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David Parkin steps out in style…then puts his foot in it
AFTER last week’s photographs of the unfinished construction work at Leeds station, I make no apology for this image of a beautiful creation. No, not me, the jacket I’m wearing in the photo above alongside the Michelangelo of tailoring, James Michelsberg. “The Baron”, as he is colloquially known, has created ...
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David Parkin finds that when it comes to double entendres he’s got a big one
THE development around Leeds railway station continues apace. I’d say there should be more emphasis put on the word “continues” rather than “apace”. Work is continuing at the front and back of the station. If you don’t know which is the front and which is the back then I’d recommend ...
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David Parkin on a brewing problem and giving the hump to rugby fans
WATCH out, watch out – there’s a Humphrey about. Do you remember that tagline from TV adverts for milk in the 1970s? I didn’t think you would. It was used by dairy Unigate to promote its doorstep deliveries of bottled milk. A “Humphrey” was a mysterious figure that kept drinking ...
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David Parkin finds memories flowing on the river
WHAT do you call 16,000 property professionals when they converge on a city for a major conference? Well, in my experience, anything you like, because they are too busy striding boldly through the city tugging wheelie cases and bellowing into mobile phones or talking loudly to each other about what ...
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David Parkin finds himself on the wrong end of a showbiz punch up
I KNOW Frank Sinatra’s original Rat Pack had a reputation as hellraisers but I didn’t expect their modern day tribute act to be quite the same. However news reaches me that the Rat Pack tribute act that I booked for the lunch to celebrate the life of Leeds lawyer Rodney ...
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David Parkin on the ups and downs of running a business
WELL that didn’t take long. Two years after the latest Gino D’Acampo-branded restaurant opened in Leeds, the hospitality firm behind it has done a pre-pack administration deal to shed a load of debt. The Leeds restaurant opened inside the Marriott Hotel off Boar Lane in 2023 with a £1.5m investment ...
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David Parkin on a restaurant full of character and offering to take Kylie to Filey
IT was just like it used to be. Big hitters in a restaurant, doing deals, swapping war stories and laughing uproariously. Garry Wilson and Darren Forshaw of Endless held a drinks event yesterday to celebrate their move to become joint chairs of the private equity firm they founded 20 years ...
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David Parkin on an experience that hits all the right notes
JUST like that! Although, given my new glasses, perhaps I should say “Waay hey!” as Eric Morecambe often exclaimed while waggling them about. His specs, I mean. Having been to a performance of the comedy play The Last Laugh in London a few weeks ago the most apt phrase that is associated ...
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David Parkin finds himself at a fringe event
I PARTICULARLY like this photo above. Not because it shows me in action hosting a political question time event for candidates bidding to be the next mayor of a major English region. No, I’m very partial to it because a trick of the light makes it look like I’ve got ...
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David Parkin remembers his night out with Val Kilmer
YES, you read that headline right. It is one in the eye for the cynics among you who thought my only celebrity story involved Arnold Schwarzenegger. You see, I’m not a one-trick pony. More a dancing monkey with hidden depths. Hollywood star Val Kilmer’s death this week at the age ...
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David Parkin faces up to doing bird
I SUPPOSE it was always going to happen. The long arm of the law has finally caught up with me and I’m going to jail next week. Given that I’ve been committing the crime I’m being imprisoned for every week for more than 25 years, even I have to accept ...
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David Parkin on a smart way of working
THAT is not the lobby of a luxury five star hotel in the photograph above. It is the reception area and some of the meeting space at Copthall Bridge, workspace provider WorkWell’s new office building in Harrogate. I’m not one for overstating things, but I think the launch of this ...
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David Parkin on a wonderful life
HERE’S a tip. If you want to ensure a full and smooth recovery from sciatica then don’t high kick on stage with the Rat Pack or boogie on down with Elvis. Last Friday’s Rodney Dalton Tribute Lunch was the culmination of several months of work since I came up with ...
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David Parkin on a stately ambition for a good cause
AS a red, blue, purple and pink sky heralded dawn on Wednesday morning I made my way towards the M62 just after 6am. My trepidation at taking on one of Britain’s most unpredictable motorways quickly passed as the colourful dawn sky gave way to piercing, almost warm spring sunshine. I ...
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David Parkin on a shining star and a Hollywood dream
TWENTY years after founding private equity firm Endless, Garry Wilson was last night named Ambassador of the year at the Yorkshire Business of the Year Awards. I was invited to join the Endless table at the awards run by TheBusinessDesk.com at New Dock Hall near the Royal Armouries in Leeds, ...
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David Parkin is dogged by not a lot of baggage
“HAVE you got a cravat on?” “Pardon?” I responded to the person on the other end of the phone. “Me and Susan had a bet that you’d be wearing a cravat.” You take two flights halfway across Europe and you arrive in the Cote d’Azur to a question like that. ...
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David Parkin on talent, humanity and fun
ONE event I was unable to attend this week was the funeral of David Holmes. David was the former long-serving corporate affairs manager of Yorkshire Building Society. I first met him when I was working in London for the Western Mail in the late 1990s. He was warm, welcoming and ...
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David Parkin finds the Big Apple has gone pear shaped
I’VE changed my mind. I’m with Leeds City Council. Leeds is a booming city with brilliant transport links which can stand comparison with any other metropolis across the globe. It must be, it doubled as New York in a blockbuster film I watched the other day. OK, I better clarify ...
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David Parkin on the power of partnerships
THE ‘Power of Partnerships’ was the theme of a business breakfast event I hosted for the Martin House charity this week. Thanks to the generosity of hospitality group Arc Inspirations we held the event at Banyan in City Square in Leeds. Panellists included Jon Hughes, managing director of confectionary group ...
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David Parkin on the power and value of reputation
I’VE often wondered what lasting skills a career in journalism provides you with. Who says I’m not one for self reflection? Most people probably, but anyway, let’s crack on. The ability to write is certainly one skill – that’s not hard to work out – but what else? Do I ...
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David Parkin on the old and the new
HAPPY New Year. I don’t know about you, but I’ve not had that negative feeling that often accompanies the return to “normality” after the festive celebrations. Even the prospect of having to complete my VAT return this week didn’t dampen the positivity. Or having to undergo a prostate check at ...
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David Parkin gets into the Christmas spirit
I ALWAYS knew it would happen. I was convinced that if I manifested hard enough there would be a positive outcome. No Mother, I said manifested. I’ve finally had a cocktail named after me. ‘The Parky’. One third gin, one third vermouth and one third red Italian bitter. What do ...
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David Parkin gets in a spot of bother
IT is quite some time since I got told off by someone’s parents for keeping their child out too late. I’d say about 40 years. Until last night. I wouldn’t mind, but it wasn’t like I was leading a teeny tearaway astray. I was scolded for keeping a 27-year-old boxer ...
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David Parkin believes going back Asda work
WHEN it comes to the worlds of business and sport, there is an old saying: “Never go back”. The received wisdom is that if the chief executive or chairman of a company or the manager or player of a top team has enjoyed great success in a role, then the ...
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David Parkin on the way to Amarillo
LONDON, Paris, New York, Sydney, Las Vegas. Legendary singing star Tony “(Is This The Way To) Amarillo” Christie has performed in iconic venues across the world during his six decade career. And now he can add Rotherham to that starry list. Thanks to me. Well, not really, but I did ...
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David Parkin on a prawn in the game
IT takes a lot of talent to run a Michelin star restaurant. It takes another set of skills entirely to run a restaurant that collapses with debts of £1m. Michael O’Hare has done both. The acclaimed chef who won a Michelin star for The Man Behind The Curtain restaurant in ...
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David Parkin on a flamboyant swashbuckler
I’M not the quickest to respond to invitations to connect on Linkedin, mainly because when I do I get a message trying to sell me some random marketing service that is going to generate so much new business that it will transform my enterprise into a FTSE-100 company overnight. But ...
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David Parkin makes a meal out of politics
THERE are fewer and fewer places you can go these days and feel entirely at home wearing a suit. I once went into the notorious Leeds pub the Admiral Duncan as a bet and, the drinkers seeing me and a colleague wearing suits, cleared the bar thinking we were Special ...
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David Parkin on a cracking day in the East
AS the warm, orange-gold sun rose over the towering Humber Bridge just before 8am last Friday morning, it was hard to comprehend that less than two hours before I had been scraping ice off my windscreen. That, combined with a broken boiler which had meant I had to endure an ...
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David Parkin goes wild…
IT seemed a good idea at the time. When I met Jamie Roberts, chairman of the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, at the West Park Hotel in Harrogate in the summer, he enthusiastically told me about his daily ‘wild swim’ in the waters on his family’s estate. As I sipped my ...
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David Parkin in a lift with a sheep and a curry
WHEN was the last time you got in a lift and started talking to a stranger? Other than to say: “Which floor are you going to?” I can’t remember when I randomly chatted to someone on a lift journey. The ‘Elevator Pitch’ is a concept that your initial business pitch ...
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David Parkin on being an anti-social troublemaker
“ARE you causing trouble again?” I’m used to this kind of question just before I’m asked to leave a social occasion, but not when I’ve just arrived. Given the person asking the question is a senior Labour peer and member of the House of Lords, then perhaps I do need ...
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David Parkin has an idea
I’M feeling a little bit overwhelmed. There were some lovely comments prompted by last week’s blog about Rodney Dalton. But the biggest thing to come out of it was that so many other people felt exactly the same about the late, legendary Leeds lawyer as I did. So many people ...
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David Parkin pays tribute to a wonderful friend
THIS is the blog that I hoped I never had to write. My friend Rodney Dalton died this week. He had stoically and successfully overcome two cancer diagnoses over the last two years but the ferocity with which it returned earlier this summer was too much. I visited him in ...
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David Parkin on spending the summer in the shade
MORNING! That felt like a long break. This blog was last published just over a month ago and the past four weeks have included a holiday driving through France to stay with friends in Provence, catching up with old pals, watching Derby County win in the Championship (these rare pleasures ...
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David Parkin enjoys some summer celebrations
PRIOR to a few days ago, the last wedding I went to was my own. But then last week I went to two weddings in three days. My former Yorkshire Post colleague Graeme Bandeira, a talented and award-winning cartoonist and artist, married his partner Karen at the Yorkshire Hotel in ...
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David Parkin pays to be insulted in French…again
WHEREVER you travel in the world there are reminders of home. Sometimes they are not easy to spot, but if you look hard enough, you’ll find them. It happened to me earlier this week. Our final destination on an island hopping holiday in the Cyclades was Naxos, the largest of ...
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David Parkin on a winner for England
GARETH Southgate’s resignation as manager of England was not unexpected news this week. After taking his team to the final of another tournament, they again missed out on a trophy. To update the words of the song, there has now been “58 years of hurt” for England fans. But it ...
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David Parkin talks to Sir Gary Verity about a Grand anniversary
THERE have been plenty of third party reflections on the 10th anniversary of the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire but the one thing missing from them all are words from the man himself. I went up to the Yorkshire Dales farmhouse which is home to Sir ...
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David Parkin opens the Twiglets and looks forward to an adult-only experience
DON’T worry, I’m not going to mention the election. I made that mistake yesterday. When I visited the offices of a large law firm in Leeds I commented to the receptionist that I was surprised to see a polling station in the ground floor lobby of the building. She told ...
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David Parkin finds a connection and a divide across the Atlantic
ONE of the ironies of the Honours List is that it doesn’t really pay tribute to the people who receive awards. Twice a year around 1,000 people are honoured by the monarch. And because of the numbers involved, the list, announced by the Cabinet Office, is very much that: a ...
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David Parkin finds himself in a crypt, a convent and controversy
“SINCERITY is the key to success. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.” Credited to Groucho Marx, the quote above raises a smile. I’ve always thought that away from the world of showbiz, in the real business world you’ll always get found out if you fake it. But ...
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David Parkin on ABBA, a unicorn and a big organ
I TOLD you I would. Last week I tantalised with the story that I was off to the Far East to see ABBA. Well I’m back with all the news from Bridlington where I was working at The Business Day conference. The annual event at Bridlington Spa attracts a high ...
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David Parkin on being a gossip guy
“DON’T put it in your blog.” Those are words I hear regularly. And as a writer of many years standing, I am pledged to the unwritten journalistic code of conduct. I believe it is called the Hypocritical Oath. I came up with that myself. Do you like it? Please yourselves. ...
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David Parkin on a cupid stunt
I’M used to singing for my supper. Selling not so much. When Martin Jenkins, the chairman of the Maggie’s Yorkshire charity, invited me to a dinner to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the opening of the centre which supports people with cancer and their families, I was delighted to accept. ...
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David Parkin’s big film debut is too late for the BAFTAs
WHEN people ask me what I do it is always difficult to explain and sell my services in a few short sentences. “This and that, mainly that,” doesn’t really encapsulate it either. So when someone suggested that I produce a “show reel” to feature some highlights of my events work ...
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David Parkin on the story of a city
WILL you forgive me if I choose not to join the orgy? Tom Riordan has announced he is to step down as chief executive of Leeds City Council at the end of this year. He is moving on from a job he has done for the last 14 years. You ...
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David Parkin strolls down memory lane in London
I SPENT a couple of days in London at the start of the week and unlike my recent trips, the weather wasn’t grey and wet. The sun shone like it supposed to in spring and I felt distinctly over-dressed in flannel trousers, jacket, V-neck jumper and wool tie. Mind you, ...
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David Parkin finds that Barbie is not beyond his ken
I’VE finally found a car that I think channels the inner me. I would have perhaps liked something a little more gaudy, but you can’t have everything. Amid the rows of bicycles, motorbikes, cars, buses, racing cars, fire engines and armoured cars that grace Coventry Transport Museum, I found this ...
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David Parkin teams up with Gareth Southgate
AS I stood looking out at the audience for Martin House’s special An Audience With Gareth Southgate lunch, I told them that two things struck me. Firstly I observed that the room at Bowcliffe Hall near Bramham was a who’s who of some of the most successful entrepreneurs, wealth creators ...
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David Parkin gets down with the accountants
HAVE I been on holiday recently? I must have, because I definitely remember relaxing on a sun lounger in Marrakesh in temperatures so high that I was forced to find solace in the shade with a bottle of chilled Morrocan gris wine. Despite the name, it isn’t a grey coloured ...
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David Parkin isn’t grouchy about the Groucho
A MAGNET for London’s arts and media elite, The Groucho Club is expanding. After almost 40 years on Dean Street in Soho, where has the club finally decided to open its second base? Wakefield. Yes Wakefield. Now I’ve got nothing against the city, it’s got a very good TK Maxx. ...
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David Parkin on not the news of the world
READ all about it. Or not, as the case may be. Reports this week suggested that the government plans to ban foreign governments from owning British newspapers and magazines. The news emerged after a frenzied few months of debate about the merits of allowing an Abu Dhabi-led takeover of the ...
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David Parkin on how not to handle a crisis
DO you want a bet? I’m not into motor racing and I’m not much of a gambler, but I’ll put a big bet down on one thing. Yesterday Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said it is “time to draw a line under” the controversy over accusations about his behaviour ...
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David Parkin feels like a Morris minor in a roomful of Rolls-Royces
HOW the hell did that happen? You get some of the most successful business people from not just Yorkshire but the UK together in a room – and the conversation turns to Morris dancing. Eh, I suppose that’s my fault. A member of the campaign board at Martin House children’s ...
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David Parkin finds inspiration and desperation
THE London Transport Museum is based in the old Victorian flower market in a corner of the famous Covent Garden Piazza at the heart of the West End. It seemed the perfect place to host the Stagecoach Excellence Awards, run by the bus company to celebrate the best of the ...
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David Parkin gets the hottest ticket in town
IT was only a matter of time. After a trip to work in Barcelona last week I knew my next overseas assignment wasn’t far away. And this week I was off to the Far East. Yes, Hull. I know I’ve used that line before, but bear with me. There’s a ...
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David Parkin on adding value
I’VE spent the last few days in Barcelona. The sun shone bright in the sky and temperatures topped 20 degrees celsius. And the only time I really saw daylight was in the cab from the airport to a five star hotel on the coast to the south of the city. ...
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David Parkin considers transferring his affections
QUESTION. How do you know it has been a quiet Transfer Deadline Day for Sky Sports News? The pundits that the TV channel has brought in to discuss ins and outs at football clubs end up playing darts against each other. The channel was also forced to run quizzes about ...
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David Parkin on a Big Weekend in the ‘Gate and being mistaken for a film star
IT sounded like a good idea at the time. The note from Sean Jarvis piqued my interest. Given “Jarvo” is an influential and experienced figure in the world of sport – current chief executive of Leicestershire County Cricket Club, ex-commercial director of Huddersfield Town and former owner of Oldham Athletic ...
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David Parkin blows up Christmas
THAT’s me in the photograph above. I’m the one on the left. My companion in the photo is my cousin Lesley’s rescue dog Scarlett. I thought you might like a festive photo from outside a house in Byron, a neighbourhood in London, Ontario in Canada. They have an annual Christmas ...
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David Parkin on meeting an old business friend and saying goodbye to another
IT felt just like the old days. Up with the lark, a quick shower and shave, put a tie on to complement my Michelsberg jacket, a slurp of tea and then out to scrape the ice off the car before heading to a business breakfast event. It used to be ...
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David Parkin on demystifying the media
I’VE always been philosophical. As you can see from the photograph above, even my media training sessions wrestle with the existential dilemma facing humanity. The most philosophical things pertaining to the meaning, purpose and value of human existence I have ever read was on a birthday card. “To be is ...
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David Parkin on a blunt city treasure
MR Blobby, Noel Edmonds and Sonia. No, they aren’t on my bucket list of celebrities I’m desperate to meet. But they also weren’t people I expected to be talking about with an eminent Yorkshire businessman. However Keith Loudon OBE isn’t your usual entrepreneur. The words “legend” and “veteran” are bandied ...
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David Parkin on a zombie city
I’M worried. In depth research recently published in the Daily Star revealed that the first city in the UK to be invaded by zombies would be Leeds. Yes, according to this newspaper of record, the biggest city in Yorkshire would be the first in the country to be overrun by ...
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David Parkin on Ol’ Blue Eyes and getting a black eye from readers
REGULAR readers of this blog will have deduced that my taste in music is rather “retro”. In fact I don’t like anything that was recorded post circa 1963. Actually, that’s a lie. There have been a few modern classics that have piqued my interest in recent years by all time ...
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David Parkin on being a retiring individual
IT was only a matter of time. Bodybuilding legend, huge Hollywood film star and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger acknowledging the man who made him what he is today. I’m indebted to Huddersfield entrepreneur Andy Needham (who, like Arnold, is an imposing man of sculpted physique) for sending over ...
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David Parkin on a shining light in business
I ALWAYS knew I was destined for great things. And this week I became a Mayor. OK, it was only for an hour and I was in charge of a fictional town called Farefield, but I think I was born to lead. I was drafted into my role at a ...
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David Parkin bids farewell to a pair of legends
LAWYERS are often portrayed as being dull, boring and risk averse. I’m lucky that none of the ones I know fall into that category. And if you wanted an antidote to that stereotype, then Tim Wheldon was it. Tim, who has died at the far too young age of 64, ...
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David Parkin would prefer a perma-tan to a permacrisis
DO you know which word was picked as the word of the year for 2022? ‘Permacrisis’. Yes, according to Collins Dictionary, permacrisis – a word describing the feeling of living through a period of war, inflation and political instability – was its word of the year. That was highlighted by ...
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David Parkin ponders his microcosm
IT’S a small world. The reality of that struck home several times following last week’s blog. I mentioned that on a recent trip to Yorkshire’s county cricket match at Scarborough I sat next to former York businessman turned vicar Michael Sinclair in a marquee that included big names from Yorkshire ...
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David Parkin talks trains and talent
NOW here’s a funny thing. I went to Scarborough the other day. No, that’s not the funny bit. What’s funny is that my wife and I left the house at the same time on Tuesday morning and she got to London, which is 200 miles from Leeds, two hours before ...
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David Parkin on chipping in to cross the deep blue sea
AS challenges go, it is likely to be slightly harder than completing a leisurely round of golf. Golfing pals David Knaggs and Richard Larking have set themselves the formidable goal of rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. It hasn’t been dubbed “the World’s Toughest Row” for nothing. David and ...
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David Parkin on a plucky underdog with a point to prove
“I FELT I had to do this because shouting at the telly every night didn’t seem to work.” That’s how businessman Nick Palmer explains his decision to stand as an independent candidate in next week’s by-election in Selby and Ainsty. The vote was triggered when the constituency’s Conservative MP Nigel ...
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David Parkin on a diamond in Steel City
FAREWELL then, Lord Bob Kerslake. The career civil servant, who has died of cancer aged just 68, held roles including Head of the Civil Service, Permanent Secretary for the Department for Communities and Local Government and chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, the national housing and regeneration agency ...
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David Parkin on not mixing well
I’M a snob. I’ve always suspected it, but got full confirmation last week. We had spent a lovely few days on the Greek island of Paxos in the shimmering Ionian Sea. It is a small island, the main port town, Gaios, is the size of a fishing village and there are ...
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David Parkin sends a postcard from the seaside
WHILE the rest of the country basked in sunshine, I went to Bridlington for the cloud last week. This corner of the East Yorkshire coast didn’t see the sun until mid-afternoon last Friday but there was plenty of brightness in Bridlington Spa where the annual The Business Day conference was ...
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David Parkin on wit, wisdom and film noir
FAREWELL then Mike Carey. You may well not have heard of him but his recent passing brought many tributes including one from former Guardian journalist and Wisden editor Matthew Engel who described him as “one of the most talented, versatile and prominent cricket journalists of his generation”. Mike, who is ...
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David Parkin avoids a political scandal
THE top Conservative politician has retired as the party’s group leader on Leeds City Council after 43 years in the role. There are dictators in banana republics who would be envious of that run. Councillor Andrew Carter has led the local Tories since 1980 and served as Leeds’ joint council leader ...
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David Parkin asks Gareth Southgate leading questions
THEY used to say being England football manager was the impossible job. English managers who had succeeded in the domestic game tried it. Foreign managers who had won European honours at club level were imported and didn’t do much better. Whatever was tried, the Football Association never achieved the holy ...
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David Parkin on making history
I WAS a part of history being made yesterday. No, I didn’t buy a round. But glasses definitely deserved to be raised as transport group Stagecoach unveiled the world’s first autonomous bus service. My colleague at COPA Group, Andrea Munt and I provided event and media support at the launch ...
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David Parkin on a rebel with a cause
IT has been sad to read about the crisis facing Yorkshire’s iconic Black Sheep Brewery. The Masham-based business this week announced its intention to appoint administrators after failing to secure new investment or a sale of the firm. The company said it had been “hit very hard” by the pandemic ...
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David Parkin works out a few problems
FAREWELL then Barry Humphries, one of the great entertainers of our time. The Australian comedian, actor, writer and artist died last week aged 89 and the tributes on TV, radio and in newspapers and online underlined what a great talent he was and how fortunate we all were to experience ...
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David Parkin on re-cycling a bike dream
LET me take you on a journey into a world of delusion. We don’t have to go too far. Just up to the Yorkshire Dales, or wherever it is the man that bought the assets of Welcome to Yorkshire is based. When the ailing regional tourism agency was put into ...
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David Parkin on an inspiring bar story and a haunted hotel
WHEN I first met Martin Wolstencroft 20 years ago he was a regional manager with pub group Whitbread who had an idea. It can’t have been a bad idea, because Martin is now the chief executive of a bar and restaurant chain, Arc Inspirations, which operates 19 venues in England ...
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David Parkin on a man for all seasons
I THOUGHT you might like the picture above – not just one Parky but three in the same photograph! It was taken by cameraman and videographer Paul Ross at a Stagecoach event I helped organise and host in Manchester last week. The dinner and day-long conference was for the transport ...
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David Parkin on the sadness of a fading old friend
WILL the last person in Morrisons please walk out past the empty shelves, leave your trolley in the trolley park and don’t forget to take your pound coin out of the slot. I used to enjoy the experience of a shopping trip to Morrisons. The cheery staff, aisles bustling with ...
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David Parkin gets a bit overwhelmed
I WAS quite overwhelmed by the kind and thoughtful messages sent by readers of last week’s blog. Despite seeing the weekly readership numbers for my blog, they are only numbers and so when people take the trouble to write a comment or send a message or to ‘like’ it on ...
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David Parkin ties the knot
YOU might have seen that this blog didn’t appear last week. That’s because I was away getting married. Well, you’ve got to keep yourself busy. As you can see from the photo above and another below, we tied the knot in Venice, a favourite destination for us since Harriet and ...
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David Parkin on an uncertain role as a media svengali
IT’S not a bad compliment when someone who regularly appears on the BBC, Sky Sports and Channel 4 credits you with helping launch their media career. Danika Priim is far too generous in putting her success down to a helping hand from me. The former Leeds Rhinos, Bradford Bulls and ...
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David Parkin wrestles with a sex symbol
FAREWELL then Raquel Welch. The actress and sex symbol died this week aged 82. I have to say when I watched the film One Million Years BC, I was more interested in the dinosaurs rather than Raquel in her iconic deerskin bikini. But that’s me. Give me a copy of ...
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David Parkin wonders if TV return will be funny or faulty
DID you see that John Cleese plans to bring back Fawlty Towers? The much-loved sitcom about a crazed hotelier, his bossy wife and a madcap group of hotel staff and guests, ended 44 years ago. But now former Monty Python star Cleese, who co-wrote and starred in Fawlty Towers with ...
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David Parkin on racing to the bottom of the dressing up stakes
FORWARD thinking, quick to embrace change and transparent and open in the way it operates. These terms are rarely used to describe the Jockey Club, the former regulator of British horseracing which is the largest commercial organisation in the sport in the United Kingdom. The London-based body, founded in 1750, ...
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David Parkin on the false modesty of Linkedin
WELCOME to Linkedin Jesse Marsch. The Leeds United head coach joined the business networking platform this week. The American, who replaced the hugely popular Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road in February last year, has gathered more than 8,000 followers in his first few days. He told them: “There’s so much ...
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David Parkin on professionalism over Prosecco taps
IT was when a bloke walked past me wearing pink shorts and flip flops that I first thought that perhaps I wasn’t perfectly suited to the city centre offices where I was based. Look, I’m not daft (shut it). I know that my preference for wearing a suit or jacket ...
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David Parkin wonders about batting for the other side
I’VE always wanted to be a fount of all knowledge. A message arrived from a reader following last week’s blog. “Surprised you had nothing to say about YCCC. As a member I need to decide how to cast my vote and your guidance would have helped.” How flattering. Particularly given ...
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David Parkin finds a celebrity chef story hard to digest
HE’S back! Just when you thought it was safe to go out for an Italian meal, Gino D’Acampo is opening another restaurant in Yorkshire. I thought the TV “chef” might have learned from his previous experiences in the county. His partnership with Individual Restaurants – the group behind Piccolino and ...
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David Parkin goes to the pub and has a Mone
I told the gathered guests that Tony was something of a hero to all of the family in Britain and not without reason. An accomplished sportsman, he was a talented swimmer and rugby player who came close to being selected for Great Britain’s Olympic water polo team. He was the ...
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David Parkin on what he shares with Pelé
DID I ever tell you what I had in common with Pelé? Silky footballing skills, a powerful shot and an idol to fans across the world. No, none of them. But I do have one thing I share with the late, great Brazilian football genius who died last week at ...
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David Parkin on a seasonal story
WHO’S that jolly red nosed character in the photograph above? Swap the sheep for reindeer and the overalls for a red and white suit and maybe I could just about pass for a cut price Father Christmas. OK, please yourselves. This was me yesterday morning helping feed the sheep on ...
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David Parkin on the road to hell
A FRUSTRATED and confused visitor to Leeds, who had found themselves stuck on the ‘Loop’ road around the city centre, once told me they now didn’t fear going to hell after death. No, he solemnly told me, purgatory would be circling the city of Leeds in his car in an ...
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David Parkin on a wrong turn in the city centre
I ALWAYS thought the way to encourage people not to take their cars into city centres was to focus on improving public transport. Leeds City Council appears to have decided on a more cost effective approach. Dig up the city’s main square, make diversion instructions unintelligible and put roadworks and ...
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David Parkin on cracking the code between business and sport
WHEN eminent sports lawyer Richard Cramer phoned me and asked if I thought three weeks was too short notice to invite people to listen to a question and answer session with a leading sports coach I told him I was confident he would get a good audience. Richard, who runs ...
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David Parkin on the sound of silence
DID somebody say there was a World Cup happening soon? For every previous FIFA men’s football tournament I can remember, that question, coming on the eve of a tournament, would have been sarcastic and, frankly, plain daft. Anticipation about a World Cup would have been bubbling towards fever pitch. In ...
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David Parkin on a wet lettuce and a limp banana
IT was a central part of the grand plan that would help “level up” Britain and add extra cement to rebuilding the so-called “red wall” which had crumbled to give victory to the Conservatives in the last general election. But in today’s Britain big ideas from politicians don’t seem to ...
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David Parkin on a controversial, crazy and chaotic life
FAREWELL then Jerry Lee Lewis. To call the ‘Great Balls of Fire’ singer a hellraiser doesn’t really do him justice. His life was chaotic, cruel, crazy and controversial. But putting morals aside, Jerry Lee Lewis was my favourite star of rock n’ roll. I loved Little Richard and Fats Domino, ...
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David Parkin on flying in the face of common sense
IT’s official, Doncaster Sheffield Airport has been crowned as the best in the UK. Yes, for the fourth year in a row the airport has been named the UK’s most popular by consumer champion Which? That’s right, the South Yorkshire airport which is soon to be shut down by its ...
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David Parkin wonders what the hell is going on
WHAT the hell is going on? There must be very few people who haven’t asked that question in recent months. Most probably say it several times a day. It was the title of an event I went to in London this week. When I got the invitation a couple of ...
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David Parkin on dealing with deal makers
IS doing a business deal an art or a science? According to the panel at last night’s latest Fresh Thinking Network event it is a bit of both as well as needing a good deal of common sense, strong communication and good relationships. Fresh Thinking Capital brought together a panel ...
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David Parkin has a problem
I’VE got a problem. No, not that one. Call me a cynical old … (insert your choice of word here), but I don’t buy the explanation put forward for the imminent closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The airport’s owner Peel Group plans to wind down the airport from the end ...
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David Parkin remembers Ronnie Pickering
DID you know it was seven years ago this week that Ronnie Pickering became an internet sensation? What do you mean who? Ronnie Pickering. Still no wiser? RONNIE PICKERING!!! Yes, seven years ago local man Ronnie Pickering wrote himself into Hull folklore when a video of him angrily confronting a ...
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David Parkin enjoys health and history
I WROTE about new health and fitness experience Feel Electric last year after trying out several sessions. Thanks to the generosity of fitness entrepreneur Jon Wright and his team, I’ve continued the 20 minute weekly sessions over the last few months. As my fitness has improved, it has been interesting ...
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David Parkin gets some kicks from his bucket list
IT has been a summer of several “firsts”. I visited Provence for the first time. I went to Jersey for the first time. For breakfast. In a private jet. Which was definitely something I hadn’t done before. Well, I’m not big on breakfast. The invitation came during a convivial lunch ...
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David Parkin on the boss of bosses
FAREWELL then Mike Lowe. He was my first boss and he terrified me and fascinated me in equal measure. Mike Lowe died last week at the far too young age of 68 after a short illness. He was accurately described by media website Press Gazette as “a legendary editor from ...
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David Parkin on facing up to life’s challenges
I LIKE a challenge. Only the other day I tackled a double 99 ice cream cone single handedly. I can see you are impressed. I suppose the size of the challenges we take on are set by our previous achievements. The other week I was MC at a charity ball ...
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David Parkin on losing a legend
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 ...
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David Parkin is officially back out there
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 ...
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David Parkin on a source of seaside success
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 ...
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David Parkin on royals and rollers
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 ...
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David Parkin on going back in time – twice
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 ...
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David Parkin on living life in the fast lane
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 ...
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David Parkin on the positives of being negative
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 ...
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David Parkin on a stage debut with a difference
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, ...
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David Parkin on feeling the fear
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 ...
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David Parkin on a happy dog tale
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 ...
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David Parkin on a star turn
THE last event I organised and hosted before the pandemic was two years ago just weeks before the country went into lockdown. No one had at that point quite grasped what we were facing and I remember when one of the panellists turned up and wanted to bump elbows rather ...
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David Parkin goes from peacock to slut drop
THE suit is dead. It was inevitable that sooner or later, the “experts” would predict that one of the many consequences of the pandemic would be the demise of that centuries old staple of a gentleman’s wardrobe. To be honest, they didn’t need a crystal ball to make this prediction ...
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David Parkin on a phoenix from the flames
ONE of the people I met on my recent visit to the Houses of Parliament – other than an irate Conservative MP – was Vincent Hodder, the chief executive of Leeds Bradford Airport. Hodder is a burly, shaven-headed Australian with a no-nonsense straight-talking approach to business. With plenty of experience ...
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David Parkin on the future of retail and a journalistic inspiration
FAREWELL then Peter Bowles. The actor best known for playing a smooth-talking cad, bounder and nouveau riche lord of the manor has died at the age of 85. With his elegance, charm and aristocratic manner, it was surprising to learn that Bowles had rather humble beginnings and grew up modestly ...
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David Parkin gets into a political kerfuffle
IT has been an eventful last few days – delivering a first big live event for more than two years, witnessing history being made…and being called “vile” by an MP. Let’s start with the positives. Last week I was at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester organising and hosting a ‘town ...
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David Parkin on a sad depart
FAREWELL then Welcome to Yorkshire. The regional tourism organisation was placed into administration this week. How sad but how pathetically predictable. You didn’t need to have the spiritual powers of Doris Stokes or Clinton Baptiste to work out how this story would end. Welcome to Yorkshire’s recent history involves so ...
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David Parkin takes the bus down memory lane
“FRANKLY, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” “Here’s looking at you, kid.” “I love the ...
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David Parkin gets a bit overwhelmed by Yorkshire blondes
DISCLAIMER: The writer of this blog tested positive for Covid yesterday and so some of his statements may be affected by having the virus. ::: I WENT to Ilkley Beer Festival last week and had a wonderful time meeting lots of lawyers, accountants and property professionals. Nurse! This man is ...
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David Parkin defies the critics
CAN you forget everything I said last week please? What do you mean you already have? I’d already annoyed one reader by “doing politics” in last week’s blog. A chap I’ve never met before commented on Linkedin: “Please leave out the political comments, in my opinion they ruined what was ...
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David Parkin on a clown Carry On
IT says much about Boris Johnson’s two years as Prime Minister that even his closest allies would currently struggle to articulate what his legacy may prove to be. I mean the positive bits. The bluster of “Getting Brexit done” might have won him an election but so far it doesn’t ...
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David Parkin on laughing with Cryer and doing deals
FAREWELL then Barry Cryer. Morecambe and Wise, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd, Les Dawson, Bob Hope, The Two Ronnies, Dave Allen, Kenny Everett, Stanley Baxter and Dick Emery. Not a bad roster of clients to put on your CV. And unlike many comedy writers, Barry Cryer was funny in his own ...
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David Parkin on the demise of a business double act
ALL the best partnerships can’t last forever. In showbiz, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin split at the height of their success. In the business world two dynamic duos that delivered some of the world’s biggest corporations are Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Paul Allen and Larry Page and Sergey Brin at ...
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David Parkin tries to find a TV advert with impact
I DON’T know about you but I rarely view a television advertisement these days and enjoy it. Perhaps I’m viewing the past with rose-tinted spectacles, but TV ads used to be impactful, exciting, engaging and fun. It is no surprise that some of the great film directors like Alan Parker ...
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David Parkin looks for some festive cheer
I LEARNED a new word the other day. Kakistocrats. It was used by the Sunday Times columnist Camilla Long in a piece headlined: “Britain is like one of Johnson’s broken wives – cheated on, then fed a string of lies and excuses”. Off I went to my dictionary – well ...
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David Parkin on a business leader with a story to tell
WHEN she was a schoolgirl Carla Stockton-Jones wanted to become a nun. “Other people had posters of Nik Kershaw and Nick Kamen on their bedroom wall and I had pictures of God, Mary and the saints!,” she remembers with a smile. But life sometimes doesn’t quite work out how you ...
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David Parkin is inspired by a star in sequins
I REMEMBER once hearing a great phrase used to describe a footballer who played without much passion and who sapped the morale of his team-mates. “He’s a real ‘mood hooverer’ in the dressing room,” I was informed. It made me think that every workplace tends to have one. You know ...
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David Parkin on the loss of a gem
I USED to think property developers were some of the most creative people in business. The way they could look at a scraggy envelope of land or crumbling building and imagine the opportunities that could be created, phoenix-like from the flames. Now all they seem to do is find a ...
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David Parkin on an awards reward
IF you’ve not been to a big awards dinner since the pandemic, I think you are in for a surprise. Given the hiatus since these kind of shindigs last took place, they are returning with a bang. There seems to be a renewed energy to such events. I bet some ...
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David Parkin on media battles
YOU won’t have heard of Ron Ford, but he went into battle against Rupert Murdoch and won. And not many people can say that. Ron, who died in September, was a lauded and hugely talented editor in the newspaper business in Australia, one of the most competitive, ruthless and talent-laden ...
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David Parkin on Roger Hutton’s resignation
BY the time you read this Roger Hutton will have resigned as the chairman of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. I know this because I spoke to Roger last night and he sent me a copy of his resignation statement which is embargoed to 8.05am this morning. You can read it ...
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David Parkin on the best restaurant that isn’t open
I KNOW what you are thinking. It has been ages since Parky put a photo of himself in the blog. Well, at least seven days. There are people who have told me that they need their weekly fix of a Parky pic. And if you don’t believe me then I’ll ...
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David Parkin on working for a living
I HAVE to say, I forgot how exhausting working is. Well, I’ve got out of the habit a bit over the last 18 months. After delivering a “live” event for accountancy firm Murray Harcourt at the end of September, last week it was more of a “virtual” event with some ...
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David Parkin on the magic of carpet
WHEN the chips are down, I have to admit I wouldn’t know my tufted from my shag pile. Calm down dear, I’m talking about carpets. When I was commissioned to write a feature for the Yorkshire Post’s Saturday Magazine, the subject was a newly launched company making carpets near Halifax. ...
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David Parkin feels normal with extraordinary people
IF this is normality, I want more of it. Last week I organised and hosted a first “live” event for well over 18 months. When I spoke to Richard Bright, the managing partner of Leeds accountancy and business advisory firm back in April he was keen to bring some inspiring ...
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David Parkin feels electric ⚡
IF you mistook the character in the photograph above for a superhero, I’m not surprised. Rather than a character from the Marvel films, I think I look more like Robocop. Well, ok, perhaps Robocop meets Bruce Forsyth on The Generation Game. Nice to see you, to see you nice. Good ...
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David Parkin on why Welcome to Yorkshire’s woes are self-inflicted
I DON’T know what they put in the chief executive’s tea at Welcome to Yorkshire but they need to change the teabags. It was announced this week that James Mason, the chief executive of the Yorkshire tourism organisation, is leaving after less than two years in the role. He replaced ...
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David Parkin on the hottest ticket in town
AS invitations go, I think I’ve had the best one I’m ever going to get. I know I thought seeing Jimmy Cricket at the Bradford Club couldn’t be topped, but seeing Sir Rod Stewart and Sir Elton John in one weekend must push it pretty close. You may recall that ...
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David Parkin meets a true showbiz legend
WHEN it comes to seeing showbiz legends, I’m on a bit of a roll. I hope to reveal more in next week’s blog but in the meantime I can exclusively reveal that last Friday evening I saw one of the absolute icons of showbusiness. Yes, Jimmy Cricket. No really, I ...
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David Parkin starts to feel normal again
I DON’T know about you, but it’s been nice to get out and about a bit over the last few weeks. We are definitely not back to normal, but inching closer to it certainly does the world of good to how I feel. In the last couple of weeks I’ve ...
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David Parkin has no taste
YOU will be thinking that the headline above is no surprise. You knew that anyway, you only have to look at what I wear to know that. Well, I can’t don a Michelsberg tailored suit everyday. (I have asked, but he seems to prefer paying customers.) The headline actually refers ...
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David Parkin on playing Top Trumps with Gareth Southgate
TANNED, relaxed, recharged and now raring to go again, he’s still got so much to achieve. Both popular with women and men and an undoubted style icon, the future is looking bright for a man who is charismatic and inspiring. Yes I’m back from holiday and “ready to go again” ...
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David Parkin on more reasons for Morrisons
NEWS that Morrisons has recommended a takeover bid from a US investment firm took many by surprise last week. The Bradford-based chain, the most traditional of our ‘big four’ supermarket groups, chose the unusual time of Saturday morning to announce that it was recommending a 254p-a-share offer worth £6.3bn from ...
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David Parkin on being a perfect sporting specimen
TWO red kites, a kestrel, some Canada geese and several baby squirrels. They were the highlights of a round of golf played yesterday – which I think sums up the quality of my shots. Fortunately my team mates at the Business Beats Cancer Yorkshire Golf Day at Rudding Park, Harrogate, ...
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David Parkin takes up a new role at a department store
WHEN it comes to business success, I’ve always believed that the key for a fast growing business is not just knowing where you are going. You should also remember where you came from. As firms grow it is easy to focus purely on the destination but retaining a sense of ...
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David Parkin shapes up for a hunky treat
IT might have been the Queen’s Birthday Honours last week, but for some there is a bigger honour. Being mentioned in this blog. That’s right. Last week I mentioned Suits and Vinyl, the semi-regular night when members of the Yorkshire business community gather to play their favourite records and catch ...
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David Parkin on why sustainability is rubbish and looking for a bit of HUSH
IF there is one thing the powers that be in sport always do, it is exactly what they want. And that’s because at the heart of every major decision in sport, money talks. Well, it shouts so loudly that it drowns out any other voices to the point they are ...
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David Parkin finds its only rock and roll, but he likes it
THIS blog is a weekly fount of wit and wisdom. And if you believe that, you are dafter than I look. But if there is one thing I know readers like, it is interesting stories about unique businesses and the entrepreneurs behind them. Take last week’s piece about the Lowy ...
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David Parkin on the football fan who has gone from Los Angeles to Leeds
WHEN I saw a headline referring to Leeds United appointing a “lifelong” fan to its board of directors I suspected this might have been prompted by recent events in football. The short-lived launch of a European Super League by some of the biggest clubs in Europe including six from the ...
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David Parkin on a big movie in good shape
HAPPY Birthday Jack Carter. I’m not sure that the brutal, vengeful central character from one of the grittiest British gangster films ever made would take kindly to be wished many happy returns of the day. I read the other day that Mike Hodges’ classic crime film starring Michael Caine is ...
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David Parkin on an Endless opportunity
WHAT’S normal? Do we permanently have to get used to a ‘new normal’ as we gradually recover from the pandemic? I, like a lot of people, really hanker after a return to the old normal. Remember that? You know, when you could walk into a pub, bar or restaurant without ...
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David Parkin puts the boot into business
ONE of the greatest pleasures of being a business journalist is unearthing hidden gems. Finding companies who aren’t very well known and telling their story still gives me a massive buzz. They have not necessarily hidden their light under a bushel as just got on with the job and and ...
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David Parkin on the obsession with bent coppers
AM I the only person in Britain not waiting on tenterhooks for the final part of Line of Duty on Sunday evening? Well, if you watch or listen to the BBC you’d think so. There is no question that the TV drama about police corruption investigators and organised crime, sorry, ...
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David Parkin on the serious business of horsing around
IT sounds like a cast of outlandish characters you would pitch for a modern day remake of The Cannonball Run meets Austin Powers. Although I’m sure the director might think the writers had overdone themselves when sketching out the main players. How about the Australian who lives in Lexington, Kentucky ...
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David Parkin on the star with Street cred
AFTER last week’s brief brush with fame on the cover of TopicUK magazine, I think I’ve probably returned to my rightful place this week. Being the interviewer rather than the interviewee is something I’ve had a lot more practice at. And the modelling assignments aren’t exactly stacking up yet. So ...
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David Parkin jumps off the shelf to become office pin up
IF you are looking to find some positivity amid the continuing pressures of the pandemic then look no further than Britain’s growing army of entrepreneurs. They come in all shapes and sizes and from every kind of background. They don’t have much in common but they all have good ideas ...
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David Parkin on being a jerk
IF, like me you find yourself unable to sleep in the early hours of the morning following your Covid vaccination, can I recommend a sure-fire 30 minute cure for insomnia? My appearance as a guest on the Linkedin vodcast called Sean in the Shed by entrepreneur Sean Gilligan saw me ...
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David Parkin on a King and a WAG
FAREWELL then Marvin Hagler. Hagler, one of the best middleweights to ever step through the ropes of a boxing ring, died last weekend aged just 66. When news of his passing was announced on social media by his wife Kay, memories came flooding back of the epic fights he took ...
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David Parkin on the future of work – WFH or WTF?
A YEAR ago yesterday we ran a live event called ‘The Future of Work’. Quite a lot has happened since then. So it was fascinating to be able to organise a virtual event exactly a year on with the same title. Well actually ‘The Future of Work…Revisited’, although I think ...
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David Parkin on keeping good company
IF you are going to have a housewarming party, Robbie Williams isn’t a bad choice to provide the entertainment for your guests. Even if he was the third choice. That was one of the stories that emerged when I compered an event this week for Richard Cramer at law firm ...
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David Parkin on working with a supermodel, a Super Bowl winner and the UN
IT is quite an achievement. In a matter of a few months a doughty group of campaigners here in Yorkshire have succeeded in organising a groundbreaking international conference where a senior figure from the United Nations will join farmers, financiers, leading politicians and the food poverty charity supported by footballer ...
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David Parkin on clubbing and natty knitwear
STAYING in is the new going out. Or so I’m trying to convince myself. Currently it is the only option for all of us – unless you are one of those arrogant prats who have convinced yourself that socialising with a few friends inside a “bubble” isn’t doing any harm. ...
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David Parkin on a milestone for the Lord Chamberlain and missing a deadline
NEWS arrives from a wise man. Robert Cockcroft is a former Yorkshire Post journalist who became editor of the Barnsley Chronicle while also writing brilliant restaurant reviews for the YP. He’s wonderful company and always a pleasure to see at any gathering of former staff from ‘Yorkshire’s National Newspaper’. Bob ...
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David Parkin on photographic memories
IT is a sign of the times we find ourselves in that I attended an online funeral this week. That is not unusual given the current situation, but what perhaps is is that it was the first online funeral I’ve been to and the person who passed away hadn’t suffered ...
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David goes all gaga over Biden and bye Don
PERHAPS it’s the effects of the latest lockdown, but I found myself surprisingly emotional during Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony. Standing on the steps of the Capitol, where just two weeks before a rabid rabble had swarmed wearing headgear ranging from woolly hats to combat helmets, MAGA caps to a horned ...
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David Parkin on an uplifting story
FAREWELL then Michael Apted. There can’t have been many other filmmakers with as varied a pantheon of work as the British director who died last week aged 79. From James Bond movie The World is Not Enough to Gorillas in the Mist, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Extreme Measures and The Chronicles ...
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David Parkin on deja vu all over again
YOU might not thank me for saying this. Happy New Year. I’m a cup half full type of person. But just when we hoped to have put the excesses of 2020 behind us – record numbers of coronavirus deaths and cases and national lockdowns, haphazard and apparently knee-jerk decision-making by ...
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David Parkin channels his inner Sinatra this Christmas
I THOUGHT you’d like this photo. In my own mind I think it captures the warmth of my feelings, the Christmas spirit and is, perhaps, a sign of positive things to come, a nod to a brighter, hopeful future. I think I look like those festive images from yesteryear of ...
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David Parkin on why the BBC needs to get its puppies out
WILL My Puppies Make Me Rich? I thought that would get your attention. Anyway, more of that later in the blog, I’ve got other things to discuss first. ::: IN a year that has been bleaker than most, there have been some shining highlights. Captain Sir Tom Moore captured the ...
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David Parkin Zooms into Hull
IF you are going to celebrate the end of a month-long lockdown then head east. I marked the end of the second lockdown of the year by going to Hull and back on Wednesday. But unlike most of my recent trips to this glittering jewel in the Far East, I ...
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David Parkin on a Black Friday experience
HAPPY Black Friday! Regular readers (yes, you sir) will have deduced that I feel the same about the annual pre-Christmas sales spectacular as I do about adults dressing up for Halloween. A rather tacky American import embraced by those without wit or wisdom. Does that sound a trifle judgey to ...
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David Parkin finds the Masters in the doldrums
I DON’T know about you, but watching the Masters golf just wasn’t the same this year. And you don’t need to be Hercule Poirot to work out why. Holding it in November rather than the traditional slot in early April meant we couldn’t feast our eyes on the flaming azaleas ...
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David Parkin connects with Kerry Katona and backs a racing winner
I’VE not built the network I have on Linkedin by being particularly fussy when it comes to invitations. While the rump of people I’m connected to I know well or have met at least once, I’ve always been keen to add those I don’t know if they look like they ...
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David Parkin on dream and nightmare lockdown dinner parties
MY idea for a fantasy dinner party based on the “rule of six” where you are allowed to invite five guests, living or dead, has had a huge response. OK, two people have bothered to send their suggestions. Food entrepreneur Mike Firth said the topic and title of his dinner ...
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David Parkin on Trump and Farage and Cannon and Ball
LET’S start with some good news. It was announced this week that the former chairman and chief executive of technology giant 3M has been named as the new chancellor of my alma mater the University of Huddersfield. Sir George Buckley gained a BSc in electrical and electronic engineering from the ...
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David Parkin sees Harry Gration shut that door
FAREWELL then Harry Gration. The BBC veteran departed the Look North studio stage left this week after a 42-year career with Auntie. I’m never sure what qualifies someone to be described as a “legend”. I suppose over four decades as a thoroughly nice bloke on the telly must qualify. Mind ...
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David Parkin on rude foodies, an inspiring story and a lockdown treat
HERE’S one for you. Who is the rudest restaurateur you have ever encountered? When it comes to Leeds, some might say up until the closure of La Grillade a few years ago, it was an easy choice. But even the irascible Gallic patron of the Wellington Street institution that operated ...
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David Parkin on McMafia, Meghan and a load of bull in Harrogate
UP to a couple of days ago, if you had asked me what links I had to the world of organised crime and money laundering, I’d have said watching Goodfellas and McMafia on television. But that was before headlines splashed across the national news this week about a Leeds businessman ...
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David Parkin cuts his cloth accordingly and doesn’t let celebrity go to his head
IF you think you’ve seen the pose above before, then you are right. Kays catalogue circa 1986. I was always struck by some of the nonchalant stances struck by models for the glossy chunky tome that used to drop onto the doormat twice a year. And I’m not talking about ...
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David Parkin on crackpots and conspiracy theories
WHAT a difference a day makes. On Tuesday I was basking in sunshine sipping an americano outside a Leeds city centre coffee shop as lawyers and accountants waved cheery greetings. To be fair, most of them were in insolvency which perhaps explains their sunny dispositions. The city appeared to have ...
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David Parkin gets back to work with a passion
I’M on a business development drive. I thought about leafleting firms on industrial estates. I considered putting cards with photos of me in a sexy pose in phone boxes. And if you doubt I can strike a sexy pose, then you are wrong. I used to have a Filipino yoga ...
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David Parkin bids farewell to a Yorkshire dame and keeps up with the Kardashians
FAREWELL then Dame Diana Rigg, whose death, aged 82, was announced yesterday. Her varied work as an actress over more than 65 years was known by many generations. What I didn’t know until yesterday was that she was born in Yorkshire – in Doncaster – and educated at Fulneck Girls ...
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David Parkin is back with a double milestone
YOO HOO! I’m back! What do you mean? You could at least pretend you missed me. Please yourselves. I hope you’ve had an enjoyable and relaxed summer and I find you healthy and happy. Given the limitations that still prevent life returning to anywhere near normal, all of us have ...
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David Parkin heads to the seaside, gives tourism a boost and signs off for the summer
FOR weeks he has been entertaining the nation. On a regular basis he has dropped into people’s homes to keep them focused. And during that time he has become a bit of a heart-throb. But all good things must come to an end. And so this week he has called ...
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David Parkin gets put in his place and hears about knockers in Harrogate
AN email arrives titled ‘Boy Genius’. It is from insolvency practitioner Gerald Krasner and the man tasked with unravelling the tangled mess that is Wigan Athletic’s collapse into administration. If I was in any doubt whether the title of the email referred to me or him, the content swiftly put ...
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David Parkin on a funny week for football and a Boris binge warning
FOOTBALL. It’s a funny old game, as dear old Jimmy Greaves used to say. And in the near three decades since the former striker used to make Ian St John chuckle on ITV sports show Saint and Greavsie, his words still ring true. In fact, football gets funnier. And weirder. ...
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