Blitz on problem cyclists in York city centre

As a cyclist I love riding around the centre of York and I support, to some degree, the proposed crackdown.
There's no excusing the clowns who ride down Coney Street on a Saturday afternoon expecting pedestrians to move out of the way.

However, I do confess to riding through the streets very early in a morning (and on a weekend it's surprising how many tourist groups are on guided trips).

This story on the problem in the York Press is pretty good but the 'crack down' needs to be carried out throughout the year.

And let's not just focus on the chav element - last Saturday two women middle-aged women on nice bikes who should know better did the pelting along Coney Street without a care-in-the-world routine and it made me mad.

To make matters worse they cycled past what looked like a police officer in cycle gear - who did absolutely nothing.

Business writing, public and media relations, PR, articles, blogs, website content, news and features in York, Leeds and Scarborough.

Clifford's Tower in York - the only photo opp?

Can someone explain to me why it appears that the only PR photo opp in York is in front of Clifford's Tower? Is it really the only recognisable landmark in this city?

Every week The Press will carry a story with the tower behind the subjects of the photograph. It's also, generally, the same set-up. Is it the same photographer doing this?

This is the story in today's Press which has irked me. It's a nice tale about bus and taxi drivers brushing up on their knowledge of the city to impress visitors. I only hope they know of other photo opps other than Clifford's Tower.

Business writing, public and media relations, PR, articles, blogs, website content, news and features in York, Leeds and Scarborough.

Any bloggers in York or North Yorkshire?

Just been having a trawl for other bloggers who might be writing about York and it's not been very successful.

I'd like to follow other bloggers in the region and promote what they do.

Any suggestions for blogs worth my while following would gratefully received!

Business writing, public and media relations, PR, articles, blogs, website content, news and features in York, Leeds and Scarborough.

Pay what you want to eat at the pub

This is a story we did on Steve and Gemma at The Fox in Stockton-on-the-Forest for The Publican. They are a lovely couple in a great pub and deserve the success they are working so hard for.

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Licensee gives customers the chance to decide how much a meal is worth

A pub has launched a menu with a difference by allowing customers to pay what they think a meal is worth.

Steve Howard took over Punch Taverns pub the Fox Inn at Stockton-on-the-Forest near York in January and wanted an unusual way to encourage customers back into the pub.

So every Wednesday diners are given the chance to pay what they like for their food.

He said: “So far this has worked really well. No-one can believe it. But one thing in our favour is the British inability to haggle.

“The first time we did it we had three people out of 25 who didn’t pay enough to cover the cost of the ingredients.

“And the lowest we’ve been offered for the rump steak was £5. Otherwise people have been very fair and offer close, or sometimes, more than what the dish would normally cost.”

Steve’s girlfriend Gemma Esders, 25, added: “It has certainly got people talking and we are seeing more people come through the door as a result.”

The couple run the special menu every Wednesday from 12-6pm and some of the regulars are ‘threatening’ to pay just £1 for the sirloin steak.

Steve prepares all of the food himself from fresh ingredients and Wednesday’s menu includes sirloin steak, mixed grill, steak and ale pie, game pie, chicken and mushroom pie, scampi, burgers, penne arrabiata, stroganoff, gammon and hunter’s chicken.

Steve said: “The pub has had seven or eight licensees over the last two or three years. This offer means people will come along, see we do decent food and give us a chance.

“From my experience I think other pubs should give this a go and see what happens.”

Read the story on The Publican website

Business writing, public and media relations, PR, articles, blogs, website content, news and features in York, Leeds and Scarborough.

The Shambles named UK's 'most picturesque'

It's a street I go down often just for the 'vibe'.

It's cobbles date from the Middle Ages and are often rammed with visitors taking photos of the close-built buildings.

And now The Shambles has been voted Britain's most picturesque street in the Google Street View Awards.

I've even thought about getting one of the offices there - a modern business amongst the history would be fantastic.

Read more

If you've never been to the city; there are other great streets to visit in York and enjoy.

Talking of which - I would love to work with more York-based shops and restaurants! Especially if they want to use social media in their marketing mix.

Business writing, public and media relations, PR, articles, blogs, website content, news and features in York, Leeds and Scarborough.

Bishy Road shops make their mark online

Good luck to everyone involved with bishyroad.net and like Andy Shrimpton says in the York Press 'there's more to York than Coney Street'.

To be fair there are some excellent shopping streets in the centre but Bishy Road does stand out because it's on the edge and is very popular.

I go there quite often and next week will be supporting the two pubs around the corner which have recently put 'For Sale' signs up.

Mind you, I'll be taking a Dutch mate who is slowly gearing up to British pub life and enjoying it! (Then after that I thought I'd take a look at the refurb'd Slip Inn).

So, apart from Cycle Heaven and the Swan you can enjoy: M and K’s butchers; Pextons, voted hardware shop of the year for the whole of the UK and hairdressers Glen And Julio’s who have also been British champions.

Get down there and support local businesses!

Read the York Press story

And if you would like to support a cost-effective York PR and Media service then contact us!

Business writing, public and media relations, PR, articles, blogs, website content, news and features in York, Leeds and Scarborough.

News team celebrate hat-trick of industry awards

Congratulations to everyone at ITV Tyne Tees and Border involved with winning a clutch of awards at the Royal Television Society North East and Borders Awards.

I'm really pleased for them since some of my best/happiest moments in journalism were spent at Tyne Tees.

I was at Belassis and then Newcastle creating (what I think were) gems of television news.

Anyway, the team picked up Best News Programme for its tribute to Sir Bobby Robson, Philippa Tomson was named Best Presenter and Gregg Easteal won the Best Journalist award.

I used to cadge a lift with Gregg from York up to Belassis and he really deserves the recognition (though I haven't seen him on the national ITV news for some time).

The only blip on the horizon is the odd idea of having another organisation run the news gathering and broadcasting in the North East instead of Tyne Tees.

Hopefully none of the great workers there will be put out of work because that would be a great loss to TV but to the North East too.

Well done!

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Business writing, public and media relations, PR, articles, blogs, website content, news and features in York, Leeds and Scarborough.

Welcome to the new blog!

I've been thinking about creating a blog for a long time. Like many people I've put it off and now I'm jumping in.

I'll be blogging about living and working in York, Yorkshire and offering up my thoughts on public relations (PR). I will also be updating the blog with what I'm up to.

That and updating Twitter (urbanmediapr!) as well.

That's the thing with social media - you spend so much time being social you don't really get chance to do the work needed.

Business writing, public and media relations, PR, articles, blogs, website content, news and features in York, Leeds and Scarborough