Category Archives: Travel

Best of British: Get the look

If your Bank holiday jubilee weekend is set to involve plenty of socialising now’s the time to get your wardrobe in order.  Whether you are attending a cute and kitsch tea party in your street or hitting the clubs for a Jubilee extravaganza, you’ll need to make sure you are looking your royal best. Here are three ways to put a Jubilee twist on your outfit:

1)   Take style tips from one of the more stylish royals. After the last big royal event it’s probable that your muse is more likely to be Kate Middleton than Princess Eugene, with this in mind, you may want to check out the blog whatkatewore, which documents what the lady of the moment where’s to all of her public appearances.

2)   Think red, white and blue. The simplest way to display your patriotism is by opting for an outfit in Union Jack colours. Unless you are really going for full out fancy dress it’s probably best to choose a tasteful evening dress in red, white OR blue,  rather than following in the footsteps of Geri Halliwell in her Ginger Spice days (see here) you’ll find that choosing one or at the most two flag shades is a little more tasteful.

3)   If you want a truly unique and out there dress and can’t see what’s wrong with channelling Ginger Spice, it’s time to get crafting. The Union Jack dress worn by Geri to the Brit Awards in 1997 was apparently fashioned out of a tea towel by her sister – now that’s a novel way you could get some extra use out of a commemorative Jubilee tea towel…

Has Abbey Clancey had her pout plumped?

Has she or hasn’t she seems to be the question on everyone’s lips when it comes to Abbey Clancey and, erm, lip fillers. The model, new mum and wife of England striker Peter Crouch recently tweeted some pics of herself taking part in a fashion shoot, where her face was hidden by her long blonde fringe. However, her trademark plump pout gave her away.

Abbey’s lips have been the subject of controversy of late, with many suggesting she might have been dabbling with non-surgical fillers in order to boost their profile. The WAG seems to be taking the claims in her stride though and even made a joke of the rumours on Twitter when she posted a photo of herself with a pair of fake lips over her mouth with the caption: “I swear I haven’t had my lips done!”

For those not in the know, fillers are commonly used to plump out thin lips in order to make them appear more prominent. They are also used to smooth out lines and wrinkles in the face, which is sometimes used in conjunction with Botox to produce what can be called a ‘liquid facelift’.

Whether Abbey has had fillers or not remains to be seen, but there are plenty of celebs who have not been so coy about their use of the non-surgical procedure, including Katie Price and Amy Childs.

FTA analyses tyres of UK fleets

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has carried out a wide-ranging survey on the state of tyres in UK fleets, including factors such as tread depth, under-inflation and the condition of the side wall. Fleet managers with Staveley Head Lorry Insurance may wish to take notice of the FTA’s findings, which could help them to avoid accidents and improve efficiency.

According to FTA analysis, tread depth, cuts and objects in the tread accounted for nearly 60 per cent of all defects found – and are easy problems to identify with regular checks and maintenance. “Tyre care plays a huge part in a vehicle’s road safety performance, for example underinflation will affect vehicle handling and braking performance while increasing fuel consumption and tyre wear,” said Alan Osborne, the organisation’s director of vehicle inspections.

He went on to say that tyre defects can go on to cause other potential costs, such as test failures, roadside checks and potentially greater targeting by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, all of which could prove a major headache for fleet managers looking to save money. The FTA advised drivers to be particularly mindful of their tread depth during the winter weather, as worn tyres lead to a higher rate of accidents through skidding.

Brits urged to share with friends

The organisation charged with promoting inbound tourism in Britain has launched a campaign urging Brits to share their Britain with friends and family from abroad. Using the slogan ‘share your GREAT Britain,’ VisitBritain are promoting the concept of boosting tourism by inviting people you know to visit the country.

Of course, individuals and businesses can do their bit in welcoming those from afar by offering appealing and convenient accommodation for guests. If you have a second home, you may want to consider offering your property for let through specialists such as Rent My Cottage.

A host of celebrities, including Jamie Oliver, Matt Smith and Dame Judi Dench are involved with the campaign, which hopes to tap into the enthusiasm generated by this year’s London Olympic Games and Royal Jubilee.

If you fancy inviting some long last relatives or old university friends over for a visit – you may want to take advantage of the 10 GREAT Reasons app, or other tools on the VisitBritain website. These will help you create personal invites for your global network in order to persuade them to pop over and absorb some Great British culture.

Tourism Minister John Penrose said of the campaign: “This is an innovative and personal way of encouraging more visitors to the UK and comes at a time when we want to ensure Britain is top of everyone’s holiday wish list.”

Is now the time to take your career down under?

With the economic situation in the UK remaining somewhat bleak, many individuals are reassessing their working future on home soil and pondering a life overseas. Australia has been a traditional destination for Brits choosing to emigrate. Each year, thousands of Brits sell up, change their pounds sterling into Australian dollars and head for new lives down under. So, is this a good plan right now?

It’s actually quite tricky to be accepted for admittance into Australia due to their working visa policies. The country has traditionally worked on a points system in order to help fill gaps in their workforce. The good news is Australia has recently announced a boost to its immigration quota! According to recent news reports there will now be an extra 5000 spaces available each year in order to help shortfalls in certain sectors of the economy.

If you’ve never been to Australia, you’ll undoubtedly want to take a trip there before pondering a big move! To make sure you get the most from your visit check out some advice from regular visitors such as Kate Gerraway, who wrote this article for the MailOnline.