Employer of the Year 2009

 

BACKman

Well can you believe it.  BACK Consulting Limited were named Employer of the Year 2009 at a prestigious event in Northumberland County Hall fighting off 300 other businesses.  The awards ceremony was to celebrate the achievements of adult learners, staff and employers throughout the year.  Being placed in top spot was testament to the great working environment the BACK office has and the quality of the staff.  Unbeknown to us it was a former employee who put our name forward and gave a rousing rendition of why BACK are so highly valued.

We are delighted to have received this award and will continue to support the efforts of all Northumberland County Council efforts as usual.  A great night all round.

Read the BACK news article here.

 

XML Based Content Management Systems?

If you look at traditional CMS designs they tend to be database driven to store objects.  BACK Consulting has built many such websites and they have a purpose and a place in the world.  Recently we have developed a few CMS sites for clients using XML as the data store and applying XSL with XHTML to produce the same effect.  All of this is done using ASP.NET and C# and still using the same controls for wriritng content that would be used for the database driven sites.  In fact from the outside you notice no difference.

Removing the need for a database also removes the cost.  The hosting cost in an obvious one but if you are using something like MS SQL Server to store data this also needs to be rented.  In terms of speed I see no real difference but we are about to conduct some load testing on that front.  Multiple editors may not be a good idea for example.

The XML files are easily shared across multiple technology platforms thus proving the fundamental usefulness of the format.  We have a Flash based map reading an XML file, processing user input and then outputting parameters which are caught in the POST of a form and used.  In this case they are saved into the very same XML file if the transaction is completed.  Neat.

If you are having to build a CMS site for a client then “NatWest….. there is another way”.  And it’s worth considering.

Is The Tide Turning?

Having lots of regular contact with other businesses in the region there seems an ever increasing sense of optimism about the future of the economy in the region and the country as a whole.  Christmas is coming and retail is gearing up for its most important time of the year whilst service based businesses tend to go quiet around this time.  Regardless of this there seems to be a surge of work going on at the moment which will keep companies going through the holiday slump.

Business analysts will not commit to any long term recovery forecasts for fear of being caught out but it does seem, on the ground level at least, that the sun is beginning to peep round the edge of dark clouds at last.  A lot of people pointed a finger at the media for making the recession as bad as it was/is and even worsening the effect by talking ourselves into not spending and general economic panic.  I hope that the same media outlet channels are just as quick to point out the good things that are happening like new stores opening, 1000’s of people signing up for training, contracts being won and so forth.  Unfortunately these stories don’t hit the imagination like a bad one but businesses can see through the smoke an mirrors.

The question on most peoples minds is: what happens to the country when all the fiscal stimuli come to an end?  VAT rises back to previous levels, quantitative easing stops, banks are no longer given the tax payers money and the national debt needs to be serviced or at the very least reduced.  There is an automatic assumption that inflation will take hold and this can only be a bad thing for everyone, especially those who have a home and paying a mortgage.  The property market was at the root of all the problems as a major contributor alongside risky bank decisions and the housing market can play a very strong role in getting us all out of the downturn.

Businesses in the North East of England at least have been very pro-active in coming together to help each other and really make a framework for innovation and self promotion.  The BACKFlip events were dreamt up to generate our own business and driven by force of will by Director Andrew Charlton.  Other such events have been organised by the likes of Network North, 4Networking, etc. as well as companies coming together to make events such as the business event toolkit which is sold out.  Speak to networking specialists like Marc Gordon of Network North and you will be very impressed with the appetite for making things happen.

Keep the positive attitude and we can all get out of it.

Big G 2009

 

Big G

 

 

It’s been some time since I last actually wrote on my blog as the ritual of doing it was put aside due to levels of work.  Now that is a good problem to have I have to say.  On the weekend just passed it was the annual Big G which is the silly name given to a group of friends who have been off to Stonethwaite near Keswick for the last 14 years.  The idea is not to go out hiking or indeed do anything outdoor related beyond the act of actually camping.  Instead it is to spend time with friends who you really see as a group.  And to get blind drunk on the Friday night!

 

Big G 2

 

 

The trip across was nice and smooth as I picked up Colin and GT then headed across.  The little drops of rain started pouring the second we turned off the M6 at Penrith and started along the A66 to Keswick.  Grieves had phoned to say there was a change of location as the usual terrible campsite was “in the process of closing”.  What does “in the process of closing” mean?  Is it open or is it not?  Or do they now recognise that we have no interests beyond having a laugh for the weekend and don’t quite cut it with the serious faced Lake District clique?

 

Big G 3

 

 

As we arrived at the new site just moments from the old one we were greeted by heavy rain and a car park removed from the camping field meaning things had to be transported by foot to our chosen spot.  Flannery and GG picked a good spot that was slightly raised which meant any heavy rainfall would slip off somewhere else and we wouldn’t end up sleeping in a pool.  We managed to get my tent up in the pouring rain and at this point I realised my waterproof ski bottoms were nothing of the sort.  At least the tent was up.

 

Chickey

 

 

Soon after Paul and Neil arrived and his Kyham tent was up like a shot with a table placed in the middle and chairs quickly assembled ready for the beginning of the Friday night madness.  It is called Friday night madness as this is the one occasions when everyone is released from responsibilities and influences and glibly get into the spirit of just cracking jokes and enjoying ourselves.  Beers and ciders were neatly flowing and then Captain Ahab whipped out the bottles of Sours and two bottles of champagne, Neil contributed a lime vodka, GG and Flan a bottle of Baileys whilst I chucked in Archers and the remains of a bottle of whiskey and vodka.

 

GG

 

 

No doubt to everyone’s horror the whole lot was consumed in one night which did result in people falling over, toppling of chairs and laughing so hard your stomach muscles hurt – but not knowing why you were laughing!  Being the only people on the entire site sitting in a tent in the middle of a storm there was no-one to hear the shouting that we tried to pass off as good singing to all time classics like Big River, 2Pac and more.  It was beautiful.

 

BK

 

 

One by one the people fell from grace and headed to their beds or just fell over.  Colin got dragged out of his sleeping bag half asleep but managed to retain the upper hand in semi-conciousness.  Neil had a great poker face but then fell to pieces at the final hurdle and was out for the night.  Ahab had the giggles.  Gary was talking to Huey.  Flan was trying to sleep in a puddle with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt on.  Refusing to move I managed to stick a blanket over him and a sleeping bag whilst Colin kept a watching brief.  As for me I ended up walking the perimiter of the site in search of a water point which I did eventually find.  Got soaked in the process as the winds picked up and the rain lashed down.

 

Ahab

 

 

The next morning the rans briefly stopped and then started again as no-one was moving until at least 10am when I made a shuffle across to the tent with GG, Col and Flan in it.  It wasn’t a pretty site as the tent looked like it had been hit by a missile.  Some fried egg and bacon sandwiches with coffee managed to breathe some life into the situation and the crew roused.  Eventually the rain stopped and people went to seek out the lovely toilets with their silk toilet paper.  This kind of luxury is unheard of in the Stonethwaite experience even though the toilets are still pretty basic.

Into Keswick for the day on Saturday and everyone was on the cokes.  Gary looked like he was having some kind of physical shut down whilst Neil had managed to survive his first Keswick night but looked terrible.  Three pints on arrival sorted him out.  Big steaks all round apart from Mark and Colin who chose to pop into Greggs and the chippy respectively to fill their stomachs.  After watching the football and rugby it was time to head back to the site and get stuck in.  Except this time get stuck is was defined as drinking coffee and hot chocolate whilst the weather outside was dry and very calm.  Mark wanted to head to a hotel on the Saturday night but realised that the night was not going to be bad and so decided to stay.  He then got up in the morning and negotiated a fantastic £3.50 a night deal with the site owner.

Up at the very crack of dawn as someone (don’t know who) must have been very keen to get away.  We were in Keswick by 8am ready to meet up with our old adversary to eat full breakfasts.  The usually miserable owner of the cafe caught everyone of guard by being eminently reasonable and even saying hello.  And so the drive home represented another year of the annual trip.  This is the only event that has managed to stand the test of time as the FlanBazz is occasionally observed as is the GT birthday day/night out.  It is brilliant to still have the same friends that I had when at school and to see them in a no stress or pressure environment just really enjoying themselves.

Roll on next year.  But not in a storm.

 

Flan

 

 

BACKFlip Sold Out!

Tomorrows (Wednesday) BACKFlip event has doubled in size since the last event as their is clearly an appetite for business in the north east.  BACK Consulting has been eager to promote everyone’s cause and have invited businesses from all works of life to sell their wares and get in touch with other like minded people.  Andrew Charlton has been on a mission to promote the event and the enthusiasm by fellow business people has been heart warming.  Looking forward to seeing everyone on the night.

Wash-out For The Big G?

Warnings of torrential rain have been aired which mean the Big G could be moved to a different location for the first time in it’s 14 year history.  One possible alternative is Melkridge with its camping barn.  More details in the next few days.

Low Cost Websites Ongoing

It’s been a while since BACK Consulting introduced its Low Cost Website service but still the enquiries keep coming.  It’s so simple you don’t have to know anything about the design process in the background.  Just visit our website and select a template that you like based around our pre-built solutions.  All you need to do then is give us the content for each page and hey presto your site is alive with a mind of its own.

Don’t think this is the only option on offer though as there is a wide range of upgrades you can plug in such as videos, animations and our core c-commerce solutions.  BACK Consulting has a fantastic reputation for producing high quality websites both on a tight budget and a large one.  Come talk to us today to see what we can do for you.

UK Law Firms Listed

BACK Consulting Limited have completed the insertion of all the UK’s law firms into the www.compareconveyancing.com website in preparation for the big sales push.  Two sales people have now been appointed and have been assigned 5000 law firms each in order to get them on as a premium listings.  The premium listing gives a more enhanced description of the services for a law firm within that postcode area and clearly distinguishes from a basic listing.

In addition to this a number of small cosmetic and content changes have taken place to enhance the look and feel.

Coastal Mission

On Saturday I was on my own as Allison had decided it was a day for shopping and make no mistake about it!  So she headed off with partner in crime Sara into town and the Metrocentre leaving me with a day to fill.  I headed across to Paul’s to see the new Blade (below) and then took Bob up to the top of the Rising Sun country park.  When I reached the top there was a guy and his grandson sitting on a bench and we had a chat about how the landscape has changed.  I mentioned how the cranes have all gone and he said the pits have too.  That made me feel much better as I can’t remember the pits so I mustn’t be that old!

After that Dad cooked me a nice fry-up (thanks) and then I headed down to the coast to meet up with Rachael and GT.  They had found a lovely little tea shop for a cup of coffee whilst they ate scones and cakes.  Nothing gluten free on the menu but I’d already eaten.  Good to have a nice conversation and the weather outside was glorious sunshine on a winters day.  I walked back to the car parked next to the flats overlooking the mouth of the Tyne and remembered how I used to come here as a child with my grandparents.  In fact I’m sure this was one of their favourite places so I think the picture below would have made them happy.

 

View of the Tyne

 

 

We used to roll down that hill well before we were old enough to realise it was probably covered in dog crap!  Then walk along to the quayside chip shop or to the Priory.

Off the see Gary for a quick stop next who had spent the morning making pumpkin lanterns for the kids who had then gone out with Vicky and left them behind.  He was hatching plans to get a new motorbike which was pretty cool.

 

Grieves

 

 

Back home before heading across to Debbie and Paul’s for X-Factor.  Erm I mean I was forced to watch it.

Ahab Rides Again

 

The Blade

After much deliberation over what to buy Paul have taken the plunge and found a 2000 model Fireblade 929.  Ahab had been down to see about Uncle Harrison’s immaculate GSX1100R and was very pleased with what he saw.  But the problem remained that he was looking for something modern that can cut it with todays machinery.  The GSX is undoubtedly fast but it’s an eighties based machine and suspension has moved on considerably since then.

This new Blade is a continuation of the last one Paul and I owned in that it shares the same frame and dimensions but the engine is now a fuel injected 929cc beast.  Heavy on fuel but very well built this machine looks perfect for the Scotland trip as the seating position is spot on.  Eventually Paul and Dad tempted me into a little ride and I donned a helmet and took it down the street.  The power commander is tuned to be in line with the sports exhaust and sounds really meaty.  The gears are super smooth like you would expect, even when you are trying to change gears with the brake like I was.  It’s been a long time.

In need of tax and new rubber the bike will be hidden away for a while until the sun starts shining again in 2010.  The best thing is that I am insured on it which means a few summer blasts are on the cards.  Maybe one day I’ll get my own wheels!