Keith, her other half, is a pretty fine local photographer. One of his prints – a cracking seascape in the sunset –  is also adorning my office. How bad is that?

So you see, it’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know Thanks very much indeed guys.

The problem I had with that advert – the one where Adam and Jane are talking over the phone about viewing houses and the estate agent’s connection is slower than Jane’s –  is slightly more obvious…

The estate agent showing Adam the houses online is using his laptop inside a property being viewed. Surely it wouldn’t be using the property owner’s broadband connection, would it? So it’s not comparing like-for-like, is it?

Schoolboy error!

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In the past, I’ve talked to somebody at Fakenham Chamber of Commerce as well as Kick Start Fakenham about a local shopper loyalty scheme, but nothing has so far become of it.  I think the Chamber has also recently and independently discussed an idea like this, but maybe somebody needs to give it a nudge and/or get some feedback from the local public…

I think the town’s traders could do with some kind of mutually-beneficial loyalty scheme. Something which would reward local shoppers by giving discounts or special offers and which would, in turn, keep some of their trade in the town rather than see them shop further afield.

I have had some ideas already, having mulled it over for the best part of a year. What has rekindled my ideas now? Well, I was speaking to another business owner from this area yesterday and we were comparing notes about local advertising and promotion. His thoughts were (and my past experiences bear this out) that local businesses are usually very reluctant to promote themselves – even if the method offered is extremely inexpensive or even free! They’re not at all pro-active when it comes to publicity and many smaller businesses in the area will happily admit to being complete technophobes – not at all helpful when somebody like me is trying to convince them to promote their businesses online!

We came to the conclusion that if local businesses could be shown an obviously consumer-driven scheme, they’d be more likely to see the advantage of promoting themselves through it. Our reasoning was that they’re historically used to being consumer-led and would react to a more traditional idea that shoppers would want to use.

So… I’d like your ideas. If you’re a shopper, what would convince you to use a local business rather than one from Norwich or Lynn? If you’re a Fakenham trader or shop owner, do you have any ideas to make a scheme like this work?

You can leave comments here on my blog or email me via steve (at) wensum.net. Alternatively, feel free to give me a ring at the office on 01328 856688.

The new shop in Norwich Street, Fakenham – on the site of the toyshop which only recently closed. Apparently (and hopefully somebody in the know will correct me if I’m wrong) they’ll be selling army surplus gear, which sounds a tad obvious being as they’re called ‘Quartermasters’. Well, that’s a bit different anyway and better than having yet another baker/butcher/optician in the town centre. I hope they do well.

I know – I didn’t have to go far to take this snap as it’s right opposite my office door!

Appeal after Fakenham theft – News – Lynn News

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They’re apparently looking at opening a bar & restaurant in the Clipbush Lane area, close to the proposed Health Centre complex.

Do we need it? Is an edge-of-town site good for our town?

Newspapers like The EDP, Fakenham Times and The Fakenham Sun play their part. In fact they do a really great job in keeping us all informed. Trouble is, they can only ever print a limited snapshot of what’s going on at any one time and they don’t all pick up on the same information.  Also, there are lots of different people you need to contact when you have something happening and need to tell the world - and if your news is business related you may not be able to reach your target audience easily.

When Kick Start Fakenham held its first tentative meeting over a year ago, I mentioned the fact that there was no central point of information distribution. No single place you could go to make sure that your news reached the right people. At the time, it looked like Kick Start might provide that central point, but their website is still to be published and if the truth’s known, they’re probably finding the same old problems themselves when they need to get their info published.

So, I’ve come up with something myself. It will be launching soon

A new restaurant is about to open in Newmans Yard, off Norwich Street. D’Inacios Brasserie will serve its first dishes next Wednesday (5th May). Coffees during the day in the courtyard (don’t you just love that wisteria?) with a la carte lunches and a sophisticated-sounding menu in the evenings.

Intriguingly, the leaflet I was just handed in town says, “Fine Wines, Ales & Food”, so it’ll be interesting to see how they approach their beer menu. You’re advised to book – their number’s 01328 851247. Tell ‘em you saw it here on the Fakenham Blog and I may be able to blag some kind of discount when I drop in to check them out

The menu was in a state of flux (a new list of dishes was arriving next day) . Many dishes were ‘off’ but we managed to make a choice from what remained – my mate and I both went for a liver and onion suet pudding (I know – it sounds unusual) and his partner chose a fish dish. After being told subsequently that only one liver pudding existed, my mate chose the fish too. We didn’t have to wait long for it all to arrive, as there were only a few people in the place. I’ve never seen it choc full.

The liver & onion pudding (avec les chips ‘n’ peas) was fine, if a tad strong tasting. Maybe because it was beef liver (as we were informed). The fish dishes came served in a creamy sauce along with a single bowl of chips to share, which had been requested instead of mashed potato. Strangely no vegetables arrived to go with them, despite being included in the description we found afterwards. The desserts were fine, I was told (I didn’t have one myself) so overall the food was OK but not ideal. I’ll let them off though, due to the menu thing. Maybe next time I’ll try the Mexican Fajita Tower they were planning to introduce on the new menu. That does sound nice!

The beer: Us fellas had originally ordered a pint of Wherry, the only ale available, but when poured it was completely vinegary and undrinkable (not the first time that’s happened to me there). As the only other choice was a smoothflow-type bitter, we were offered a bottle of St. Peters each which was fine. They were the only bottled ales in the pub though!

The verdict: I quite like The Oak. The owners and staff are great and the surroundings are really nice. It’s a very pleasant place to go. However, I always leave thinking I’d really like it a lot more if they paid more attention to their beer. I think they are in a bit of a ‘Catch22′ situation as they don’t have the turnover to justify more ales – let’s face it, if the very popular Wherry doesn’t sell fast enough and goes off they’re not selling lots. I have suggested ordering smaller quantities of local brewers’ ales in the past, but maybe that didn’t prove possible. Last night I suggested that they could try ofering a wider choice of bottled beers – maybe with a local flavour or conversely a range of good Belgian beers. They need to attract more custom and a Unique Selling Point like that would provide a good reason to go there. We’ll see – I’ll no doubt be going there again soon!