Holiday – something employees are all allocated to take each year for the purpose of pursuing leisurely activities and recreation away from the office. It can also be defined as prolonged downtime which will often involve travelling abroad or going to another part of the country. It is essentially escape from a normal working routine. So for many people, particularly people who work set hours, taking a holiday is something that can be done relatively easily. Continue reading
Louis tells us why he uses a London Presence mail forwarding service
Louis Savy runs Sci-Fi London, the world’s largest film festival dedicated to Science Fiction. The festival showcases the latest Sci-Fi films, large and small. It’s no surprise then that Sci-Fi London receives DVDs by the bucketload from film-makers dying to get their film on the programme. So how does a busy man like Louis cope with all this mail? With a little help from us of course!
Here’s why Louis uses London Presence…
Convenient
“Having an external mailing address where I know someone’s there 9-5:30, five days a week is very handy. If something needs to be signed for, I know somebody’s there who can do it. Then my mail is secure until I come and pick it up” Continue reading
We aim to send mail on the day that we receive it
If you have a mail forwarding service, you will no doubt want to know how long it takes to receive your mail after we’ve processed it. So here you go.
We aim to send mail on the day that we receive it or the day after (Monday to Friday).
If the mail being forwarded is a regular item and is being sent to a UK address, we will send it via Royal Mail 1st Class. This should be with you within the next working day, including Saturdays.
If the mail being sent is Registered Office mail (only relevant if you have a Registered Office service), we will send it via Royal Mail 2nd Class. This should be with you within the next two or three days, once again including Saturdays. Continue reading
We’d love to hear from you
• Mail Forwarding
• Phone Answering
• Holiday Cover
What we need
A few paragraphs about you, your business and how our services assist you.
We’re also looking for some larger, interview format case studies. Interviews can take place at our London offices or over the phone.
What’s in it for you?
Well most importantly it’s great exposure for your business. We don’t want the case studies to be about us, that would be boring, we want them to be about you.
If we decide to use your case study (on the site, marketing materials, social media etc) we’ll also give you a £25 Amazon voucher.
Interested?
Please email [email protected] for more information.
Browsing through our past blog posts I came across one that I had written in March 2010, ‘Olymp-clinically Obese’. The gist of the post was that Londoners had a right to be cynical about the Olympics a good two years before they took place and that they would no doubt embrace them when they came around.
How right I was.
This got me all sentimental about London this time last year (well almost, the opening ceremony was on July the 27th). Olympic fever reached our office when the torch-bearers paraded down Farringdon Road. You knew something had changed because delayed journeys were met with enthusiasm rather than derision.
We’d caught the Olympic bug… a bug that wouldn’t shift until the closing of the Paralympics in September.
Barely a day went by without a yelp from the kitchen as someone watched a compatriot (compatriot-proper or compatriot-through-sweepstake) grasp gold. There was a real buzz in the office and out in the streets. The world’s best party had come to our doorstep.
A fantastic time to have a London Presence.
If you’re thinking about using our London Mail Forwarding service, or already using it, you may be interested to see how your mail is handled. So, for the curious, below is the journey your mail takes.
1. Mail is sent for your attention to our office
2. We receive it
3. Our team process the mail
4. And then, depending on your specified choice, we:
a) Post it to you
b) Scan the item and then email it to you
c) Let you know that mail is available to be collected from our office
Any questions? Let us know below.
Here’s some background about where we’re based (and where your mail is handled if you use our mail forwarding service).
Clerkenwell is in the London Borough of Islington. The name originates from “Clerks’ Well” an actual well dating back to the middle ages that still remains visible from the Well Court building on Farringdon Lane. We’re based on St John Street, the pictured St John’s Gate is located just a minute’s walk from our office.
Other “historical” landmarks include:
• Smithfield’s Market
• The execution site of William Wallace (Braveheart)
• The Crown Tavern – the pub where Lenin and Stalin apparently first met
• The Eagle – London’s first gastropub (Clerkenwell is now a foodie’s dream with restaurants including St John, Club Gascon and Moro all being in the area)
Cineastes may recognise Clerkenwell from a number of films. Skyfall, Eastern Promises, About a Boy, The Dark Knight Rises and 28 Weeks Later all had scenes shot around here.
Clerkenwell is now considered the hub of the UK’s design industry and hosts the aptly titled Clerkenwell Design Week, “the UK’s leading independent design festival”. The design boom (previously Clerkenwell was associated with the printing industry) has resulted in a real buzz. Rarely are the multiple bars and restaurants empty, it’s only at the weekend that things slow down and even then there’s Fabric nightclub.
Clerkenwell’s location is a huge selling point. Nestled snugly between the financial square mile, trendy Shoreditch and Central London, it’s at the heart of London’s business activity. This, and the fact that it’s such a hub for creativity, makes Clerkenwell the ideal place to base any business from.
Just because Yahoo are putting an end to staff working from home doesn’t mean that the concept’s days are numbered. Recent research by Direct Line for Business found that up to eight million people in the UK are now running a business from home. So, for the benefit of those 8 million, here are our top tips for working from home.
• Put some clothes on
It’s important to build a routine. Wake up, have a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, do some work. Lofing about in your pj’s equals one thing. Daytime TV.
• Pick a good spot
Where you carry out your work is integral. It doesn’t need to be a big area or even a clean area but it does need to be an area where you’re not going to be distracted. And shut the door. This tells people “I’m working, leave me to it”.
• Take a breather
Just because you’re cutting out the commute doesn’t mean that you have to cut out fresh air. A brief wander outside can do wonders.
• Failing to plan is planning to fail
Or if you prefer, there’s the 7 military P’s. Every day set out a plan outlining what you want to achieve. Include some smaller, basic tasks for when procrastination rears its ugly head. Doing something is better than nothing.
• Make yourself available
Unanswered Skype chats (and calls) will make people think you’re skiving. Respond as quickly as you can.
• And stop
The two temptations of working from home are “never start” and “never stop”. For the latter, don’t forget your non-work life. Work specific hours and stop when your day is done. Easier typed than done.
What are your working from home tips? Let us know below.
The British Academy Television Awards 2009 have taken place in London’s Royal Festival Hall to celebrate the very best in TV. Here the full list of winners and nominees:
Best Actor
Stephen Dillane – The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall (C4) – WINNER!
Jason Isaacs – The Curse of Steptoe (BBC Four)
Ken Stott – Hancock and Joan (BBC Four)
Ben Whishaw – Criminal Justice (BBC One)
Best Actress
June Brown – EastEnders (BBC One)
Anna Maxwell Martin – Poppy Shakespeare (C4) – WINNER!
Maxine Peake – Hancock and Joan (BBC Four)
Andrea Riseborough – Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley (BBC Four)
Best Entertainment Performance
Stephen Fry – QI (BBC Two)
Harry Hill – Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV1) – WINNER!
Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly – I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! (ITV1)
Jonathan Ross – Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (BBC One)
Best Comedy Performance
Rob Brydon – Gavin & Stacey (BBC Three)
Sharon Horgan – Pulling (BBC Three)
David Mitchell – Peep Show (C4) – WINNER!
Claire Skinner – Outnumbered (BBC One)
Best Single Drama
Einstein and Eddington (BBC Two/Company Pictures)
Hancock and Joan (BBC Four/World Productions)
The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall (C4/TalkbackTHAMES)
White Girl (BBC Two/Tiger Aspect Productions) – WINNER!
Best Drama Series
Doctor Who (BBC One/BBC Productions)
Shameless (C4/Company Pictures)
Spooks (BBC One/Kudos Film and Television)
Wallander (BBC One/Left Bank Pictures) – WINNER!
Best Drama Serial
Criminal Justice (BBC One/BBC Productions) – WINNER!
Dead Set (C4/A Zeppotron Production)
The Devil’s Whore (C4/Company Pictures & Power)
House of Saddam (BBC Two/BBC Productions & HBO)
Best Continuing Drama
The Bill (ITV1/TalkbackTHAMES) – WINNER!
Casualty (BBC One/BBC Productions)
EastEnders (BBC One/BBC Productions)
Emmerdale (ITV1/ITV Studios)
Best International
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (More4/MTV Networks)
Dexter (ITV1/John Goldwyn Productions)
Mad Men (BBC Four/AMC) – WINNER!
The Wire (FX/Blown Down Productions/HBO/FX)
Best Factual Series
Amazon with Bruce Parry (BBC Two/Indus Films & Endeavour Productions) – WINNER!
Blood Sweat and T-Shirts (BBC Three/Ricochet)
The Family (C4/Firefly Films)
Ross Kemp in Afghanistan (SKY1/Tiger Aspect )
Best Specialist Factual
Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery (BBC Four/BBC Productions)
Life in Cold Blood (BBC One/BBC Productions) – WINNER!
Lost Land of the Jaguar (BBC One/BBC Productions)
Stephen Fry & the Gutenberg Press: The Machine That Made Us (BBC Four/Wavelength Films)
Best Single Documentary
A Boy Called Alex (C4/Walker George Films)
Chosen (True Stories) (C4/True Vision Productions) – WINNER!
The Fallen (BBC Two/Minnow Films)
Thriller in Manila (More4/Darlow Smithson Productions)
Best Features
The Apprentice (BBC One/TalkbackTHAMES)
Celebrity MasterChef (BBC One/Shine Limited)
The Choir: Boys Don’t Sing (BBC Two/Twenty Twenty Television) – WINNER!
Top Gear (BBC Two/BBC Productions)
Best Current Affairs
Saving Africa’s Witch Children (Dispatches) (C4/A Red Rebel Films and Oxford Scientific Films) – WINNER!
Mum Loves Drugs, Not Me (Dispatches) (C4/True Vision Productions)
Omagh: What The Police Were Never Told (Panorama) (BBC One/BBC Productions)
Ross Kemp: A Kenya Special (SKY 1/Tiger Aspect Productions)
Best News Coverage
Channel 4 News (C4/ITN)
News At Ten – Chinese Earthquake (ITV1/ITN) – WINNER!
Sky News – Canoe Man (Sky News/Sky News)
Sky News – Mumbai (Sky News/Sky News)
Best Sport
Cheltenham Gold Cup – Denman v Kauto Star (C4/Highflyer Digital)
ITV1 F1: Brazilian Grand Prix 2008 (ITV1/North One Television) – WINNER!
Olympics 2008 (BBC One/BBC Sport)
Wimbledon 2008 – The Men’s Final (BBC One/BBC Sports )
Best Interactivity
Bryony Makes A Zombie Movie (BBC Three Online & TV/Hat Trick Productions)
Embarrassing Bodies Online (www.channel4.com/bodies/Maverick Television) – WINNER!
Merlin (BBC One/BBC Productions)
Olympics 2008 (BBC One/BBC Sport)
Best Entertainment Programme
Friday/Sunday Night Project (C4/Princess Productions)
Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV1/Avalon Television)
QI (BBC One/TalkbackTHAMES)
X Factor (ITV1/TalkbackTHAMES) – WINNER!
Best Comedy Programme
Harry and Paul (BBC One/Tiger Aspect Productions) – WINNER!
The Peter Serafinowicz Show (BBC Two/Objective Productions)
Star Stories (C4/Objective Productions)
That Mitchell and Webb Look (BBC Two/BBC Productions)
Best Situation Comedy
The Inbetweeners (E4/BWark Productions)
The IT Crowd (C4/Talkback Productions) – WINNER!
Outnumbered (BBC One/Hat Trick Productions)
Peep Show (C4/Objective Productions)
Philips Audience Award
The Apprentice
Coronation Street
Outnumbered
Skins – WINNER!
Wallander
X Factor
“Second Life is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab that launched on June 23, 2003 and is accessible via the Internet. A free client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world, which residents refer to as the grid” (Wikipedia definition)
Why do I tell you this? Because some people are still scared by the word virtual, but virtual does not mean unreliable, it only refers to another level of perception. And second life and real life are not so far apart , they are deeply linked by the coin: in the virtual world you use real money! Second Life is infact a huge new potential marketplace with its 1.2 million “residents” who spend $500,000 every day, real money! Many of us already use the Internet, which is a virtual world of its own, as a place of business. Perhaps virtual worlds like Second life are the next step.
Second Life is not the only place where you can have a virtual office for a real business. In London you can have one too. In this way you can reduce costs, reach more clients and work comfortably from your own home. You can do everything online: create your account, add to your services, receive your messages, all in just a few clicks!
