The new shop in Norwich Street now has a sign above the door. It’s called ‘Secrets’. Thought you might want to know that!

In other news, the Fakenham chapter of BNI (makes them sound like the Hells Angels) are seeking a local florist to join their ranks. Their contact details are here.

You know how big TV celebrities like Jonathan Ross and Stephen Fry get followed on Twitter by hundreds of fans. Well the reverse kind of situation just happened to me!

I run the IT side of a new company called House Advertiser, as you may have seen before on this blog. Part of our marketing strategy is to promote our services on our company blog, which is linked to Facebook and Twitter.

Just now, I recieved notification that our company Tweets are being followed by none other then Sarah Beeny, of Channel 4’s Property Ladder.

Hehe. Funny old world, innit?

A new web poll for all you people who shop in Fakenham… Is it good, bad or just OK to shop here? Is it improving or getting worse? I’ve seen a few posts on Twitter which imply that Fakenham’s shops are dying because of Tesco. I don’t believe that’s true, but would like your opinion too.

Please vote using the Poll section of the menu on the right of the page. If you have a comment to make after your vote, please add it to a comment on this post. If you actually run a shop in town, please tell us about your experience.

The previous poll on here (pictured right) found that most readers of the site who responded are from the Fakenham area. That’s a start!

So it looks like Wetherspoon wasn’t looking at the old Godfrey DIY premises after all. If you peer into the windows, you’ll see loads of bathroom fittings. This is probably a good clue. Unless ‘Spoons are now serving pints in bidets, a new bathroom shop is opening there.

The ex-Evolve shop in Norwich Street is also opening again. The decorators have been busy during the past few days and it’s about to evolve itself into a new retailer. Things are looking positive again. Watch this space.

This is a really handy bit of software. I found Dropbox when I was looking for an easy way to share files with my work colleagues at House Advertiser. I needed a solution which was easy to use, as like most companies, our directors have varying levels of PC expertise. Dropbox fits the bill admirably.

The idea is that you get some storage space on an internet server (it’s run by Amazon) where you can store your files and some software to install which creates a special folder on your computer. Any files dropped into this folder get automatically uploaded to your internet storage space. It’s a really simple backup solution for important files – however, it’s even more useful than this when you use more than one computer….

Installing the software on a second internet-connected machine allows you to have the SAME Dropbox on them both. Files dropped into one box magically appear in the other. I find it’s a great way to have my work files available on my home computer – especially as I made my ‘My Documents’ folder be my Dropbox. Now, whenever I create and save, or edit a document at work, I know that the same file is also saved to my home PC (and also backed up on the internet).

There are other ways Dropbox can work – by having individual accounts on each computer and sharing designated folders within  one of the Dropboxes for example (that’s what we do for House Advertiser). Its quite versatile. The best thing is that you can use the system free, paying for extra storage space only when you need it.

At H-A, we all mainly use PCs, but the system works with Linux and Mac too so I may install it on my Linux box at work when I have some time to play.

Niftiest bit of software I’ve found in ages!

If, like me, you use the BBC news website to catch up on what’s happening in the world, you may have seen evidence of the presentation of news items being skewed by external influences. I just saw something on the site today which leads me to believe it’s still happening, despite them being aware of the problem.

There’s a screenshot below of a section of their site which displays the most popular and most shared text news items and the most viewed video stories. There’s one story shown in the most read section, “Beer with 32% strength launched” about a Scottish craft  Brewery called Brewdog who have created a beer which has a very high alcohol content. Trouble is, the story was from November – why is it suddenly appearing as a ‘most-read’ story in the middle of February?

I have a suspicion that this story could be an example of one being bumped up the list artificially. It may be no coincidence that the brewery concerned are skillful in the art of viral marketing (as well as making excellent beer) and they have a share-ownership scheme which is coming to a close and has been widely promoted over the past few days.

OK, so if you like Brewdog (and you think their viral marketing methods are doing this), you may think they’re clever in the way that they’re getting national news coverage for free. However, if nothing else it should make everybody think twice about the way our news is presented and the fact that we’re constantly manipulated by all kinds of marketing and political / religious / commercial  lobbying ploys.

How do you think your ’shopping experience’ in Fakenham has changed since the major supermarkets arrived in town?

I got an email from somebody in Saffron Walden asking this question. His town is being targeted for a new Sainsbury store and their Tesco is planning to extend. It already has a Waitrose too. Here’s his message…

“I am contacting you because here in Saffron Walden we already have two supermarkets (Waitrose and Tesco) and now Sainsbury’s has applied to build a third one on the edge of town. We see from a 1998 report from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that there was a decline in market share for the town centre convenience sector in Fakenham of 64% caused by supermarkets.  Do you recall this being the case?  And how has the town centre coped since then?”

I said I’d post it here to see if anybody in Fakenham would care to voice their opinion. My reply to him is in the first comment below…

The local press are reporting that nationwide pub chain JD Wetherspoon are considering opening an outlet in Fakenham. A company spokesperson apparently denied they had looked at The Crown, which remains empty in the town centre, but had viewed another location.

OK – it’s sweepstake time! Any ideas as to the premises they’re considering? Could it be a takeover of The Hungry Horse? Could it be the old Godfrey DIY building by the town sign? Possibly the ex-Learning Centre premises?

Your thoughts and comments are welcome.

With all the effort going on to boost the town’s image, it’s a crying shame that The Crown Hotel in the Market Square remains closed. It’s currently owned by London property developers Wildmoor who, I believe, purchased the building from the previous owners – who then leased it back from the company and remained as managers. After a short while, the managers opted out of the lease and the pub has been closed since March 2009.

I know somebody (a client) who has just looked round the property with a view to taking the lease on. We’d been talking about the town in general some time before Christmas and the subject had got on to pubs (how strange, I hear you say!). I mentioned the fact that Kick Start Fakenham was originally interested in the re-opening of The Star. We came to the conclusion that The Crown was in a great location and could be run as a going concern given the right circumstances - and would considerably enhance the town centre if it was open again.

My client’s viewing of the property had made it obvious that lots of work needed doing to get the place running. The bar area had been previously renovated, taking away much of of the character of this 18th century building (including the original fireplace). The kitchens needed replacing. The rooms upstairs needed work. Sounds like £££s of investment are required to get things up to scratch.

I wonder if Wildmoor have the foresight to see that The Crown isn’t actually a great investment as things stand. The lease, as advertised here at £60,000 a year seems more than a tad overpriced if the intention was to get a tenant in quickly. No wonder it’s still unoccupied. Maybe it would be a better investment if the owners were willing to sell the building on again.

Any local entrepreneurs looking for a project? Drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with my client – who might be interested in joint ownership rather than leasing it (if the owners are willing to sell, that is)!

I spotted a new shop today – in Bridge Street where the Computer Shop used to be (next door to Blockbuster). It’s called ‘Fakenham Florist’ – and very nice it looks too.

Are things taking another turn for the better in our favourite Norfolk market town? Well, good luck to the owners!