Global Marketing Executive

Hey, hey, hey! It has been a little while since I spoke to you all about what's been happening at the corporate world of Dyson.



Well, I have been enjoying it all and it has been going so well that Dyson handed me a six month extension to my contract two weeks ago! Though, when I got into work on Monday my manager called me into the office (knowing me I always expect the worst!) but it was good news, I was offered a permanent contract as a Global Marketing Executive!!

The idea is that I will assist my senior manager looking after various campaigns and projects for all our subsidaries across the world, focusing mainly on the US and Canada. It all sounds pretty good! My manager also asked me if I would be prepared to take secondment somewhere for a couple of weeks or months, so that could be on the cards too.

I hope to catch up with most of you soon or during the summer.

The World Cup 2006

Can you believe that the World Cup begins tomorrow and Rooney may yet even play!?!

The World Cup. The greatest tournament in the world, where dreams are made and unfortunately penalties are missed...! Hopefully we will be bringing home the lovely Jules Rimet (not a random lady - the actual World Cup!).

Four years ago I was watching the Japan/ South Korea World Cup whilst I was still in my first year at University in Bristol and unfortunately, the time difference meant that most of the games were played early in the morning UK time, but in reality it was a good excuse to start in the pub early... (for some)!

I remember that one particular time we all knew we had to be up in the early hours of the morning, so we just didn't bother going to sleep and instead created our own World Cup tournament on the PS2 playing wildly through the night. Those were the days!

But unfortunately, due to the lack of sleep, no amount of World Cup hype could keep Deva awake as he fell asleep in the pub on the all-too-comfortable leather sofa just after the half-time bacon sarnies!! Bless him!

But no one was asleep for the England Vs Argentina game, that was amazing, the celebrations along Corn Street in Bristol are still legendary to this day! After mass celebrations in the Walkabout pub (which led to part of the ceiling collapsing - no major injures thankfully) a fire engine blocked off part of the street only to be used by everyone spilling out of all the pubs as part of the impromptu celebrations, and the fire-fighters joined in!

The rest of that day we played football on the College Green near Park Street like we did for most of that first year and then ended up back in some bars later on that day along the Waterfront. Great days, great days.

Four years on I will be watching the first England game against Paraguay in Bristol on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and I sure am looking forward to it. There are some good, new young English players to look out for such as Lennon and Walcott, both very quick players.

I predict we'll go on at least to the semi's and I am confident about that!

Did you know that four years ago, Theo Walcott had only just turned 13 years old, and in that sense... there goes my dream of still making it at 22 years old!

Wedding in Carlisle

I went to an amazing wedding last Friday in Carlisle. It was the marriage of Stevie Brown to Laura, a lovely girl he had met at University.

It was strange seeing Steve - the best friend of my brother Charlie since he was 11 years old - getting hitched!!

I tried to break up the journey somewhat(!) and so travelled all the way up from London after a meeting at the Strand to the lovely countryside of Staffordshire and stayed overnight with my godfather. It was a good excuse to catch up with David and have a brilliant meal with his family to celebrate his daughter's birthday.

The following morning I headed on towards Scotland and Hadrian's wall, my namesake! Initially, I was driving under a blanket of clouds, expecting the weather to remain the same for the wedding (or get worst!). But as I neared the Lancaster junction, the clouds slowly disappeared, leaving a gorgeous blue sky. It was a brilliant drive, especially with the Cumbrian hills pressed up alongside the motorway.

I made it to the lovely and very sunny Carlisle in good time and met all my family in a coffee cafe in town along with Molly, Charlie's girlfriend. Charlie of course was nowhere to be seen, he was busily preparing the groom for the big day and perfecting his best man's speech.

The church ceremony went really well and the reception afterwards was fantastic, we drove several miles outside Carlisle into the countryside to arrive at a lovely hotel. Pimms was handed out upon arrival and the next few hours were spent sitting out on the grass listening to live jazz and catching up with old friends.

Charlie's best man's speech was really good, he had obviously put a lot of effort into it and it all worked out really well. Although, I think that he had cut out a fair portion!!! But Steve didn't get away with it all, as every story was told about Steve's infamous antics when his parents were away, and I think that was the first that they had heard of it!!

So I think Steve has some explaining to do, but perhaps only when he returns from his honeymoon!

It was a job well done!