Latest news with #SimonDixon
Sydney Morning Herald
01-06-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
The downside of stocking up
More on the art of obtaining retail rewards (C8) now, with John Dawson of North Parramatta: 'In the early '60s my boss found a 2000-year supply of carbon paper in the stationery cabinet. The supplier used to give a pair of stockings with each box ordered by the stenographer.' 'Simon Dixon (C8) has enthralled us with a token multi-generation breakfast saga,' gushes Warren Finnan of West Ryde. 'We eagerly wait for the next episode in this exciting cereal!' 'Thank you to all those Good Samaritans who came to help my husband when he tripped on uneven tiling on the footpath outside 1 York Street last week,' writes Alison Stewart of Waitara, 'To the very patient lady who tried endlessly to contact triple zero but was told there was up to a two-hour wait! Then to the tattooed, dark-wavy-haired delivery cyclist who ran across the street to secure a taxi to drive hubby to Royal North Shore Hospital. Other office workers who passed by also helped. Thank you to all at RNSH, too.' Like Robert Hosking, Peter Miniutti of Ashbury is a fan of lugging park links: 'During early morning winter walks, filled dog-poo bags (C8) in the hoodie pocket is a wonderful way to keep your hand warm.' Stephen Tait of Rose Bay recalls that a pair of locals, emboldened by the success of obliterating a letterbox (C8) on the way to Woolwich Public School, 'dropped a Tom Thumb down the keyhole of a footpath trapdoor. This was a gas pipeline adjacent to the Mobil oil pipeline. The consequent explosion and fireball lifted the manhole cover several metres and singed everything in a five-metre radius. Later, Mrs Randall's fourth-class lessons were interrupted by two constables making inquiries about a bomb detonation. They only had to look for the fresh winter tan, lack of eyebrows, singed jumper and smell of smoke and gunpowder.' Andrew Cohen of Glebe also liked to lift the lid: 'Poor old Mr Smith. After two tin letterboxes had succumbed to tuppeny bungers, he installed a big, stylish, sandstone receptacle that he believed impregnable, but four tuppenies bound together lifted the massive lid, rotating skywards then smashing to pieces on his Pymble driveway in 1965.' If bungers were still around, the choko hand grenade would be a luxury, according to Stewart Martin of Mangerton: 'Saw chokos for $7.50/kg at Woolies. Pretty expensive ammo, these days.'
The Age
01-06-2025
- General
- The Age
The downside of stocking up
More on the art of obtaining retail rewards (C8) now, with John Dawson of North Parramatta: 'In the early '60s my boss found a 2000-year supply of carbon paper in the stationery cabinet. The supplier used to give a pair of stockings with each box ordered by the stenographer.' 'Simon Dixon (C8) has enthralled us with a token multi-generation breakfast saga,' gushes Warren Finnan of West Ryde. 'We eagerly wait for the next episode in this exciting cereal!' 'Thank you to all those Good Samaritans who came to help my husband when he tripped on uneven tiling on the footpath outside 1 York Street last week,' writes Alison Stewart of Waitara, 'To the very patient lady who tried endlessly to contact triple zero but was told there was up to a two-hour wait! Then to the tattooed, dark-wavy-haired delivery cyclist who ran across the street to secure a taxi to drive hubby to Royal North Shore Hospital. Other office workers who passed by also helped. Thank you to all at RNSH, too.' Like Robert Hosking, Peter Miniutti of Ashbury is a fan of lugging park links: 'During early morning winter walks, filled dog-poo bags (C8) in the hoodie pocket is a wonderful way to keep your hand warm.' Stephen Tait of Rose Bay recalls that a pair of locals, emboldened by the success of obliterating a letterbox (C8) on the way to Woolwich Public School, 'dropped a Tom Thumb down the keyhole of a footpath trapdoor. This was a gas pipeline adjacent to the Mobil oil pipeline. The consequent explosion and fireball lifted the manhole cover several metres and singed everything in a five-metre radius. Later, Mrs Randall's fourth-class lessons were interrupted by two constables making inquiries about a bomb detonation. They only had to look for the fresh winter tan, lack of eyebrows, singed jumper and smell of smoke and gunpowder.' Andrew Cohen of Glebe also liked to lift the lid: 'Poor old Mr Smith. After two tin letterboxes had succumbed to tuppeny bungers, he installed a big, stylish, sandstone receptacle that he believed impregnable, but four tuppenies bound together lifted the massive lid, rotating skywards then smashing to pieces on his Pymble driveway in 1965.' If bungers were still around, the choko hand grenade would be a luxury, according to Stewart Martin of Mangerton: 'Saw chokos for $7.50/kg at Woolies. Pretty expensive ammo, these days.'
The Age
28-05-2025
- The Age
Tableware gets the stamp of approval
'My family arrived in Australia for a three-year-stay in 1956,' writes Simon Dixon of Bolton Point. 'Having been raised alongside Green Shield stamps (C8) in the UK, the rewards concept wasn't new to us and my mother soon discovered that Kellogg's was offering silverware in exchange for tokens from its product. On the menu for the next three years, Corn Flakes and All-Bran featured daily as we raced the clock before our return to England. We succeeded, and the cutlery came back with us, only to return when my father retired and migrated to Australia in 1966. I followed with my family in 1970. Both parents are no longer with us, but the cutlery is still in use, appearing on my table daily. While I still regularly eat All-Bran (because it keeps you regular), I still can't face Corn Flakes.' Malcolm Nicholson from Katoomba writes: 'When I was a kid, Marchant soft drinks used to give away kites if you collected enough bottle tops. I remember sending off the required number and nothing arrived. A letter of complaint followed and one duly arrived, followed by a second one a month late. They were great kites, but they usually ended up in trees.' 'It's elementary, my dear Graeme Finn (C8), you probably just need to check your Hotmail to look out for the missing model number of your Email cooker,' suggests Mary Carde of Parrearra (Qld). 'Or maybe just try turning it off and on again.' Brian Harris of Port Macquarie has an eyewitness account of his letter box theft (C8): 'Thieves had trouble removing our letter box so they took the whole gate. We were watching them but didn't say anything for fear they would take offence.' 'I've never had a letter box stolen, but I've been letter box bombed twice,' reveals Jeff Evans of Cambewarra. 'Once in Greystanes in the 1980s and a second 20 years later in Cambewarra. Caught the first culprit but not the second. The family were amazed that I thought it hilarious. A touch of karma from the Fifties?'
Sydney Morning Herald
28-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Tableware gets the stamp of approval
'My family arrived in Australia for a three-year-stay in 1956,' writes Simon Dixon of Bolton Point. 'Having been raised alongside Green Shield stamps (C8) in the UK, the rewards concept wasn't new to us and my mother soon discovered that Kellogg's was offering silverware in exchange for tokens from its product. On the menu for the next three years, Corn Flakes and All-Bran featured daily as we raced the clock before our return to England. We succeeded, and the cutlery came back with us, only to return when my father retired and migrated to Australia in 1966. I followed with my family in 1970. Both parents are no longer with us, but the cutlery is still in use, appearing on my table daily. While I still regularly eat All-Bran (because it keeps you regular), I still can't face Corn Flakes.' Malcolm Nicholson from Katoomba writes: 'When I was a kid, Marchant soft drinks used to give away kites if you collected enough bottle tops. I remember sending off the required number and nothing arrived. A letter of complaint followed and one duly arrived, followed by a second one a month late. They were great kites, but they usually ended up in trees.' 'It's elementary, my dear Graeme Finn (C8), you probably just need to check your Hotmail to look out for the missing model number of your Email cooker,' suggests Mary Carde of Parrearra (Qld). 'Or maybe just try turning it off and on again.' Brian Harris of Port Macquarie has an eyewitness account of his letter box theft (C8): 'Thieves had trouble removing our letter box so they took the whole gate. We were watching them but didn't say anything for fear they would take offence.' 'I've never had a letter box stolen, but I've been letter box bombed twice,' reveals Jeff Evans of Cambewarra. 'Once in Greystanes in the 1980s and a second 20 years later in Cambewarra. Caught the first culprit but not the second. The family were amazed that I thought it hilarious. A touch of karma from the Fifties?'
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
On this day: Ripon's Hatmill named one of UK's Best Workplaces
On this day in 2024, the York Press reported that Hatmill, a supply chain and logistics consultancy based in Ripon, had been named as one of the UK's Best Workplaces by Great Place To Work. In the Best Workplaces Awards held in London, the company ranked runner-up in the medium category (51-200 employees). The company credited its "unique, self-managing culture" and employee ownership for its success, according to this paper's reporting at the time. Simon Dixon, founder and CEO at Hatmill, said at the time: "I believe Hatmill has been so successful in the programme due to our unique culture and innovative ways of working, in direct contrast to so many traditional consultancy firms." He added: "While growing Hatmill I've been determined to create a culture focused on collaboration and shared values that avoids the usual corporate traps and focuses on what's important - for our clients and our team." More information about Hatmill is available at
