Author name: David Parkin

FAREWELL then Harry Gration. THE long-serving BBC presenter died last week at the age of just 71. The news was greeted with tears by his broadcasting colleagues and total shock by a Yorkshire public who had spent a large part of their lives watching Harry on the telly. When you see someone that much on […]

THE first proper “live” event I did after the lockdown during the pandemic was for accountancy firm Murray Harcourt. Booking speakers and standing in front of an audience to introduce them felt like a breath of fresh air after so many months in confinement. This week I was working with the entrepreneurial firm again as

OH I do like to be beside the seaside. I know we are promised that today will be the hottest day of the year so far – hands up if you are “working from home” – but I enjoyed a positively balmy sojourn in Bridlington this time last week. The early morning drive through the

I SIGNED off my last blog with the words: “More tea vicar?” as I said I would  be busy helping my Mum with her Platinum Jubilee party over the bank holiday weekend. Well how wrong could I be. Not about helping out, she gave me so many jobs I was busier than a worker ant

IT’S not a bad way to arrive at an event and be greeted by a flypast by a Lancaster bomber and a Spitfire. Modern technology makes these relics of World War Two look positively antediluviun but I defy anyone to not look up and be impressed when the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial

IF there’s one phrase that has entered modern parlance that I don’t understand it is: “Living my best life”. Often accompanied by a hashtag, what I’ve noticed is that the people who use it – mainly on social media posts – are rather needy individuals and my automatic thought tends to be: “That’s really lovely

I THOUGHT I’d been to events in most parts of Rudding Park Hotel at Harrogate. The only one I definitely haven’t been to is its luxury spa. And that’s not for want of trying. When I last visited I forgot my cossy and they didn’t deem a pair of off-white Y-fronts as acceptable swimwear. I’ve

ROYALTY, Prime Ministers, celebrities and sports stars have all been the “victims” of award-winning cartoonist Graeme Bandeira. During a 23-year career at the Yorkshire Post, his cartoons made readers laugh and cry and his images held those in power to account. There’s also a big, likeable personality behind the pens, pencils and crayons and he

WE’VE all been there. You walk into a business event or function and realise you don’t know anyone in the room. You grab a drink, gulp it down a bit too quickly as something to do, and wander about desperately looking for a familiar face or a stranger who might be open to chat. I’ve

I CAUGHT up with my old friend Richard (Dick) Matthews before Easter when he was in Leeds on business. Dick is an expert in foreign exchange and a veteran City trader with a wealth of stories from the days when City boys worked hard and played hard, drove Ferraris, drank Dom Perignon and enjoyed plenty