We know we’ve been a little quiet on the Fluffless front over the last few months and that’s because there have been some big changes behind the scenes at CRPR towers. First of all there’s the big office move that happened in November of last year, which we’re now all comfortably settled in to and loving our new city centre location (feel free to pop in for a drink anytime), and secondly, as we’re sure you already know, Chris and Lois left us for pastures new as they moved on to fantastic new jobs in London. After a seamless handover period and a few weeks of settling in, we’d now like to introduce you to our two newest team members, Claire Fry and Sian Floyd.

Claire joins the team as a PR consultant and brings with her a decade’s worth of journalism experience from a host of regional newspapers including the Express & Star, Sutton Coldfield Observer and the Worcester News (although she’d like you to know that she started work at the age of 11). Claire moved into the world of public relations a year ago and worked on national accounts including Busy Bees Childcare and Urbanise, and is now responsible for looking after a number of our key clients including Selfridges and The Jam House. When she’s not taking the PR world by storm, Claire is a self-confessed shopaholic, dog lover, fake tan applier (to herself, we hope) and fitness fanatic.  Claire is also our second resident photographer, giving Clive some on-camera, not behind-the-camera time *cue glamour shots*.

Our new junior consultant comes in the form of Sian, a local lass (she went to the same secondary school as Clive, although not at the same time obviously) who graduated in PR from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2013. During her university course, Sian did a year-long PR placement at UKTV, home of TV channels Dave and GOLD, where she worked alongside the press team to promote the launch of Suits in the UK (one of our favourite shows) as well as organising the Only Fools and Horses 30th birthday party, lovely jubbly. Following her studies, Sian jetted off to South Korea where she spent 10 months teaching English as a foreign language to schoolchildren, as well as discovering that a banana split with whipped cream, sweet potato and grated egg is a completely acceptable South Korean take on a Western dessert (it’s not). A social media marvel, Sian looks after client’s social media channels as well as supporting the team to deliver fabulous PR campaigns.

This month will see Birmingham’s home of jazz, The Jam House, celebrate its whopping 10,000th performance. That’s 10,000 nights of rocking, swinging and drinking (for the latter, we’re looking at you Clive) at the iconic city venue, which first opened its doors 16 years ago.

The lucky band marking this milestone is Brum’s Patsy Fuller and The Revelators, which is a perfect fit for a venue that regularly supports local talent. The band, made up of soul singer Patsy Fuller, bass player James Crosdale, drummer Hugh Graham, David Austin Grey on keyboard and Sam Rogers on Saxophone, will be appearing at the venue on the evening of Wednesday, 22nd April.

In the course of it’s 10,000 performances, The Jam House has seen legends Ben E King and Edwin Starr, soul singers Beverley Knight and Mica Paris, rockers Robert Plant and Snow Patrol, and pop  band Westlife perform on its legendary stage. No musical genre has been left off The Jam House’s playlist in a quest to bring  the best entertainment to Birmingham’s music fans.

No need for tickets for the night as admission is free, so do come and join in with the celebrations - you will most definitely catch us there, sipping on cocktails and dancing the night away. Oh, this PR lark is tough work!

From all of us at CRPR, we just want to say a massive congratulations to John and the team on such a milestone, and here’s to 10,000 more.

Get your best crockery out, dust down the sideboard and put on your Sunday best...we’ve got Royalty coming to town (no, not you Clive).

The wonderful Maple Hayes Dyslexia School is set to be given the Royal seal of approval when a member of Her Maj’s clan visits the specialist school later this month. Unfortunately we can’t yet disclose who will be visiting the Lichfield school without us being dragged kicking and screaming to the Tower (having been sworn to secrecy until next week), but safe to say we are sure they will be very much welcomed at the school. The Royal visitor will be given a tour of the school’s unique facilities and shown how teachers provide a positive and fresh approach to teaching pupils who are dyslexic or are underachieving in Staffordshire and the surrounding areas.

He, or she, will be meeting with some of the pupils and finding out more about their experiences with dyslexia on Monday, 27th April. They will also be shown the school’s approach to teaching literacy which uses icons to make a link between meaning and spelling patterns.

As if that wasn’t enough, they will then be invited to officially open a newly built room at the school and presented with a specially engraved fountain pen, as the school believes fountain pens help with each child’s handwriting and learning. Cor, how the other half live ay.

If there’s one thing that we can’t get enough of in the CRPR office, it’s food, which is why we’re happy as Larry to announce that, for the fourth year in a row, we’ve been appointed to publicise the Colmore Business District Food Festival. This year is going to be even bigger and better than ever with 26 venues from around Colmore Row showcasing their fantastic food and drink offering, serving taster options and hosting live cookery demonstrations, as well as featuring live music and other entertainment across the weekend.

Conveniently located on our doorstep, the CBD Food Festival will be taking place on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th July between 11am and 7pm in Victoria Square, so make sure you’ve got it in your diaries and we’ll see you there for a nibble.

If, like the CRPR team, you’re partial to anything Mexican (burritos, tequila, tall dark handsome men), then make sure you head down to Birmingham’s best department store, Selfridges, to enjoy the vibrant taste of Mexico. With 2015 being the official ‘Year of Mexico’ in the UK, Selfridges has created a feast of food, drink and goodies to get taste buds tingling so shoppers can enjoy the range of one of the world’s most rich and sophisticated cuisines. We reckon that skull-shaped bottle of tequila has CRPR written all over it…

I’m taking a risk by saying that the sun is shining, it’s a nice day and even I don’t feel the urge to rant.

It wasn’t a sunny day when we went on location for some of the action scenes being shot for the new Birmingham-made film ‘The Vanishing Man’, but because CRPR had invested in the crowdfunded car chase, plumes of smoke and actors running around Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter with guns, the action was extra exciting, even chasing the cold away.

We’re not the only local company to be investing in the film either, 69 backers have put in a total of £3,210 to make it happen. It’s the brainchild of our friend Julia Higginbottom, MD of film production company Rebel Uncut and already the 15 minute short has been shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival.

In film terms, this is a really small amount, but it demonstrates just how collaborative Birmingham can be. Yes there is fierce competition amongst a few businesses, with some dramatic rivalries that go back so far, no one can remember how they started. But on the whole, we’re a friendly bunch and are happy to help each other out. I’ve never worked at a senior level in any other city, so it’s nothing new to me (Cannock doesn’t count by the way). According to the Kickstarter page, Caroline’s Nan, Lily Vera has also invested, so it’s not just corporates either. I didn’t notice a role for Nan on the list, so that has to be pure altruism. There’s not a role for a larger, middle-aged PR person either, so you can be relieved at that.