H.M Pasties

At 19, Lee Wakeham was staring down the barrel of his second prison sentence, with a three year stint in Strangeways in front of him. Determined to turn his life around, he spent the day of his release ringing recruitment agencies until he found a job fitting screws into floodlights and knuckled down. Lee, 42, is now heading up the organisation’s HMPasties project, a social enterprise aiming to transform former prisoners’ lives - through baking. Producing quality, handcrafted pastries using ingredients sourced from prison farms, HMPasties will employ ex-offenders fresh out of custody, giving them the skills and support to build a life and career on the outside.Its first full time member of staff is 23-year-old Nathan Modlinsky, who has recently served time for GBH. Like Lee, he saw the sentence as a wake-up call and used his time inside wisely. Together he and Lee make traditional Cornish-style pasties, cheese and onion bakes and veggie samosas, selling them at markets including Didsbury and Chorlton Makers Markets and Wigan Artisan Market, as well as at FC United’s home games.

Prison Pasties

Self-Tying Shoe Comes Undone

Nike's new self-lacing trainer, the Adapt BB, has fallen at the first hurdle after the Android app that controls the shoe malfunctioned.  Billed as the "future of footwear", the $350 (£268) a pair Adapt BB launched on Sunday. However, an update to the Google Android app that allows wearers to loosen or tighten the trainer failed to work. Customers complain that the Android app only syncs with one shoe.  The shoe can be controlled manually using two buttons on the side.  But people are frustrated that the Android app fails to work. The Adapt BB contains a small motor which pulls the laces inside the trainer. Nike claims it has reinvented the shoe lace - which "dates back to 3500 BC, before Stonehenge or the Pyramids" - with its Adapt BB. It has been a difficult week for the company. On Wednesday, Zion Williamson, a college basketball star for Duke University in South Carolina, slipped and fell when one of his Nike trainers split apart.The incident sent Nike's share price down more than 1% in yesterday's trading.

Nike Adapt BB

Di Meo Exapansion

A Whitley Bay ice cream maker crowned one of the best in the UK is planning to open a second parlour in Newcastle . Di Meo’s on Whitley Bay sea front has been part of an ice cream making dynasty for more than 100 years and has won countless awards, including twice being voted the best in Britain. Luciano De Meo said family had snapped up the unit in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle, seeing an opportunity to become part of the thriving new community of independent businesses. In the past it was a rundown area but it’s really coming back to its former glory and it’s nice to see so much positivity there is in the area; there’s a real buzz in the air. “We’re now trying to get the right balance, in terms of what we’ll offer. There maybe a different market in the city, compared to the sea front, and there’s a lot more competition in the city centre in terms of food options, such as gluten free, so we’ll look at our options. “As to when we open, that will depend on the planning process, but we hope to open in three to four months, and we’ll look to create between four to eight jobs too.”

Di Meo's

Geordie Stottie Cafe

Prepare to get an authentic taste of Geordie cuisine when a new cafe opens in Newcastle in the very near future, with its name inspired by one of the city's most famous food. The Geordie Stottie is set to open on Blandford Street next month. As well as stotties, dishes will include Saveloy Dip & Yorkshire Pudding Wraps. They are hoping to entice in the busy match day crowds with a special deal full state with sausages, mushrooms, roasties & brown ale gravy for £3.95. Do you think it will be a success?

Stottie Cafe

Palre-G Reinventing a Biscuit

Parle Products was established as a confectionery maker in the Vile Parle suburb of Mumbai, in 1929. It began manufacturing biscuits in 1939. It is now one of the best selling biscuit brands in the world. A popular teatime snack and a staple in many Indian households, homegrown biscuit brand Parle-G is one of the oldest and most recognised names in India. This family-run confectionery empire is now run by the grandson of the founder who is looking at ways to stay on top. Its iconic wrapper & the low price (5p per biscuit) is another important factor in Parle-G's popularity. However do they need to change their approach to keep up with a changing world?

Parle-G Biscuit

Tourist Tax

Councillors in Edinburgh have voted in favour of a "tourist tax", which could become the first of its kind in the UK. However, the new tax will not come into effect until the Scottish Parliament has passed enabling legislation, which is unlikely to happen before next year. Edinburgh's transient visitor levy (TVL) proposals include a £2-per-night charge added to the price of any room for the first week of a stay. It would apply to all accommodation, including Airbnb-style short-term lets. The aim is to raise money to pay for the costs of mass tourism in the Scottish capital, which is estimated to attract more than four million visitors every year.It is estimated the tax could raise between £11.6m and £14.6m per year in Edinburgh. Edinburgh would follow in the footsteps of European cities such as Paris and Barcelona, while Bath and Oxford councils have also called for powers to charge visitors.

Tourist Tax

The Gift of Nothing

Discount retailer Poundland has caused controversy with its latest Valentine's Day gift, a heart-shaped package with nothing in it. The Gift of Nothing, naturally priced at £1, is intended as "a bit of fun", says the retailer. But Friends of the Earth and other campaign groups have complained that whatever Poundland was thinking about, it certainly wasn't the environment. Julian Kirby, Friends of the Earth's lead campaigner on plastics, criticised its use of "wasteful plastics", adding: "Let's hope folly like this goes unloved and doesn't reappear." Another campaigner, Sian Sutherland of A Plastic Planet, said: "This product is designed to go straight into the bin, but will last for 500 years.Poundland defended the product, saying; "Our customers love it, as do loads of others online. They all know it's a bit of fun and we understand that's still allowed in moderation."

The Gift of Nothing

Fast Fashion Ethic Shock

Boohoo and Missguided have been named as two of the least sustainable fashion brands in the UK in a report published by the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC). In November 2018, the EAC wrote to 16 British retailers and asked them to submit evidence detailing what measures they’re taking to reduce the environmental impact of the garments they sell. This forms part of the government’s inquiry into the “fast fashion” business model  amid growing concerns that clothing brands are promoting overconsumption and increasing their carbon footprint. ASOS, Burberry, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Primark were praised for their respective sustainability actions, which include the use of recycled materials in garments, limiting the discharge of hazardous chemicals, and the re-use or recycling of unsold stock. But many brands were found to be lagging behind, with Boohoo, Missguided, Amazon UK, JD Sports, Sports Direct and TK Maxx among those who hadn't signed up to targets set by the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) to reduce their carbon, water and waste footprint.Francois Souchet of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation said the committee was right that the "fashion industry's current business model cannot work in the long term". He said worldwide one truckload of clothing was landfilled or incinerated every second, while less than 1% of old clothing goes on to be used to make new clothes.
Fast Fashion

Robot Restaurant

China's biggest hotpot restaurant chain by sales, Haidilao, started almost 25 years ago and has already established more than 360 restaurants around the world, including in Japan, the US and Taiwan. The popular chain has opened Beijing's first robot-aided hotpot restaurant to much fanfare and is looking to spread the concept across its other outlets if it proves successful. Can you see the future of a robot staffed restaurant in the UK?

Robot Restaurant 

Dragon's Den Success

 

The owners of North East protein snack firm Oatein have emerged from the Dragons’ Den with a £50,000 investment. The founders of Oatein – John Paul Gardner and Andy Dixon – stepped into the UK’s most fearsome business environment on BBC Two in a bid to deliver what they hoped would be a winning pitch to the serial entrepreneurs. The pair, who first met in the boxing ring, set up the Whitley Bay-based firm in 2016 with a mission to take on the healthy snack market, producing a growing range of protein-fuelled snacks.The firm began by producing its flagship flapjack which combines healthy, slow energy release protein and oats and since has gone on to produce a wide range of products including brownies, protein bars, cookies and peanut butters in a variety of flavours which provide the health benefits of complex carbs, fibre and additional protein.More than 2.5m bars, flapjacks and cookies have since been sold in supermarkets, pharmacies and specialty health outlets in around 60 countries worldwide – with exports accounting for 90% of turnover.Making one of the quickest decisions seen in the den, the pair agreed to partner with Mr Jones, who has acquired 20% of the business for £50,000.

Oatien