six six six…

Ok so about the number 6! Who can tell me what comes in sixes? Here is my brief list from a short investigation (Thanks Google!)

Strings on a Guitar
Eggs in a carton
Legs on an Insect
Sextuplets
Feet in a Fathom
Days to create the world (apparently!)
Feet under when you get buried
Sides to a cube or hexagon

As far as six goes we also know that 3 of them together means bad, very bad! And that a 6 pack in relation to men whichever way you look at it is a good thing (again apparently!) As a cricket nut I could also point out that it’s the highest score from a single shot and that 5 cricketers have won international matches hitting a six off the last ball. For the football mad amongst us I would also remind us of Leeds United 6 Besiktas 0……Sorry had to mention that, it’s been a tough decade!! I’m sure locals will remember Derby 0 Villa 6 or Millwall 0 Blues 6 or City’s 6 against United last season. There is even one for you Craig; Newcastle 6 Villa O from 1896, sorry no it was in fact 2010 (When Andy Carrol was a footballer!)

Anyway I am sure you will all have worked out by now that the reason I am banging on about the number 6 is because thestudio… as a business celebrated its 6th birthday this month. Friday October 13th 2006 being that fantastic day when our journey began. It’s been a hell (666) of a trip, but I am not going to use this as a romantic nostalgic report on all the events of the last 6 years, there are too many and we all know most of them by now! but I do want to look ahead to what’s next, hopefully with a bit of a sixth sense!

On Friday we had our latest menu tasting and once again the chefs proved what an inspiring bunch they are. We had a superb Autumnal orchestra of food, boundaries as usual were pushed, flavours were experimented and the end product will once again show our customers why we are different from the other venue offers in town. Well done and thanks again team food, six out of six.

We have just had our record August, obviously not in terms of hours of sunshine or lowest rainfall but certainly in terms of customers using our facilities. It’s tremendous for once to be reporting a high sales figure in what traditionally has been our quietest month. It shows that during a recession some light can always be found.

With regards to studio Manchester I can again report that we continue to be the venue of choice for many in Manchester, with our business there again growing month on month compared to last year. During the last 12 months we have grown the Manchester business by over 12% and that is an amazing result in a down turning market. It is true testament to the excellent job that Wendy and her team of six do. Whilst Manchester continues to grow we are keeping our options open on the possibilities of expansion. So if the right opportunity comes then we will definitely be considering it.

We are now in the busy period which sees us through until Christmas. Craig started this off with his “back to school” sales day which was our most successful conversion day ever. Thank you for those that joined in with the fancy dress on the day. I finally made head boy! The image of Julian as a rather naughty school boy will stay with me for a long time! Six of the best for him! And Emma and I setting out in the afternoon for some very important meetings in Birmingham dressed as we were and then getting the train home, only studio! We followed this up with our Bonkers Conkers offer to welcome in the Autumn. I’m sure ours will be a sixer….

Times as we know continue to be challenging for many small businesses across the UK. Here in Birmingham our marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive with some very big fish (At least 6lb) now swimming in our pond. There is not going to be a quick fix to the economy so we have to continue to be innovative and focus on the right areas and the quality and value of our offer to our customers. Now is the time to remind ourselves that we are unique and continually ask the question “why would our customers go anywhere else?” In answering that we will challenge our own standards and improve and adapt. We are and always will be dedicated to “customer first” but we are now having to find new and better ways of attracting and keeping our customers from the temptations of our competitors. We will never have all their resources at our disposal so we have to make absolutely sure that we are the best we can be every day and that every customer receives the full studio experience every time they are with us.

So 6 years have gone and there will be many more to come. Once again thank you all for your amazing dedication.

Now I’m off to start the planning for Christmas at studio, I wonder how many Geese there will be a-laying!

NBT