Mando Group Ltd - matt_johnson

Happy Easter - Time for a change?

We believe that you should enjoy coming to work – do you enjoy going to work?
We are growing and expanding our team which means there are new opportunities for you to join us.
We are on the look out for talented individuals to add to our team, we are looking for people with a range of skills including, Project Managers, Programmers and Designers.

So, if you want a job where you get to work with great people, shape the future of the company and be part of a creative adventure in 2008 please check out our jobs page.

Remember you’re alive!

For any marathon runners out there, how about running 5 within 1 year?

Ian Drury has set himself the remarkable challenge of running 5 marathons across the world in 1 year in memory of his son Leighton.

Mando Group has recently helped Ian set up a charity website in order to raise money for 3 great charities, PhabKids, SANDS and Macmillan.

Ian has pulled together a team of 6 close friends including his Dad to take on this impressive fundraising feat. For each marathon that Ian runs he will have a team mate to go through the pain and satisfaction of crossing that finishing line.

To follow the story or to donate to this worthwhile cause please take a moment to look at the website:

http://www.rememberyourealive.co.uk

Good luck to Ian and all of his runners.

New Year, New Job?

We believe that you should enjoy coming to work – do you enjoy going to work? Perhaps 2008 is the year to look for a new challenge – a new job.

We are growing and expanding our team which means there are new opportunities for you to join us.

We are on the look out for talented individuals to add to our team, we are looking for people with a range of skills including programmers, designers to search engine optimisation specialists.

So, if you want a job where you get to work with great people, shape the future of the company and be part of a creative adventure in 2008 please check out our jobs page and get working on your CV.

US presidential candidates – who would you choose?

Today marks the last day of campaigning for the US presidential candidate hopefuls.

A very close battle for the Democrat candidate is being fought between Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. Surveys suggest the Republican battle is likely to be won by either Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney.

Campaigning is an expensive business and final arguments full of grand promises are today being made through primetime television adverts and the national press.

The voting system seems complex, with meetings (termed ‘Caucus’) to choose delegates starting to be held today and continuing for the next month, culminating on ‘Super Tuesday’ (5^th February 2008).

‘Super Tuesday’ is the day when the most states simultaneously hold their primary elections, and the single day when the most nominating delegates can be won. As such, candidates must do well on this day if they hope to secure their party's nomination.

So with campaigning over the candidates must wait with baited breath until ‘Super Tuesday’ when their presidential hopes will be put out or fanned into flame, and the campaigning will begin in earnest once again.

Classic FM broadcasting live from Liverpool

If Classical music is your thing then today is the day to tune into 99.9 MHz and 101.9 MHz FM or listen on-line at www.classicfm.com

To celebrate the opening of the European Capital of Culture, for the first time in its history, Classic FM is broadcasting from Liverpool’s tallest building, Beetham Organisation’s West Tower. Throughout the day the station will showcase recordings from its Orchestra in the North West, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

The live broadcast will be opened by Simon Bates, followed by Jamie Crick with the Classic FM Most Wanted (noon-1.00pm) and Classic FM Requests (1.00pm-4.00pm), Drivetime with Mark Forrest (4.00pm-6.30pm), Classic Newsnight with John Brunning (6.30-7.00pm), Smooth Classics at Seven with John Brunning (7.00-9.00pm) and The Evening Concert with Nick Bailey (9.00pm-midnight).

Happy Listening !!

Guide to Jan 08

We have put together a short video guide to the highlights of January 08 in Liverpool (great presenting Simone!). We hope this helps you start the Liverpool Capital of Culture Year well.

In January we can look forward to a host of fantastic events starting with 'Skate into 08', where St Georges Hall is being transformed into an ice rink, with hot chocolate and mulled wine available to keep you warm!

Other highlights include an open air extravaganza, the opening of the Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool, Visible Viruses and the Fresh Festival.

Take a look at the video guide on our homepage for the low down.

Say hello to Enu

My Enu is launched today. The Enu is the first of our funky little growers range. He's a self-watering biosphere ideal for growing herbs, find out more about the Enu at www.myenu.com

Mando Group are investment partners in this great new little product. It has taken 12 long months to develop the Enu from scratch, ensuring that he looks great, does his job well and is eco friendly.

We think Enu makes an ideal original Christmas present! You can buy the little grower online from the website now.

Searching for Talent

We are 10 years old now and are going through a growth spurt as most ten year olds do! We would like to expand our brilliant team with some more brilliant people. We are currently looking for talented individuals to add to our team, the people we are searching for include a programmer, designer, sales coordinator, office manager, search engine optimisation specialist (that one is a mouth full) and post launch support.

Whenever we are looking for a new member of our team, whatever the role, we are looking for someone who lives our values, a creative, open, responsive and engaging individual. It’s people that share our passion for creating a business that we can be proud of that we engage with.

So, if you want a job where you get to work with great people, shape the future of the company and be part of a creative adventure please check out or jobs page and get working on your CV.

A crack in the floor

After a breakfast meeting at the Financial Times on the river Thames celebrating Liverpool’s continued economic renaissance I popped to the Tate Modern to see the crack in the floor.

In my opinion this is art at its best, people laughing, engaging and interacting with it. If you get a chance try and get to see it.

Katine, north-east Uganda

After arriving back safely from Africa last week I was fascinated to see the new project the Guardian has adopted. They have begun a three-year relationship with the people in and around a small African village in Uganda called Katine.

They are going to be working with two NGO’s Amref and Farm-Africa to help develop the village’s infrastructure and improve education and health standards. The paper will be following the project in detail over the next three years, you can find out more @ http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine.

Africa 4: Home bound

I have crossed the border into Uganda, which was an experience! The Natural resources of the Congo are staggering but with no road or infrastructure there is no easy way to get them out of the country.

It has been a humbling and incredible experience. I have seen some great projects we can get involved in and I’m sure I will be back again.

Africa 3: A forgotten land

Well, we have been here a few days now, I guess it’s starting to feel more normal, but the needs are overwhelming. Everywhere you look there are street kids, they are not hungry just very poor.

We met with three local organisations today who work with abused women, child soldiers and street kids, it was humbling to hear their stories. They were all using the social enterprise model to re-habilitate.

It is interesting, the UN are everywhere doing both peace keeping and humanitarian work, however we haven’t seen any NGOs working here. It is true to say that the Congo really is a forgotten land.

Only a few days left in Africa, crossing the border into Uganda today which should be interesting!

Africa 2: No roads, yet everyone has a mobile phone

We arrived in the Congo midday yesterday on a dirt track runway having flown for hours over dense rain forest. The town has no roads even though it has a population of over a million! Yet, it seems that everyone has a mobile phone. After just one day here I have so many questions. I’m off to visit three schools and a clean water project over the next few days.

Africa 1: Sitting on an airstrip in Uganda

After a very early start on Tuesday morning I arrived in Uganda yesterday. I have had a nights sleep under the amazingly dark sky and I'm now sitting on an airstrip in Uganda, it's 6am and pouring with rain. I'm waiting to fly to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to visit some charities and NGOs. As part of this trip I will be looking at projects that Mando Group can get involved in supporting as a company.

Hopefully I'll send an update from the Congo but I'm not sure how effective communication will be there.

Check out our videos

We thought it was about time we had some fun creating video's for our own website (not just for our clients). The availability and prevalence of video on the internet has been fuelled by the popularity of community sites such as YouTube. Video clips have proved an effective internet tool for making content quickly and creatively available to your audience.

The first three videos that we have created for our website give you an insight into our trip to Barcelona, our dreams for the next 10 years and our employee of year the awards.

Enjoy!

The Knowledge Divide

The knowledge divide is a major threat to the way our economies can develop. It also influences how businesses can grow as well, for example in the development and widespread availability of good broadband services.

In developed countries with generally sound economies these issues remain important. In less developed countries with poor economic foundations, they are critical.

Yesterday from America, came news of an interesting initiative that could see each of these economic models benefit.

Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called "$100 laptop".

The organisation behind the project has launched the "give one, get one" scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198).

One laptop will be sent to the buyer whilst a child in the developing world will receive the second machine

The G1G1 scheme, as it is known, will offer the laptops for just two weeks, starting on the 12 November.

It’s a neat way to ensure people in the developed world can make a useful contribution to those in less developed countries.

The laptop at the centre of the scheme has been developed to be used by children and is as low cost, durable and simple to use as possible.

It packs several innovations including a sunlight readable display so that it can be used outside. It has no moving parts, can be powered by solar, foot-pump or pull-string powered chargers and is housed in a waterproof case.

The organisation has previously hinted that they were considering selling the laptop on a give one get one basis, but not this early.

Is this apparent change of plan good news or bad news? If it means more laptops can be delivered to poorer communities where they can make a real difference, it has to be good news.

It’s a way of kick-starting the programme in the least developed countries. It’s also a good example of how well thought out proposals to provide meaningful assistance to needy communities can achieve notable success.

Live Earth

The global Live Earth event was not without its critics. A weekend of self-styled “Concerts for a Climate in Crisis” was an ambitious concept, not least because attracting big artists and even bigger crowds to large venues created its own pretty significant impact on the environment.

Was it a success in terms of raising awareness?

Well, that rather depends on where you are coming from. There’s no doubt a huge number of people are now aware of the risks posed to our environment by carbon emissions and other attacks on our ozone layer.

Many of them would probably find it hard to point to anything new gleaned from watching almost 15 hours of live BBC coverage centred on the London leg of Live Earth.

At the weekend, those who chose to scoff at the concept of the event, pointed to the volume of emissions generated by a whole squadron of pop stars jetting hither and dither to take to the various Live Earth stages.

Add to that the fuel spent by the hundreds of thousands of fans travelling to attend the gigs in person, and the energy required to stage the concerts, and you begin to see a hefty fuel bill, although concert organisers stressed they were seeking to make their activities “carbon neutral”, I wonder how they will decide whether they did or not?

Against a background of pretty fierce criticism from many quarters, it was interesting to see which global brands had aligned themselves with the event. When I glanced at the Live Earth website there was strong branding from a motor manufacturer; a major electronics company and a software provider.

It was an interesting bunch of commercial partners – gas-guzzling motor vehicles and electrical appliances are firmly in the sights of some factions of the climate change lobbyists, yet here they were extolling the virtues of their energy efficient light bulbs and greener motorcars. Good luck to them. They cannot be accused of burying their corporate heads in the sand.

As businesses, albeit on a colossal scale, they have identified an issue that threatens their long-term performance and have chosen to do something about it. Only time will tell if they have stolen a march on their competitors.

The same situation faces the aircraft giant Boeing. Amid much razzmatazz and dazzle the US firm unveiled its new 787 Dreamliner aircraft to the world on Sunday – a date chosen because it is presented in US-style as 07 08 07.

It’s Boeing’s first all-new jet since 1995 – and an awful lot is riiding on its appeal to the world’s airlines. It’s the only big commercial aircraft made mostly of carbon fibre rather than aluminium and is billed as the most environmentally friendly ever built. Pity it was not in service for the stars at Live Earth,

Credit to Boeing for working to find solutions to problems that really do spell trouble for the world’s aviation industry.

Perhaps some wealthy independent travellers may choose to select personalised 787s as the private jet of choice in a bid to balance their carbon accounts between gigs around the world.

Artists Wanted

We have just moved into our new offices and feel like our reception needs brightening up. If you are an artist and would like to a commission to brighten up one of the walls in our reception, please email us a PDF proposal of what you would like to paint, and tell us a little bit about yourself - if we like what we see we'll be in touch.

We are offering £250 for the commission, and will feature the completed work on our website/blog and e-newsletter.

We look forward to hearing from you mail us @ art@mandogroup.com

May Day May Day

I had the pleasure yesterday of attending a summit convened by the Prince of Wales www.maydaycompany.org.uk regarding the issue of Climate Change and how businesses must take more responsibility in our actions in combating what is potentially one of the most challenging issues facing business in the future.

The day was full of interaction and I came back with a lot of food for thought with how we as an organisation can act more responsibly in managing three key areas of our environmental policy:

· Carbon Reduction and energy efficiency

· Recycling

· Fairtrade

If you have examples of measures your company has taken to address these issues we would love to hear from you.

Topping Out

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Topping Out Ceremony of the Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre. This is a ground-breaking project for Liverpool and is the jewel in the crown of the regeneration of the city. I have been a resident here for over 12 years and the physical presence of the Arena, I believe will continue to help put Liverpool back on the international Map. The Arena officially opens in 2008 but today’s ceremony was a true reflection of the changing times here in Liverpool.

Apple Mac!

After five years of mocking Mac users, I finally broke and bought black Mac Book yesterday, Mac’s now run windows and so far so good. It works well and looks great. To celebrate my new Mac I put together a new play list which includes:

Gomez –Tijuana lady

John Martyn – Solid Air

Ray Lamontagne – Empty

The Killers - Mr Brightside

Jose Gonzalez – Crosses

What would your Desert Island Discs be? we would love to hear from you.

The Royal Standard

Some of our friends run an amazing gallery in Liverpool they have a new exhibition starting next week, Called Everything's Special, it is an exhibition of user-generated video content curated from popular video-sharing websites including YouTube and Google Video.

You can find out more @ www.the-royal-standard.com

European relations

I love working in a creative environment but this morning I was taken by surprise, our Belgium placement student Jonathan Goutier wandered into to my office un-announced to tell me tomorrow is a day of celebration in Belgium and he wanted to hug everyone in the office.
Be warned if you visit us to today Jon is waiting.

More award nominations

We just found out yesterday www.liverpoolphil.com is up for Best Tourism Website at The Mersey Partnership Annual Tourism Awards 2007 we find out if we have won on 1st June.

iPod sales top 100m

The international spread of "poddism" passed a significant milestone with the sale of the hundred millionth iPod since Apple unleashed the little white music player on an unsuspecting world in November 2001.

Since it's launch, the iPod has gained fans from Downing Street to Hollywood and has spawned an industry of more than 4,000 accessories - including a Louis Vuitton designer case. After a brief dip last year, sales have picked up. In the three months to December 2006, Apple delivered 21 million players - an increase of 50% on the previous year's run-up to Christmas.

Source:

Andrew Clark in New York
Tuesday April 10, 2007
The Guardian

Big Chip Awards

We have just found out that our largest project to date, Mercia World, has been short-listed for Best E-Learning Project at this year's Big Chip Awards.

The team are understandable very proud, and we will find out if we have won on 24th May.

We are moving ...

The office looks like a hurricane has hit it! Today, after six and half happy years on a eighties technology park on the outskirts of Liverpool we are moving back to the city centre - needless to say, we are all very excited.

Please feel free to pop in - you can find us @

Liverpool Science Park
131 Mount Pleasant
Liverpool, L3 5TF.

Our telephone number has also changed to: 0845 365 4040

A long weekend ahead, but will be worth it!

Happy Easter

Directors Cut

Looking forward to Wednesday’s Directors Cut I am interviewing James Barton Founder of Cream, the film he has chosen is "Almost Famous" The event is over subscribed but if you are interested in attending future events just drop simone.peter@mandogroup.com a line and she will add you to the list.

The Roscoe Lecture

Over the last decade Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has invited some of the worlds leading commentators and leaders to join the people of Liverpool in discussing the issues that really matter to them.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of hearing the President of Ghana John Agyekum Kufuor accept his honorary fellowship from the University, and talk on the topic of “Human Rights and the Citizen.”
He is known as the Gentle Giant of African politics he spoke with such humility and lived up to his title. He has been president of Ghana since 2000.

Yvon Chouinard?

Yvon started Patagonia... they are an amazing company! Have a read and be inspired:

Observer article: At the peak of his ethical powers

We are recruiting

Over the next couple of months, we are looking for some more people to come and join us.

We are a passionate team of 30 people focused on delivering stunning design and technical solutions to our customers.

We are looking for a senior web designer, senior programmer and a experienced Business Development Manager.

If you are interested in a role with us please go to our jobs section.

My earth Dream

Nowhere are the lines between sport and business more blurred than in Formula 1 Grand Prix motor racing.

You are as likely to keep a finger on the pulse of this high octane world by studying the pages of the FT as you are by browsing the sports sections of the red tops, such is the involvement of many of the world's biggest multi national companies.

With an average global TV audience of 150m plus for each round of the world championship - a figure topped only by the once-in- four years World Cup and Olympic spectacles - it's easy to see the appeal of the cars and stars to major advertisers seeking to promote their brands globally.

Viewers these days have become used to their F1 cars being high-speed billboards.

Long gone are the days when British racing cars were plain green; Italian teams raced in red, the French in Blue and the Germans in silver.

All that has changed. And this week's dramatic announcement that one of the biggest teams in the business is scrapping the sponsors' billboard approach to painting its cars could mean bigger changes.

The Honda Racing F1 Team cars competing in this year's Championship will simply feature a huge image of earth instead of conventional advertising and sponsor logos.

The Japanese manufacturer wants to raise environmental issues facing the planet, and says the car's new look will be powerful call to action.

Consider the implications of this. The F1 circus flies more than 1,000 people to destinations all over the world, and while many share their aircraft, the highly paid stars and team owners are more likely to be in their private jets. Quite a carbon footprint there. And that's before they get round to the business of hurtling round the world's racetracks in cars which deliver blistering performance in return for eye-watering fuel consumption figures. In short, there's no business quite like grand prix business for generating carbon emissions - especially if you consider the longer term game of the manufactures like Honda, Mercedes and Renault who each pour millions into the F1 budgets, is to sell more road cars.

So, is Honda’s new approach a genuine attempt to turn this wacky races world on its head? Or a cynical marketing ploy? Time will tell. But to judge by the tone of the messages coming out of the car's launch, they are hell bent on raising these issues and their profile.

By logging on at www.myearthdream.com anyone who wishes, will have the opportunity to have their name on the car, make a pledge to make a lifestyle change to improve the environment and make a donation to an environmental charity. Under Honda's new concept of "our car is your car" each name pledged would form a tiny individual pixel that will build the mage of the planet on the car. Each name will also be visible on the website and under a microscope on the car.

The first race of the season may still be three weeks away. But a breathtaking marketing strategy has given us the first winner of Grand Prix 2007. Watch those cars make the earth move.

Books…cd’s… pizza…?

I read with interest tonight Domino’s Pizza e-commerce sales (that includes online and interactive TV sales) grew by 43.8% to £20.1m. E-commerce ordering now accounts for 13% of Uk sales.

My first job was a Pizza delivery driver on £1.66 per hour. I would have never believed back then people would be buying pizza on-line; as Dan mentioned is his blog 'One thing is certain; change is here to stay'. I think he might be right.

Day off school?

I arrived at work today to see snow falling, when I left it was melting!

I guess school is open again tomorrow.

What's Cooking?

Last night saw the return of Jamie Oliver to our screens in a new series where Jamie wants to help one of his previous graduates set up their own restaurant. One of our old Non Executives Liam Black makes his first TV appearance.

The Jamie’s Kitchen series was the catalyst for Mando Group developing our own entrepreneurs academy www.hotshotsacademy.com a few years ago.

Jamie's Chef http://www.channel4.com/jamie is on Channel 4 next Wednesday @ 9pm enjoy watching.

Art & Business

I am off to do a talk tomorrow for one of our clients 08 businessconnect helping to launch Culture Invest a programme to help business and arts organisations to work together more. Most of my talk is going to be focused around Directors Cut a series of events where we invite inspirational leaders to come and talk to an audience about a film that has inspired them, then we sit back enjoy some popcorn and watch the film.

Some of the speakers have been Liam Black from Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Foundation and James Timpson Managing Director of Timpson who we have just launched a new site for his locksmith business Timpson Locksmiths

If you are interested in coming to our next event, please register.

Common Purpose

Attended a great breakfast this morning run by www.commonpurpose.org.uk an organisation that runs educational programmes and activities across the world.

The topic for this mornings breakfast was 'Liverpool and future leadership' the Speaker was David Wade-Smith, Chairman, www.livesmart.biz

Lots of food for thought

Video killed the radio star

Video killed the radio star but what is next?

Read this interesting article today. How will we watch TV in 10 years?

Leading figures from the television world have given their predictions for how TV will evolve in the coming years - and what it means for viewers. The way I use iTunes and You Tube now, I would have never imagined it even five years ago. Who knows what the future will hold, but I know I will be using Pandora for many years to come.

Be Inspired!

Springwise scans the globe for the most promising business ventures, ideas and concepts ready for regional or international adaptation, expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation. Ferociously tracking more than 400 global offline and online business resources, as well as taking to the streets of world cities, digital cameras at hand.