiners becomes Community Owned
For a week that started with a celebration of Employee Ownership, it was a fitting pivot to end it on a recognition of ‘Community Ownership’. As of October, the iconic Joiners Arms in Southampton is now owned by Music Venue Properties, a…
Read postGrapevine named EO Rising Star 2025
I returned home from my second from eoa Conference yesterday with a couple of souvenirs, lots of insights and some great memories. I’m not sure if it was more surreal winning EO Rising Star of the Year, or to see these signs…
Read postBlue Sky Blondes reunion
Here’s a story about one of the unexpected bonuses of employee ownership. Last year I went to the eoa Annual Conference in Telford to represent Grapevine on my own. Knowing this, Emma Hardy from Blue Sky Financial Planning invited me to join…
Read post25 years of Less Than Jake’s ‘Borders & Boundaries’
TL;DR – Borders & Boundaries is my favourite Less Than Jake album. It turns 25 today. There may be records in their back catalogue that sound better, bigger hits may be housed elsewhere, but in viewing albums as a consistent line of thought,…
Read postMe and the music
Live music is back on Poole Hill in Bournemouth, courtesy of The Vault venue and Coach Party, one of my new favourite bands from the past few years, who headlined the first ‘gig’ put on here, in what is primarily a nightclub.…
Read postComfort in Sound revisited
Last week I went to see Feeder play their 2002 album Comfort in Sound live in full at Brixton Academy. The jury continues to be out for me on whether album shows ‘work’. I’ve seen quite a few over the past couple…
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Liam Toms 