Steve's Blog

Love your Local

Posted Mon, 05/12/2011 - 22:47 by steveparks

I’ve been away for the weekend, after a busy week last week, and when it came to make dinner this evening I realised I was a little short of provisions. I also needed to work late.

So, I thought, this is thee perfect excuse for a foodie’s occasional indulgence in junk food. Tonight would be the night I’d have a pizza delivered! This time though I wanted the junk food version, not the nice tasty wood-fired oven treats of somewhere like Firezza. read more »

Now That’s What I Call Breakfast

Posted Fri, 25/11/2011 - 10:18 by steveparks

Breakfast
There are many advantages to being able to work from anywhere, and here’s one of them. I’m starting my day at The Garrison on Bermondsey Street, where they have good WiFi and fantastic breakfasts – including damn fine coffee. read more »

Dry Stone Walling in the Lake District

Posted Sun, 13/11/2011 - 21:29 by steveparks

Rainbow in the Lake District
Each year a group of my friends spends a long weekend in a bunk barn (actually an old converted chapel) in the Lake District. It’s owned by a charity that takes inner city teenagers out into the countryside to broaden their horizons and introduce them to nature. read more »

Celebrating Martinmas with a Pig Feast

Posted Sat, 12/11/2011 - 23:04 by steveparks

The 12th November is St Martin’s Day, also known as ‘Martinmas’, and is traditionally the date that marked the first slaughter of pigs. This was partly because it’s now cold enough for flies not to be a problem, and for it to be easier to store the meat, but also to get food for the feasting season. read more »

An Autumn Coastal Walk

Posted Fri, 11/11/2011 - 15:39 by steveparks

After a busy few months (years), I’ve escaped to the South West of England for a few days of holiday.

Step by step I’m doing the South West Coastal path over many long weekends. In total there are 638 miles of it. I’ve done about 80. I’ll blog about the past adventures another time, but this is about this morning.

This holiday is mainly about something else (more of which tomorrow), but I managed to fit in a short stroll of a few miles along the north Devon coast from the Heddon Valley to Woody Bay and back. read more »

My New Blog

Posted Sun, 11/09/2011 - 13:31 by steveparks

I’ve relaunched my blog, on a new system. All new posts will appear here – and old ones will gradually be ported across.

What will surprise people who know me or my work is that this site now runs on WordPress.com – when it used to run on Drupal on my own server. Why is this? Have I lost faith in Drupal? Absolutely not. In fact, this move demonstrates quite the opposite. read more »

100 Inspirational Stories from Entrepreneurs

Posted Fri, 10/06/2011 - 22:17 by steveparks

Last year I had the privilege of being one of the writers behind a series of booklets published by HSBC Bank called ’100 Thoughts’.

We scoured the world looking for interesting business people with good ideas and great execution, and wrote their stories up into bite-size nuggets of inspiration. It’s not just the idea for their products we focused on – but how they actually do business.

The booklets are now all available to download, and you can browse some of the ideas online too, at http://www.100thoughts.hsbc.co.uk/ . You can also pick up the booklets in HSBC branches. read more »

100 Inspirational Stories from Entrepreneurs

Posted Fri, 10/06/2011 - 18:03 by steveparks

Last year I had the privilege of being one of the writers behind a series of booklets published by HSBC Bank called '100 Thoughts'.

We scoured the world looking for interesting business people with good ideas and great execution, and wrote their stories up into bite-size nuggets of inspiration. It's not just the idea for their products we focused on - but how they actually do business. read more »

Interviewing James Caan

Posted Sun, 01/05/2011 - 22:18 by steveparks

A few months ago I chaired a web TV programme for Natwest that featured James Caan on the panel.

He’s best known for his time on the Dragon’s Den programme, and fans of the show wil have noticed with interest the amount of beard stroking going on when the entrepreneur on the panel was describing her business and the fact she was looking for investment. read more »

Interviewing James Caan

Posted Sun, 01/05/2011 - 00:00 by steveparks

A few months ago I chaired a web TV programme for Natwest that featured James Caan on the panel.

He's best known for his time on the Dragon's Den programme, and fans of the show wil have noticed with interest the amount of beard stroking going on when the entrepreneur on the panel was describing her business and the fact she was looking for investment. read more »