How long can we all hold our breath….

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

It would appear that we are all waiting for something to happen, waiting for someone to make a bold leap of faith, someone to break the deadlock.

But until it happens we are all stuck in limbo. …when really we all want to be stuck in a Lambo…rghini

Nobodies making decisions.

Nobodies saying ‘yes’ lets go for it.

Im not sure if it’s the looming election, or the continuing economic doom and gloom merchants. …but nobody appears willing to make a move. We have over £1.5 million pounds worth of work on our books, all with big question marks over whether they will ever actually happen.

SO… Im not buying the car I want, I’m not buying the house I want, I’m not booking the holiday I want – all because I don’t have any confidence in anything. Which for the first time in several years is making me stressed….which is bad.

It’s a big circle in which we are all stuck – someone recently described it as a hamster wheel – until somebody makes some positive steps we are all going nowhere.

Having said all that…. we are still busy and we are still ‘hiring’ not ‘firing’ so maybe I should shut up and think myself lucky..

….and maybe… after all the election nonsense people will decide to make a decision and get things moving??

Fingers crossed.

Mike C

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All money to charity….

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Be warned all you would be copyright thieves…!

Japanese Knotweed Solutions take our marketing and branding seriously.

As a business owner you expect the odd member of your team to leave, move on, set up on their own etc. There isn’t much you can do about it so you don’t bother getting stressed.

What does however annoy more than anything is when they leave then try and copy everything that you do!

They copy your website, they copy your photographs and have even been known to use testimonials from projects that they haven’t even worked on!

So…enough is enough.

I set Christine Oxenburgh from Garvins onto a couple of them just to see what satisfaction could be gained. And lo and behold not only has she made them take the pictures off their websites, not only has she had the copied text removed – she has had her expenses paid and a donation made to charity!!

So let this be a warning to those that can’t be bothered doing their own web site or their own photographs.

When you copy our stuff – YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK - we will do something about it!

Mike C

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What is it with British people and wishing people bad luck?

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

I have been a lucky man. I don’t deny the fact and often repeat the phrase to people who listen.

My life has had its ups and downs and it hasn’t been easy – but overall if you were to draw a line and say… bad points go below the line, good points go above – then most of my life would be in the above line section.

I don’t take myself too seriously and hope that I don’t come over as a prat – yes I like nice cars…but what the hell… I do a lot of driving and Ive worked hard to get to a point where I can have these things.

I employ 24 people and treat each and every one of them with respect and as an individual. I employ just as many men as women and run a totally equal company paying people and treating people exactly the same whatever their sex. I don’t consider myself above brewing up, or picking litter up from the yard, or getting the lunch in – I even have been known to actually enjoy spending time with the team at JKSL.

OK I’m a bit opinionated and I have an arrogant streak – but how the hell can you run a business without being arrogant. If you constantly listen and take everyone’s advice you end up with decisions by committee which just results in bland design and mediocre service…which just isn’t me.

What I’m getting at here is that I have my faults - but basically I’m a nice bloke running a small business to the best of his abilities.

So why is it that so many people have been happy to tell me that they think I will be put out of business by the Governments bio –control programme?

And why is it they all ask with the same stupid smirk on their faces??

Why is it that British people want you to fail??

It’s always the small minded, corporate employed, dark suited – nobodies, or teachers (bizarrely) that seem to want you to fall flat on your face.

Well here’s a message to all of those people wishing me ill … even if I do fail – at least I’ve lived…. at least I’ve tried…and more much more than this…

I’ve done it my way.

Mike C

…and so…the end is near…as I approach …the final curtain

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Who Decides What’s in the News??

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

So the 9^th of March was the BIG day at Japanese Knotweed Solutions, finally the Government decision to release a bio-control agent in the United Kingdom.

Don’t be fooled this is a big decision – this could have a major impact on all of our lives.

IF this doesn’t work and it all goes wrong we could be plagued by a biblical proportion epidemic of aphids which munch their way through every native plant in the country.

Ok,ok – its probably not going to happen – but it could – and we should all be aware of it.

 However… what do we get on the news on the day of the decision…a good fifteen minute section on footballers conversations being taped in a hotel.

Can you imagine the content??

… ‘are yer awright Wayne, av yer gor any comics ter lewk art – am fookin bawd..less go ler off a fire stuinguisha and chuck telly art de winda..’

Hardly top notch cutting edge news??

The point of this blog is that maybe someone should be a little more selective as to what is covered – we don’t want Iraq and football everyday.

Japanese Knotweed is a major issue – let’s get some coverage.

Mike C

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Body Found…

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Occasionally our teams think that life on site is tough. Weather conditions, awkward site agents (Wigan), mud, water, gas pipes, electric cables, BT connections, rats, newts, lizards, poor access, dangerous buildings – the list just goes on and on.

But… spotted in the papers recently – on a project on which we did actually provide a price – a dead body found in a stand of Japanese Knotweed!

So just when you think that you have had every problem that life can throw at you –

To read the full article click here.

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Tony Soprano (aka - Mike Clough)…

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

My wife bought me the Sopranos box set for Christmas and we are working our way through from the beginning of Season 1.

Mrs Clough now draws direct comparison between Tony’s business affairs and family life – with the way that I act.

She has even taken to calling me… ‘T’..

So that would make Alex – ‘Christopher’ – Phil would be ‘Pauly’, one scouse ex employee would be ‘Pussy’, another nearer ex employee would be ‘Ralphy’….my Dad could be ‘Uncle Junior’…

Debt collection would involve running people over and breaking arms and legs…

If you haven’t watched the programme this will make no sense…suffice to say I wish I could handle my affairs as well as the Soprano family – things would be much easier…AND… I wish we had an office like the ‘Bada Bing’.

Mike C (‘T’)

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Twitter

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

OK so now I’m Twittering, follow me on Twitter.com as ‘cloughmclough’ (like bond James Bond – well actually nothing like James Bond…)

I’m not totally convinced but one has to try these things – it’s all about getting your name out there and anything that helps can’t be bad…

For those of you that don’t understand Twitter (count me amongst them), one gets followers and one gets to follow certain people, for example, I’m following Sir Richard Branson – so I get Sir Richard’s comments about what he’s up to where he is etc and links to articles that he has found interesting.

I’m also following Eva Mendes in the hope that she will give me her phone number – unlikely – but one has to try….

However, just when I thought I had done really well in activating the account and Tweeting – I noticed that my first follower was a fifteen year old schoolgirl! Not sure that’s going to help business or my relationship with my wife….!

Will keep you all posted…see how it goes.

Tweet

Mike C

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It’snow joke… but will a change in Government help??

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

It’snow joke… but will a change in Government help??

Starting the New Year as I mean to go on – rambling and bitching…

Well it’s that time of year again …..ready to hit the new year with an enthusiastic burst of energy…and what happens – we get stuck in a snow drift!!!

I don’t want to prattle on about the Local Authorities lack of planning, lack of grit or just lack of making any effort whatsoever….

I don’t want to ….but I’m going to.

As part of the many arms of Japanese Knotweed Solutions, we also have a maintenance company – (it’s a long story) – as part of our service obligation to customers we provide gritting for footpaths and roads within the estates that we manage…so…as part of this service ….we check the weather forecast, we watch Countryfile, we check the news everyday – AND WE PLAN AHEAD….and get enough grit for the forecasted conditions…

IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE…

Yet the Local Authorities seem incapable of sorting this out…

This morning on the local news we had to listen to a Local Authority representative explaining that it….  wasn’t her fault – she .. ‘ had ordered the grit but it hadn’t been delivered.’ Whine, winge, whine…

That doesn’t really sort things out though does it?

Have you noticed that nothing in this Country is anybodies fault – it’s always the other guy…

It’s a leap from gritting and weather conditions but ….many of my business colleagues have been discussing the possible election and which way they will vote. The majority are siding with the Conservatives on the basis that they can’t possibly do any worse than Labour.

I have my concerns though… IF …the Conservatives get in – won’t they blame every problem on the previous Government??…(.aaah well IF we had been in charge this wouldn’t have happened etc).

So… maybe we should keep Labour in - so at least they can take the responsibility of getting us out of the mess that they got us in to???

Who knows – Id be happy if somebody just gritted the roads – maybe we should elect whoever can sort the weather problems out??

Mike C

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Floody Hell….

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Another season of discontent for the Environment Agency!

Flooding and wrecked properties all over the news as well as tragic stories of loss of life…

Yet one of the less well known contributory factors in many of these flood disaster stories is the abundance of Japanese Knotweed on the banks of the rivers - reducing the flow capacity of the watercourse and blocking drains and overflows.

The EA have a massive task on their hands trying to manage limited budgets to gain maximum flood risk reduction. I hope I don’t offend anyone when I say that whenever I meet somebody who works for the Agency – they always appear stressed…too much to do and not enough time! (sorry guys …)

Current opinion would appear to be that the Psyllid Aphid (Alphalara itadori) (a bio control agent that the Government (under advice from CABI) will probably release in 2010) should reduce the vigour of Japanese Knotweed thus reducing its ability to spread and make it more vulnerable to chemical treatment.

However latest information from CABI suggests that :

1.                 the aphid will not actually kill Japanese Knotweed and

2.                 it will be at least a decade before the impact has any effect

Can I suggest that in conjunction with the release of the Psyllid Aphid – a more concerted effort is brought in to manage and eradicate non native species? Legislation needs to be more strict and a more coherent approach adopted by the EA. Time and again we work on projects where we are told budgets are not available – or that a three year programme is all that funding will allow (yet by the EA’s own guidelines – JK treatment takes three to five years of repeat chemical application).

Current thoughts are that legislation could be deemed unfair to some individuals. Certain landowners will have an expensive problem… whilst others will get away without any costs implication.

Isn’t that just the way things are though?

Surely one cannot, not do something - just because someone may have a financial penalty? A sensible approach to enforcement would see encouragement of chemical long term treatment to manage JK over a period of years at minimum cost.

Providing the landowner had a ‘strategy’ in place to manage his invasive plant problem, then he would not be in breach of regulations.

Common sense should prevail – then maybe we could get something done!

Mike C

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She Cries, they talk a lot; he sends her erotic postcards: she responds like a smitten schoolgirl…

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

With apologies to Sarah Vine writing in the Sunday Times – imagine how surprised I was to find amongst an article about a new book called ‘Jealousy’ written by the author of ‘The Sexual Life of Catherine M’ … a reference to ….wait for it…..Japanese Knotweed!!

How far has the word spread about non native species when it can become a phrase used to summon up an image in an article about seduction and the anguish of jealousy?

To quote … ‘as the picture evolves, Millets anguish grows like Japanese knotweed: relentless, indestructible, penetrating every aspect of her sexual and emotional being.’

Wow.

Sorry I need a cold shower.

Mike C.

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