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Shoprite launches new ‘MANX STARTISAN’ challenge to local food entrepreneurs The programme is now looking to identify the food producers of tomorrow by issuing a challenge to local entrepreneurs with a Dragon’s Den style competition, called ‘Manx Startisans’, designed to encourage budding food entrepreneurs and evaluate potential business opportunities.
Manx Food Retailer Shoprite has launched a new challenge to budding food entrepreneurs under its Manx Food Heroes programme.
Manx Food Heroes - Apple Orphanage
He explained: “The Isle of Man currently imports over ninety percent of the food that is consumed on the Island. There is a real potential economic benefit in us being able to identify and develop our own food industry notwithstanding the inherent health, environmental and quality benefits of locally produced food.” The food groups that the company has identified include potential new locally produced foods such as fresh chickens, bacon and ham, yoghurt and fresh soup as well as substantially expanding the local market for bread and eggs. The company is inviting all potential candidates to develop and present their proposals to a group of experienced business individuals including Shoprite’s CEO Andrew Thomas, Strategy Head Carol Glover, Senior Buyer John Speakman, Noa Bakehouse Founder Miles Pettitt and The Isle of Man Government’s DEFA Minister Richard Ronan, who will sit on a panel and judge the applications as well as being available for one-to-one advice for successful applicants.
Manx Food Heroes - Noa Bakehouse
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Potential applicants will have until 1st September 2015 to develop their proposals. The panel of judges will make themselves available for any advice or mentoring required in developing proposals and a series of workshops in the run up to the final judging process are also planned.
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Manx Food Heroes - Ellerslie Farm Rapeseed Oil
The winning entrepreneurs, will receive a guaranteed listing in all of Shoprite’s stores for six months as well as receiving start up operations marketing support, packaging, product development and presentation advice including one to one sessions from the panel of experts. The retailer’s parent company Isle of Man Enterprises will also make available free of charge one of its retail units in Village Walk, Onchan for a six month period. The winning entrant will be revealed at the 2015 Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival at the Villa Marina which takes place on the 19th and 20th September. The winning entrant will also be given a free stand at the exhibition to promote their product.
This is the overwhelming result of a random vox pop taken in the island’s capital after UK Home Secretary Theresa May grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons by sporting a low cut top and revealing more than might have been expected.
Manx Food Heroes - Greeba Mushrooms
Former Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture Minister Phil Gawne, in the House of Keys sitting on 12th June 2012, stated that the Island was currently importing over £300 million against a local market spend of £30 million.
Richard Ronan, MHK, Minister for the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture commented: “This is a very serious campaign to generate a more self sufficient island while at the same time providing consumers with quality, traceable produce. I have already identified in my Food Motion that having successful local food producers will also provide a huge boost to the Island’s economy creating more jobs and incremental local investment opportunities. There is a huge market opportunity that we are currently not capitalising on by importing goods from the UK and further afield.”
Are you a ‘Manx Startisan’? - In the first instance, and to obtain further information or help and advice on creating your proposal please email: simon@redpointpr.co.uk
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“Cleavage has no place in the corporate workplace, none, for either sex,” wrote one newspaper columnist the following day and added. “Unless you are a bunny girl or a burlesque dancer please put them away.”
business and corporate environment,” declared Julie, a designer fashion guru of 36 years experience.
Low cut tops are a woman’s biggest career mistake, according to survey assessing the effects of clothing on productivity and career progression commissioned by Dragon’s Den star Peter Jones. The survey also revealed that 20 per cent of managers had fired an employee for dressing inappropriately.
Julie added: “Perhaps something like a camisole underneath the top might have been wise. If a customer wanted my advice on what to wear in an office environment I would make appropriate suggestions but some women have their own ideas, so much depends on the person. You are what you wear, as the saying goes.”
Ties, once in double knots as their popularity waned in the wake of a more dressed down look with open necked shirts, are enjoying something of a comeback in popularity as fashion conscious younger men are opting for slimmer ties to wear with suits and jackets.
Shown the picture of the Right Honourable Lady and her feisty boobage display on Budget Day
“The tie is definitely not dead as an all important accessory,” declares Charlie Turner, a director of menswear shop Garrey Corneil in Douglas “Ties, like the open necked shirt, have their place and certainly when I go out of an evening socially or to a function I wear a tie but not if I’m just going out for a drink,” says 41-year-old Charlie.
“A woman’s intellect should not have to compete with her cleavage,” said one middle-aged grey suited banker in something of a hurry to escape any further questioning when stopped in Strand Street to quiz him on the issue of Theresa May’s bust. His companion pointed out that “ladies” of a certain age might have dabbled with Botox for the face (Mrs May is 58) but had overlooked their “wrinkly cleavage”.
It’s worth remembering, prompted Julie, that then when it comes to showing cleavage, the old adage of ‘less is more’ very much applies.”
Shown a picture of the Right Honourable Lady and her décolletage, a considered response from a man in his 30s was, “Perhaps not in the office, too much of a distraction.” Taking a second look at the picture there was then something of a connoisseur’s appraisal when he added, “Great cleavage though.”
So do we want to see the balcony bra and Cinderella corset for that 11am meeting in the boardroom? Maybe not.
One young dude about town when confronted with the cleavage question had to think long and hard about it. “Love it, mesmerising”, was the eventual response. Julie Hughes, owner of ELLE ‘home of fashion for the discerning lady’ in Duke Street, Douglas w as unequivocal in her response. “it’s just not appropriate in what might be a male dominated
LES ABLE
What a man should know about tucking in his shirt and just when to tie that knot!
is a distraction for both men and women! Manx Food Heroes - Green Mann Spring Water
The company originally launched the Manx Food Heroes concept in 2011 and presented a series of awards to fledgling and established food businesses that were producing quality produce on the Island.
Andrew Thomas, Shoprite’s Chief Executive, says that the company has identified a potential £7million market for foods that are currently being imported that could be replaced with locally produced goods.
THE WORKPLACE
LES ABLE
Cleavage in the workplace
“What we are now seeing is a growing demand for the slimmer ties so the result is that sales of what might be described as the traditional, wider tie are perhaps down a bit but there is little doubt that the tie is enjoying a revival after being in the doldrums for a year or so,” he says. He agrees that there is a more relaxed attitude in many offices to men opting not to wear ties but believes the tie still has its place in banks and financial institutions with customers and clients still expecting to see the likes of their bank manager or advocate wearing a tie. “There are now fewer places that require a tie but wearing one makes you aware that you are somewhere which has certain standards and you also know how to behave accordingly, Tradition has a lot to do with it but the demise of the tie is definitely not on the horizon.”
It does seem, however, that women Home Secretaries in the UK have some form for their low cut tops in Parliament. Eight years ago the then Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith aroused strong opinions with her busty display when making a Commons statement on national security. The final, carefully worded comment on the subject comes from the urbane Clive Parrish, chairman of the Isle of Man branch of the Institute of Directors.
Research in the tie industry has shown that TV series ‘Mad Men’ set in a US advertising agency and actor/singer Justin Timberlake helped spark sales of ‘skinny’ ties and slim suits among men in their 20s and early 30s. Today’s discerning man is often mixing ties with trendy cardigans and waistcoats and wearing one with a blazer which is making something of a 2015 comeback for the summer months ahead.
“It’s important that everyone should dress appropriately,” he declared.
The tie, according to some pundits, is really a phallic symbol with the point directing
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the viewer’s eyes downward and to a certain area of the male anatomy. There is no answer, however, to the question why some men continue to wear ugly ties with obnoxious sayings. No fashion conscious trend is ever likely to reach them. Men, over the coming summer months, will be facing another major sartorial challenge – to tuck the shirt into the jeans or trousers or leave it untucked and hanging out, hoping it might disguise an expanding tummy. According to Dylan Jones, editor of men’s style bible GQ, men of a certain age who think untucking their shirt will make them look younger and hide that paunch are making a big mistake. “A man might think it will make him look thinner, but in fact he will look fatter,” he declares. The whole debate on whether to tuck in or not was prompted by the appearance at an EU summit of new Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. His blue shirt, worn without a tie and open necked, prompted shock, horror gasps from style etiquette experts in the male fashion industry; and, shockm horror, the Minister’s shirt wasn’t even tucked into his trousers. Charlie Turner also takes an unequivocal stance on the subject. “If the shirt has tails and is long sleeved then always tuck it in, otherwise it just looks plain scruffy and maybe hiding something waistline wise,” he declares. “It looks even worse if the shirt tails are hanging below a smart casual jacket.” A more relaxed approach is, however, taken by Rob Green, a director of Douglas menswear shop Esquires. “Wear what you are comfortable with,” he says. “We have a loyal customer base with a broad range of ages and some 90 per cent wouldn’t tuck in their shirts because those we sell are designed to be worn with jeans or chinos. They will often be worn with smart jackets which are becoming increasingly popular among younger men on a night out.” He adds: “Not so long ago T-shirts were taboo when trying to get into clubs but now, with a jacket, are perfectly acceptable and increasingly popular. We are, however, talking about smart, well designed T-shirts from the traditional British brands which we stock and are designed to be worn untucked.”
SO WHEN SHOULD YOU UNTUCK Shirts made with a flat bottom hem are meant to be worn untucked. If the shirt has visible ‘tails’ – rather than being even all the way around – it should always be tucked. Wearing a shirt with tails untucked is not a forbidden look but, according to the etiquette experts, is a juvenile one. The suggestion being that it makes the wearer look like a teen rebel at a grown up wedding or, if under a jacket, looking like he is trying too hard to be stylishly rumpled.
“The tie, according to some pundits, is really a phallic symbol with the point directing the viewer’s eyes downward and to a certain area of the male anatomy”
TRADITIONAL TUCK Always smooth down the front of the shirt first to make sure you have a flat smooth line then smooth it down at the back to get rid of any bunched-up material. Then gently pull up the jeans or trousers. As for T-shirts, whether to tuck or not, depends on the shirt, the belt and the trousers/ jeans. In general, advices the website The Art of Manliness, don’t tuck in the T-shirt unless it’s a deliberate style statement. BECKHAM HALF TUCK This style statement where one half of the front of the shirt is tucked and one left hanging out is perhaps one only the super handsome footballer can carry off. Anyone trying to mimic it over the age of 25 is not only sad but guaranteed to look decidedly foolish. UNDERWEAR TUCK It may not be sexy and carries the risk of your underwear riding up over jeans/ trouser waistband but tucking your shirt into your boxer shorts does have its uses in order to keep a smooth line. In fact, some men’s underwear is now designed with adhesive grips around the waistband to stop the shirt above looking blousy and bunched up. Many style expects say it should only be used wearing a T-shirt underneath an outer shirt to avoid an unflattering Michelin man look.
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CONTENTS Business News.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................86 Manx Startisan Food Heroes with Shoprite..............................................................................................................................................................................92 Could a cloud solution save your business time and money.................................................................................................................................................94 Mobile payment apps...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................96 4G is revolutionising the mobile experience in the Isle of Man...........................................................................................................................................98 Institute of Directors Isle Of Man....................................................................................................................................................................................................100 Launch of new PR Agency - ABLE PR...........................................................................................................................................................................................101 Interview with Notts County FC Director & Sponsor Nathan Cafearo..............................................................................................................................104 Cleavage in the workplace................................................................................................................................................................................................................103 Tuck in your shirt and tie that knot!..............................................................................................................................................................................................106 Need a fresh start?................................................................................................................................................................................................................................108 Movers & Shakers................................................................................................................................................................................................................................109
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