FORGIVE the self-indulgence in including yet another photograph of me in this blog.
But given I wrote about attire in the workplace last week at least the above shot proves that I don’t always go to work in a suit or dinner jacket.
This was me compering a recent event we worked on for broadcasting giant Sky for its Broadband Tech Team.
They are the men and women who go into homes to sort out issues with wi-fi and broadband.
A relatively new team within Sky, this was the first time they had all come together in one place for a conference.
The energy and enthusiasm of the 200 people was tangible in the lush surroundings of Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
They were so enthusiastic they even clapped me every time I went on stage.
The day included presentations, question and answer sessions, a team-building challenge, a barbecue lunch and a entrepreneurial guest speaker who was involved in social media phenomenons TheLadBible and Social Chain, is involved in a range of digital start-ups and has spoken in front of the likes of UFC, ASICS, Eurosport, Apple Music and Unicef.
And Tim Hyde is only 23.
Sky is investing a great deal into its people and the opportunity to work alongside a great brand with such a modern, go-ahead approach has been both exciting and informative.
One of the best parts of the day for me was a question and answer session where members of the team were asked to offer examples of where they had gone above and beyond in their jobs.
So many hands went up that we didn’t have time to speak to everyone.
The stories we heard were both inspiring and heart-warming.
From helping housebound pensioners to connecting games consoles for disabled youngsters, there were so many examples, all delivered with pride and humility.
Some companies rarely live up to their slogans.
But with Sky, Believe in Better really does seem appropriate.
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WHEN it comes to football, they don’t make them like Paul Madeley any more.
But given his versatility and longevity, perhaps there was only room for one Paul Madeley.
The former Leeds United and England defender, who has died, aged 73, played in every position bar goalkeeper in 727 appearances during an 18-year career with his home town club.
In today’s football world of bloated budgets, managers can easily assemble a bulging squad of talented players.
But I bet they would all love to have a Paul Madeley to turn to.
He won league championship, FA Cup, League Cup and Inter-City Fairs Cup honours, and was a losing European Cup and Cup-Winners’ Cup finalist.
Square-jawed, upright and solid, Paul Madeley was a quiet and modest man who never felt the need to shout about his achievements.
I was once a guest in the same corporate box as him at a match at Elland Road and found him charming and self-effacing – the last thing he wanted to do was regale fellow guests with stories from his playing days.
The late Leeds United manager Don Revie christened him his “Rolls-Royce” some compliment given he played alongside legendary names like Peter Lorimer, Norman Hunter, Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles.
I bet his team-mates felt that bit more confident with him in the team.
Paul leaves wife Ann and their two sons, Jason and Nick.
Jason runs a successful public relations business in Leeds called Hatch.
The family said they “are extremely proud of his achievements in life and on the field for Leeds United and England.
“He was born in Beeston, a stones-throw from Elland Road, and only ever played for and supported Leeds United.
“The late Don Revie christened him his ‘Rolls Royce’ and to us he was just that – a class act as a husband and a father who always had time for everyone he met.”
Perhaps the best measure of the man, and his devotion to his home town club, is highlighted in a story told by the late Jimmy Armfield when he was manager at Elland Road.
“He once actually signed a new contract on what was virtually a blank piece of paper, ” recalled Armfield in his autobiography Right Back To The Beginning.
“I called him in to discuss terms and opened discussions by saying, ‘Okay Paul, we’ll give you so much’.
“He replied that he had no intention of leaving Leeds so he might as well sign the contract and let me fill in the details.
“I said ‘What do you want, then, two years or three years?’.
He answered ‘Either way, I’ll leave it to you. I just want to play for Leeds’, and that was that.”
They really don’t make them like Paul Madeley any more.
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THE Ministry of Defence announced this week that it is shutting Royal Air Force bases at Scampton in Lincolnshire – the home of the Red Arrows air display squadron – and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire.
RAF Linton-on-Ouse has an 80-year history and was a base for bomber squadrons during the Second World War before becoming a training base in the 1950s.
Generations of RAF pilots – including Prince William – have trained in the Tucano T1 planes from Linton-on-Ouse in the skies above North Yorkshire.
I have only ever visited the base once, when the CBI decided to hold its annual dinner in one of the hangars at the base.
What I and many other guests at the dinner didn’t realise is that to get to Linton-on-Ouse you had to cross an old fashioned toll bridge over the River Ure at Aldwark – either that or add a 25-mile round trip to your journey.
I can still see a long line of big executive cars queuing to cross the bridge while Yorkshire captains of industry scrabbled around in their pockets and glove boxes trying to cobble together the 15p charge to give to the old boy in the toll booth.
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IF I had known my views on wearing shorts to work would have provoked such a debate then I might have written about it years ago.
Although I actually had second thoughts about saying anything at all when the 6’5” managing director of a Yorkshire-based digital agency, wearing shorts, loomed over me and said: “So, do you have a problem with shorts then, Mr Parkin?”
Standing my ground with journalistic integrity, I said that I didn’t, particularly when someone wearing them had such nice, tanned knees.
I obviously said it without a hint of homoeroticism.
Anyway, last week’s comments were tongue-in-cheek and meant to provoke a response.
They certainly did that, with one London-based “creative” type calling me a “grumpy sod” for castigating shorts in the workplace and preferring a suit and someone else from the same sector commented: “For me suits in the creative industries suggests a lack of imagination and a return to the past – never a good look for people who are supposed to be inventive and imaginative.”
Which is a fair point but in my experience those working in the creative industries might have shunned the suit but in their bid for individuality, many now dress in a similar fashion to each other.
What is creative and individual about that?
It wasn’t all criticism I had to endure for last week’s blog.
Sarah Hemingway, sales director of Yorkshire food business Rakusens, said: “Sadly I am the wrong gender for a Michelsburg suit, but I can attest the fact that he one of the most charming men I have ever met – apart from your good self of course…”
Go girl!
Another comment came from a lady that works in recruitment.
“In some industries, we’re much more focused on delivery and results than what someone wears, so dare I say it, your attitude is a wee bit stuffy and we need to push more on focusing on a person than the wrapping.”
Stuffy, moi? Pass my smoking cap and jacket.
I can take criticism when it is delivered so politely.
And she even ended with a compliment.
“Your suit is beautiful and I’m incredibly jealous of how lovely it must be to have some bespoke workwear. Dying to see the lining.”
She can keep her hands off my lining.
Cheeky minx.
Have a great weekend.