‘SELF’ CATERING

Mwaah magazine talks a lot about ‘multi-tasking’ and ‘juggling work and personal life’ – because we know that’s precisely what many of our readers have to do, every day, as a matter of course. We also like to throw a spotlight on some of the foremost local exponents of the juggling art to reassure us all ‘it’s ok to be like that’ and to inspire us when we think we’re in danger of dropping a ball or two!

For the proprietor of the high profile Lemon Tree restaurant in Bishop’s Stortford, juggling (or is it ‘plate-spinning’?) is always on the menu. Welcome to a day in the life of Sue Fishpool.

“I was born in Harlow but have lived in Stortford since I was 9 so think of myself as a Stortford girl”, explains Sue. “Married to Luke in 1993, we opened The Lemon Tree 14 years ago shortly after the birth of our son Harry; daughter Elise followed in 1997 and then Maia just 3 years ago.

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Ahead of Hair

At the age of 17 and in the middle of her A’ Levels, Jeanette Foster suddenly got hit, metaphorically speaking, by a bolt out the blue. ‘It was an overnight thing,’ says Jeanette, ‘one minute I had my head in books studying and the next I had downed everything telling my parents I wanted to do nothing...except be a hair dresser!’

With her parents’ full support, Jeanette’s first stop was an apprenticeship at a salon in Epping. ‘Sadly it’s no longer in existence,’ she fondly remembers, ‘but it was there I discovered my intuition was right. I absolutely adored styling hair.’ Epping was followed by a spell in London with Joshua Galvin (brother of better known Daniel) where Jeanette had another realisation – that she was a real home bird and wanted nothing more than return to the area she was brought up in and open her own salon.

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A Cute Angle on Customer Service

If you already owned a thriving online baby and nursery store which offered parents from all over the country a massive choice of 2,500 innovative and original product lines, and you then wished to open your first retail shop containing the same number of product lines in store, surely you’d need to buy a shop the size of B&Q (or perhaps a TARDIS) to house them all? And which town do you choose to locate your first store?

For Jane and Dean Hill, the solution ‘just fell into place’ last year; for there on the Twyford Estate, just outside Bishop’s Stortford town centre, they not only found warehousing for their complete stock, but also bang next to it was a unit perfect for their flagship ‘That Cute Age’ store. So, if you have a favourite choice of stroller, car seat, nursery furniture, bathing kit, maternity wear, babywear, changing bags, toys - almost any scrummy item you can think of - and it’s not in the shop, then Jane and her team can pop next door to their warehouse and get it for you. Hey presto!

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Work Sharp

Work sharp... whether you run a business or want a new job. Make sure you stand out from the crowd.

'I run a small business and employ a handful of staff, some temporary – I understand that the government has agreed that all UK businesses, regardless of size, must soon offer pensions to all staff. Do I need to be sorting this out in 2011, and if so what do I need to do?' Alexis Beeching, new owner of The Red Cow, 41, Chrishall

“ Although 2012 heralds significant changes to pensions within the UK, 2011 is the year to get your house in order, to manage the costs and manage your staff’s expectations. So what exactly does that mean to Alexis and the thousands of local businesses like hers?

Firstly, a bit of background: Every UK business will need to offer a company pension scheme or enrol their staff into a new National Employment Savings Trust (‘Nest’). Nest is due to start on 1^st October, with all firms joining by September 2016. Why? Because the government says it will mean that between four million and eight million workers will start to save in a pension scheme for the first time – a good thing.

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Ladies That Launched

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Arresting Beauty

Aged 16, Nikki decided the only way to get out of her hometown of Middlesborough was to join the YTS scheme with the RAF. “The first six months were absolutely horrendous,” remembers Nikki, “I hated it. But my Dad encouraged me to stick it out and he was right - it was really worth it.” Three years on she decided it was time for a change and returned home to get a job selling advertising space for the entertainments section of the Teeside Times. “ I missed the camaraderie of the RAF so much,” she says, “I decided to apply for the Met police and I must say that was one of the best decisions I ever made. I absolutely loved it.”

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