BEST Business Group

BEST member Laurie Rogers announced that his retail golf company - SR Designs - has launched a range of special merchandise to mark 2012 - A Great British Year. There are lots of great events taking place which can be used as themes for golfing events. These include the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June, the Olympics and Paralympics, The British Open Golf Championship at Royal Lytham and the British Ladies Open at Royal Liverpool.

In addition Britons will be supporting their teams in both the Curtis Cup and the ryder Cup later in the year.

SR Designs has been supplying golfers - particularly lady golfers - with exclusive gifts and prizes since 1995. www.golfprizes.co.uk

Loseley Park is a client of BEST member, PNPR

LOSELEY PARK

Press Release

Winter Weekday Weddings the New Trend as Strapless Dresses and Lounge Suits Also Break with Tradition

Guildford, 18th November 2011. More and more couples are choosing to marry out of season, according to Loseley Park, the UK Top Ten wedding venue, as voted by viewers of Sky’s Wedding Channel.

And with a further break from tradition, couples are marrying during the week in a radical departure from Fridays and the weekend.

“We’re finding that people are markedly more open to getting married on, say, a Thursday in February,” says Michael More-Molyneux, owner of Loseley Park, which holds more than 80 weddings a year. “It’s definitely a growing trend and it’s partly because conventional timing seems less important nowadays, and partly down to price.

“A Monday-Thursday wedding here in January, February and March costs five times less than a Saturday ceremony in the high season from May till the end of September.

“You may not be getting warm sunshine (or rain!) and the garden, but you are getting The Great Hall, roaring fires, candlelight and mulled wine. People also love the Christmas decorations and tree, which add to the festive spirit.”

Another attraction of winter weddings is the long-haul honeymoon to escape to the sun.

Timing is not the only tradition which is changing, says fashion expert Sam Neville, founder and owner of Mamfii Bridal, the Surrey experts, who organise the catwalk shows at Loseley’s Wedding Fairs.

Fashions in clothing are changing along with the traditional days and seasons for weddings. “Today women are more adventurous and daring,” says Sam, “so the strapless look is acceptable even in Church. And in the winter the style’s just the same but with a fur shrug and thermals!

“Traditional clothes are more pomp and circumstance, but the whole move is towards greater informality. Only half the grooms wear morning coats now, as normal suits are more relaxed, and quite a lot of brides like to be more modern.”

For more information please visit www.loseleypark.co.uk/weddings or call (01483) 405 126.

Mamfii Bridal is at www.mamfiibridal.co.uk and Tel. (01483) 275 480.

Media enquiries please to PNPR at www.pnprltd.com and Tel. (01483) 82 44 58.

Disability Challengers are the chosen charity of BEST member PNPR, which originated the Challengers Champions Business Club

Press Release

Leadership expert tells Challengers Business Club how to combat stress

Surrey, Thursday 26th January 2012. Members of the Challengers Champions Business Club (CCBC) and guests attended their fourth exclusive workshop of the year just before the Christmas break.

The event on fighting stress took place in The Great Hall at Loseley House where 40 people were guests of CCBC member, Michael More-Molyneux, owner of Loseley, who laid on a wonderful breakfast by a roaring fire.

Leadership expert and speaker Nigel Cutts said that managing our time and ourselves was more than spread-sheets and Microsoft programmes. It was a question of looking after our physical, emotional, spiritual selves and connecting with the greater world – not just work.

How to achieve this, he advocated, was by having accurate self-knowledge; seeing everything from the other person’s point of view; being patient; taking action and communicating. “There’s nothing more fundamental than communication,” Nigel explained, “and we need to develop those skills, so we’re better understood.”

Delegates also learned that one of the keys to communication is listening and in pairs spent two minutes talking without the other person interrupting.

In a further exercise, Nigel Cutts, revealed that meditating twice a day for 20 minutes, it is scientifically proven, stops the mind from racing, lowers stress and lengthens our attention span. This makes us more effective business people.  After a five minute session with eyes shut and deep breathing, not one member of the audience said that they had found it uncomfortable.

Thom Gibbons, business development director at Callmaster Mobile, and a member of the Challengers Business Club, commented: “It was a beautiful venue and I wasn’t expecting a meditation session, but it set me up wonderfully for the day. It was a thought-provoking workshop.”

Mady Hatton, fund-raising manager at Disability Challengers, gave the Champions Business Club members  a report of the first year’s activities, noting that since January 20 businesses had signed up and contributed, through the annual subscription or in kind, £20,000 to the charity in difficult times.

“This has been a fantastic help,” she said, “and we’re looking forward to another year of exclusive workshops and a special dinner in 2012 when one of our speakers will be Jeremy Hunt MP, Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, who is also a very successful businessman.”

Disability Challengers are at www.disability-challengers.org and Tel. (01483) 23 00 60.

All media enquiries please to PNPR at www.pnprltd.com and Tel. (01483) 82 44 58.

Press Release from PNPR (PR agency to Loseley Park)

11 year- old girl from Hurtmore, Surrey  wins  Loseley Giant Pumpkin Competition with huge 42lber

Guildford, 21st October 2011. Erin Saunders has won the Loseley Giant Pumpkin competition with a massive pumpkin weighing in at 42lbs.

Erin planted the monster from seed in April after receiving a packet of seeds with the head gardener’s tips at the Loseley Spring Garden show.

299 other children had also received the seeds and tips, but Erin’s green fingers produced a specimen, which just grew and grew. “I’m really excited about winning and also quite surprised,” she said at the prize-giving at Loseley Park this week.

“I planted the seeds in our vegetable garden in April when it was sunny and watered them. Then I left the pumpkins to grow – there were two of them. So, I’m surprised how big the winner has grown  while the rest of the carrots and beans in the patch got eaten by rabbits, deer and flies.

“But this has inspired me to grow my own garden with lots of pretty flowers like roses, sunflowers and pansies. But for now, I’m going to carve this pumpkin and enter the school competition for Halloween. It’s been great fun and very inspiring doing the Loseley competition, which was the first gardening contest I’ve gone in for.” 

Erin’s mother, Gill Saunders adds: “I’m amazed our pumpkin won: Erin and I planted it together and left it to its own devices. Our vegetable plot is 12 foot by 12 foot and this took it over! We didn’t water it later as it was so wet. We’ve just got a lucky pumpkin!”

Loseley Park owner, Michael More-Molyneux, presented Erin with the prize of junior gardening tools (fork, spade, hoe, hand fork, trowel and gloves). In addition, there was a season ticket for her parents to The Walled Garden at Loseley, which opens again next Spring.

“Well done, Erin! It’s a wonderful pumpkin and worthy winner,” he said. “I’m so glad children have taken up the challenge and started gardening to discover all the joy that growing things brings. That’s the whole point of the Loseley Children’s Gardening Competitions (last year it was for The Tallest Sunflower).”

Head gardener, Burney, added: “Congratulations to Erin – this is a magnificent pumpkin! I’m delighted she enjoyed growing it and found the competition inspiring.”