From 26 October 2007, our catering operation will begin to change over to stocking only (where possible) Fairtrade products. It is only a small gesture, but one where even individuals can help make a difference to the sustainability of third world development. We will be the first Northern based fairground operator to take this step. Our candy floss barrows are already stocking only fairtrade sugar, our coffee barrows have switched to fairtrade beans, and will be stocking only fairtrade sugar after their current supplies are exhausted. In any future purchasing decisions, preferance will be given to Fairtrade alternatives, if they are available.

Additionally we will be stocking all of our carts with information leaflets and literature about the Fairtrade movement, and when running larger events, preference will be given to other operators who stock Fairtrade goods.

After 2008 we will only allow Fairtrade friendly operators to attend our events.




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I am writing this post due to moaning from by business partner Arthur. He suffers from little dog syndrome (for those of you who are unfamilier with this medical condition, take notice of any little dog, Jack Russell size, they always make a beeline for the biggest dog they can find and pick a fight with it to prove they aren't afraid, some little people suffer from the same thing, I keep telling Arthur it doesn't matter that he is only little, he is just as good as a normal person!), and constantly complains that I never list any of my misadventures, that isn't strictly true, if you click here or here amongst others, you will see that I don't mind sharing my tales of woe.

After writing this I will be retiring back to the sofa with a cold towel across my eyes. What has happened is that I have been involved with building some new Victorian catering barrows. In the past I have paid someone else to formica the counters, this time I decided to do the job myself. Where possible I like to be able to do anything as it means I can repair things at short notice or prevent someone holding me to ransom over an important job. Anyway the formicering went fine, until the next day when I discovered that I am severely allergic to the glue I was using. My eyelids are a deep shade of red and look like I suffer from some kind of goggle eyed syndrome. My lips are cracked and bleeding and I itch in various delicate places. Not a dull irritating kind of itch, more the wanting to rip the skin from my flesh kind of itch.

The one crumb of comfort I have is that in a few days (hopefully) I will be back to normal, whereas Arthur will still be 4feet 3 inches tall.


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I try to interperse the serious postings in this blog with anecdotes illustrating the lighter side of life. Just of late, no one on the firm has done anything spectacularly wrong so I am a bit short of humerous subject matter. To rectify this I will relate two true stories, one from this summer and one from the distant past.

At Hartlepool carnival, a young local lad found himself trapped on top of the rocks on the seafront due to the tide turning quicker than he realised. A couple of showmen were alerted to this and went to effect a rescue. They threw a lifebelt (a circular inflated device attached to a rope, the idea being it keeps the victim afloat and you pull him into the shore), to the unfortunate lad, probably the correct thing to do under the circumstances. Unfortunately in the spirit of Larry, Moe and Curley, they didn't think to hold the other end of the rope and promptly threw this into the sea as well! This time the gods were in a benevolent mood as the very next wave brought the end of the rope back into their reach. After holding on this time they brought the lad close enough for one of them to rush into the sea and grab him. All in all a brave thing to do, even if it did look like a scene from the three stooges.

The second incident happened a long time ago. My old man and his friend Frank were working for a scrap metal merchent during the close season. They were helping him recover buses that were due to be scrapped. One day they were both in a bus without an engine, that was being towed back to the scrap yard. As they passed through the high street at Darlington, the tow rope snapped, leaving them to coast silently to a stop at the side of the road. Unfortunately they had stopped in a bus stop! Before they could gather their wits, the queue of people promptly boarded and sat down waiting for the conductor to collect their fares. Another moment of high farce ensured as they tried to convince people that they were not the scheduled bus service and that they couldn't take anyone anywhere!

On a business front, we are involved with this years Durham Christmas festival. We will be supplying a number of old fashioned sidestalls and catering barrows to the Millenium Square section of town, as well as positioning barrows in the entrance to one of the shopping centres and hopefully our helter skelter into the market square.




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They say variety is the spice of life. Well over the last week, we have attended a bat mitsvah in Manchester, a Sikh wedding in Birmingham and the Metro Centre's 21st birthday celebrations in Newcastle Gateshead (as it now likes to be known). The bat mitzvah (same as the more commonly known bar mitzvah only for girls) was something impressive. A fantastic marquee, quality catering and a band performing as the village people made it a really good night.

The Metro Centre event was one of the few occasions when we charged the public, (rather than being paid to attend). The event was quite successful, although it suffered from the same problem many firework type events do, it was too short. There was a good sized crowd, and we had just started to get really busy when the fireworks were let off and the crowds quickly dispersed. Overall it was a satisfactory night, and we were working with the Metro Centre, another prestigious corporate client so it was worthwhile attending.


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I've just rolled in from Nottingham Goose fair, probably my least favourite event of the season. Everything about the place, the high rent, long hours and general hassle conspires to make it an event that I am glad to see the back of each October.

As we head towards November, things should be winding down. There are a couple of major fairs left, then a few bonfires and that's usually it. This time round however November is pretty much booked up. A major corporate event in the Gloucester area is followed by half a dozen smaller private hire events. We have a couple of city centre Victorian markets that we are attending with our old fashioned barrows and by then we are almost into December. That month sees us kick off with quite a large City Centre affair in the North of England, details will be posted in our coming events soon.

As I write this I am in the middle of preparing another massive amount of paperwork, this time for the forthcoming Metro Centre's 21st birthday party firework display. I can recall the Metro Centre opening, but I didn't think it was 21 years ago!


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We are just in the process of adding another specialist site to our Cateing Crazy portfolio. coffee-crazy.co.uk is live. albeit still in an unfinished state. Hopefully the next week or two should see it fully operational.

As I write this I'm just getting ready to take a helter skelter to Nottingham for the cities famous Goose Fair, probably one of my least favourite events. The operating expenses there have grown to such an extent that it takes up untill about tea time Saturday before we actually start to earn anything for ourselves. If it rains we come away with a sizable loss.

Its been a hectic week, we were in the City of London on tuesday at the Cafe de Paris nightclub for a student event, back to an hotel next door to Gatwick airport on the Saturday for a wedding event and then up in the North East on Sunday for a corporate family funday. Everything ran smoothly so there are no comical escapades to report on at this time.




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