Category Archives: Blog

This week our business partner Gamma, presented Grapevine with the award for ‘Marketing Team of the Year’! As a small business, our marketing budgets are limited. In recent years we have adopted a more relationship building based approach to our marketing and communications activity that leverages our most important asset as an employee owned business,ContinueContinue reading “Marketing team of the year”

Today marks two years since Grapevine transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust. We celebrated last Thursday, with our annual ‘Co-owners’ meeting, looking back on our last financial year and sharing plans for 2025, followed by drinks and pizza from Da Mario.In addition to the experience in-house as an employee owned business, a big part ofContinueContinue reading “2nd anniversary of employee ownership”

February was a busy month and included three gigs, running at almost one per week, bringing the 2025 total to a respectable five so far. First up were Bowling For Soup at the BIC. A venue almost four times the size of the one I saw them play at their supposed height 21 years ago. We spentContinueContinue reading “A hangover you do deserve”

I don’t need an excuse to visit a brewery… I have an archive full of them, but I’ll always welcome one, even if it’s first thing in the morning, as was the case yesterday for the latest Dorset Ambassadors event. I’ve been over to Hall & Woodhouse’s Blandford Brewery before, but this was my first timeContinueContinue reading “Hall & Woodhouse visit”

Thank you to Rachel Clarke and Martyn Polkinghorne for inviting me to join a session with the ‘Help to Grow’ management course cohort and talk about my personal experiences with developing, vision, values and company culture at Grapevine.I had to share this great quote from Javier Bajer at the EOA Annual Conference which has beenContinueContinue reading “Help to Grow guest talk”

My 2025 year of gigs has started with the earliest first show in the calendar since 2008. Two under the belt and three more to come before the end of February is a strong start and we could be into personal best territory by the time the year is done. Not only was it an earlyContinueContinue reading “It’s cold out there”

It’s a new year, 2025, or is it 1997 again? It is every Friday night in my house as I continue to follow the Top of the Pops repeats on BBC4. Some of you are probably fed up of my regular updates about who just made their debut on the show, or who was numberContinueContinue reading “Across sound and time”

Thank you for your support and interest in my various projects throughout 2024. I’ve been ‘creating’ for years now (or is it decades?), projects have come and gone, many of you have been along with me for that ride.  This year saw the long talked about ‘Collect Us All!’ finally materialise in written article formContinueContinue reading “Something to leave the house for”

Back from a few days in surprisingly sunny Telford at the EOA Employee Ownership Annual Conference. My head is full of thoughts from everything I heard and saw across the event. Thoughts on what more we can be doing in our business, on the importance of the community and collaboration for EO businesses, on theContinueContinue reading “EOA 2024 Conference”

Last night I attended the launch of BCP Film Office alongside approx. 199 other people at THIS Workspace in Bournemouth. Congrats to Amy Orchard, Claire Main and the team on a sellout success! Kudos also to Jackie Goddard who delivered a masterclass in event hosting. 👏When I embarked on my AVCE in Media Communication andContinueContinue reading “BCP Film Office launch event”

Multiple scenes from The Phantom Menace were shot at Whippendell Wood (just north of London) incl. the Gungans’ Sacred Place where Padme and the rest of the Naboo appeal to Boss Nass to join them in battle against the Trade Federation. We went to check it out last week and I took the big manContinueContinue reading “Toy photography on Naboo”