23 April 2008

Happy St Georges Day!




2 January 2008

Happy New Year! We hope 2008 will bring health, wealth and happiness to everyone. Below are some pictures from our christmas meal at Tumbledown Farm, along the A5 near Cannock, a great time was had by all!




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3 December 2007

We would of course like to take this opportunity to wish everyone we work with either as a client or a supplier, a great Christmas and a fantastic 2008. It's been another busy year for Smart Ideas with the launch of our new identity in October.

Our offices will close at 1pm on Friday 21st December 2007 and re-open at 9.00am Wednesday 2nd January 2008.

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1 October 2007

New Smart Ideas identity launched…more info coming in our October newsletter. We have also revisited our own corporate style and you will see many of the items being launched over the next couple of weeks, one of them being this new website.



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24 May 2007

New President for Chase Division of Southern Staffordshire Chamber

At a divisional counsel meeting of the Chase division of Southern Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 27th March, Philippa Smart formally took on the Presidency of the Cannock division.

Philippa said 'I am extremely pleased to have been elected to this position as I want to ensure that the needs and concerns of Chase businesses are fully understood and raised with Local and Central government. In fact I would really like to hear from anyone in business with a particular view or concern that they would like addressing in our policy group. I can be contacted on 01902 797970 or stars@smartideas.co.uk'

Philippa would also like more of the Chase business community to become involved as divisional counsel members and would be happy to hear from them on the contact details above.

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12 February 2007

Our very own Philippa Smart had her fifteen minutes of fame on Friday 9th February when she appeared on the GMTV sofa with Penny Smith and Doctor Hilary to talk about using the internet to find cures or treatments for life threatening illnesses.

In 2000 Philippa was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumour, which if left untreated would result in total disability and probable death. Philippa did not accept the normal route of referral to a local neurosurgeon and those of you who know her will know that is Philippa down to a tee!. Instead she used the internet to find a top neurosurgeon that she knew would succeed in the difficult task of removing the tumour from a very awkward place. The operation was a success with Philippa surviving the eight hour op and recovering over the next year. She retained total mobility with a small amount of numbness in her feet and in parts of her body.

The story was then followed up that evening in greater detail on ITV's Tonight programme with Sir Trevor McDonald.

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Happy New Year!

We would sincerely like to wish you and your family and friends a truly memorable and prosperous 2007.

Remember, what we do for ourselves dies with us, what we do for others echoes in eternity...

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12 December 2006

Once again we would like to wish everyone we work with, either as a client or supplier, a great Christmas and the very best for the 2007. Smart Ideas have got some very exciting things coming up in the New Year and we will update you on this site, so keep checking back. We would also like to advise you that our offices will close at 5pm on Friday 22nd December and re-open again at 9am on Tuesday 2nd January 2007.

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22 August 2006

Major new launch of T7 – a fusion of creative services. t7 was formed by local business professionals including Smart Ideas, to provide a fusion of creative services in Staffordshire. We provide all the same solutions as a marketing agency, but we choose to work differently – so you get all the same benefits of working with an agency, but without any of the negatives! The services offered are marketing, design, pr, websites and exhibitions – everything you could possibly need from a full service agency. More information www.t7creative.co.uk.





Vacancies

We currently have a vacancy for a designer to join our design team. Because we are multi-disciplined, we need someone who can demonstrate full flexibility and experience of different types of projects from corporate identity and corporate style to literature, packaging and advertising. Ideally you should be fully conversant with Quark, In Design, Illustrator, Photoshop, Freehand, Flash and Dreamweaver. Web design skills are an advantage although the build will be undertaken by our sister company. ***POSITION NOW FILLED*** (1.10.06)

***NEWS FLASH***

We would also like to announce plans for our acquisition of a Surrey based web design consultancy. This will offer our Southern clients the opportunity to work with a more local office if they require, as well as offering all of our clients a full web design and build service. More information coming soon…

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May 2006

Can we firstly apologise for the lack of updates since the early part of the year. The design team have been pretty much flat out since January!

We have been working on a wide range of projects including a complete new identity and style for Motionworks an exciting new video production company; a new identity for a major initiative within National Grid along with two further additions to their internal networking groups, and completion of the print management for the new flagship Ramada Encore Hotel in Walsall. Alongside this we have just produced an exciting new Annual Report for Family Housing, the sixth we have done for this client. This project does indeed prove that ‘we’re a little bit different’.

We will be updating our portfolio with all this exciting new work very soon!

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7 February 2006

The start of 2006 has been fantastic for Smart Ideas; we are currently working on a number of exciting new projects (hush hush!) so watch this space. Current projects on the go are a large exhibition as well as a major new identity. As well as extending our client base, we are also continuing to work alongside our existing clients – this relationship is very important to us and we invest heavily in the time spent understanding our client’s businesses.

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22 December 2005

We would like to wish all our clients and suppliers a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year. Here’s to a creative and profitable 2006! We would also like to advise you all that our offices will be closed from lunchtime on 22nd December 2005 and will re-open again on Tuesday 3rd January 2006.

Merry Christmas!

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29 November 2005

National Grid unveils new Women in Networks (WIN) identity

The new networking group for employees of National Grid has been in planning for three months and Smart Ideas were asked to create an identity that would be fitting for a company of National Grid’s status. The launch event for Women in Networks took place on 29th November where the identity was also unveiled to more than 300 enthusiastic new members. The new identity and style was also carried across onto membership cards and posters.



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18 November 2005

Smart Ideas launches NEW website!

We thought it was well overdue a revamp so, today, Smart Ideas launched its new website.

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17 November 2005

Blazing direct mail

Watch out for our direct mail project! A clever piece of marketing, it is quite simply based on ‘there are two ways to set your business alight, either use the match or contact Smart Ideas’ and the two page A5 mail out has a safety match attached to the front. It already seems to be catching people’s attention….



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1 November 2005

Gary joins the team

We would like to welcome Gary Whittaker to the Smart Ideas team. Gary joins as Account Manager so no doubt you will all get to meet him at some stage – Gary is a real character but also very good at looking after his customers as we well know.

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12^th September 2005

Stafford Champions

On 12^th September, Philippa Smart was inaugurated as a Stafford Champion at Shugborough Hall the ancestral home of Lord Lichfield. Her brief as a newly appointed Stafford Champion is to promote the town using opportunities as they arise to ‘spread the word’ about the borough and its advantages as a location for living, working and learning. Philippa is also a partner in a retail business called The Angel House in Stafford, which is well renowned for selling beautiful interior design accessories.



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August 2005
New Vice President at Chase Chamber

Philippa Smart has been appointed as Vice President of Chase Chamber. She gives her time free of charge to help direct and develop the Chase division of South Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce in order that members continue to gain fantastic benefits.