Latest news with #StephanieBrown
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Stained glass window among tributes to head teacher
A stained glass window has been installed at a school in memory of a head teacher who died last Ellesmere College Parents Society raised £1,600 to pay for an artist to create it as a tribute to Brendan group's co-chair, Helena Hepburn, said the idea came to them because they knew both Mr Wignall and his daughter "enjoyed creating beautiful stained glass art".It has been installed in a corridor which leads to the head teacher's office and she said: "Brendan would walk there every morning and evening. It's a busy thoroughfare for staff and the children so is the perfect place for a tribute." Brendan Wignall ran the independent school for 27 years and died from cancer at the age of 63 in January window is the final panel in a set of three, all created by artist Stephanie features a soaring raven and the panels reflect the story of St Oswald, who has a chapel and a boarding house at the school named after Hepburn said: "Everyone in the Parents' Society was keen to honour Brendan's memory with something that would be meaningful." Mr Wignall is also remembered at the school by a portrait, an oak tree and a cup for 'Excellence in Original Thinking'.Brendan's wife, Anne, said: "Those who knew Brendan and his curious mind won't be surprised that we have chosen to reward students for original thinking and I'm certain that Brendan would approve." Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Sun
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
McDonald's has RUINED our town – fast food giant's u-turn brought about our biggest fears and there's nothing we can do
RESIDENTS have slammed McDonald's for ruining their quaint market town after the fast food giant enacted a major u-turn to its services. Locals in Louth, Lincolnshire, which was once dubbed the Pie Capital of the World, have feared their area will be swamped by junk food after Maccies began home deliveries. 12 12 12 Business owners are also terrified they may have to close down, amid stiff competition from the American fast food giant. McDonald's opened its only outlet in Louth in November 2022, placing it on an industrial estate on the outskirts of the town. While initially just open to sit-in and drive-thru customers, the fast food company eventually u-turned on this decision, opening the floodgates to deliveries. Now, locals have been left divided, with some launching a petition calling for McDonald's to ban home deliveries in small towns like Louth, where family run businesses depend on visitor footfall. The calls are led by Stephanie Brown, 56, after she was forced to sack two members of staff after a 75 per cent drop in takings at her award winning Toadstool takeaway. She fears the business, which her family has been building up for seven years, may even be forced to close unless McDonald's listens to the traders' pleas. Local takeaways had been fine until two months ago, when their worst fears - that McDonald's would start delivering - became reality. It began when these business owners noticed a massive drop in trade. The Toadstool takeaway, which was originally a cafe which won awards for its pies, finds itself in direct competition with the fast food multinational. Forced to become a takeaway during lockdowns in the Covid-19 pandemic, and eventually staying as one, The Toadstool sells pizzas, burgers and milkshakes, wraps deserts and sides and hotdogs. McDonald's rolls out store 'doorbell' policy that will see certain adults banned – you risk showing ID for Happy Meal Former owner Maria Robinson, 56, explained: 'They [McDonald's] started doing deliveries six or seven weeks ago - we knew we had a massive dip in takings but did not know why. 'Then my granddaughter had a delivery from McDonald's and it clicked. 'It is galling - they do not need to deliver, they have plenty of customers already.' While McDonald's is only currently open to deliveries in the evenings, it is still directly competing with other local takeaways which offer their services between 5pm and 10pm. Maria, however, worries the chain will begin to deliver for breakfast and the rest of the day too, "like they do everywhere else". Stephanie added: 'We have lost 75 per cent of the business in two weeks. It just suddenly went like sabotage.' She fears at least 15 other similar businesses in Louth will be affected. 12 12 She added: 'One night we only got five orders and we have not had anything like that since we started.' Stephanie has emailed McDonald's about the petition but they have not heard anything back. She added: 'The takeaways are all saying they are struggling. They pay £3 for delivery which is crackers.' It is believed Louth to Mouth, another local business, has seen a 40 per cent drop in orders - Louth to Mouth and Just Eat are the main delivery platforms in the town. Stephanie said: 'If it carries on we might have to close and so will other businesses as well, especially those in town paying the higher rents, of more than £1,000 a month in the town centre.' She has contacted the council and will raise her concerns during a town meeting on June 3. However, Stephanie feels helpless against the size of McDonald's, adding: 'It is not as if I can call for a boycott by myself.' 'The business is my livelihood. My workers and staff also depend on it. "They had four staff. It is now down to two because we cannot afford to pay them. "They are angry because it is their money." Launching her online petition, Stephanie wrote: 'Fast food giants like McDonald's have enormous resources and ubiquitous brand recognition, making it difficult for small independent businesses to compete. 'When multinational corporations expand their convenience offerings, it often means a gradual erasure of local flavours and the closure of family businesses that bring uniqueness to our town.' 12 12 12 Kieron Boswell from Louth to Mouth added: "Several outlets on Louth to Mouth have mentioned a noticeable effect since McDonald's began offering delivery services. "While it's difficult to provide a precise figure of decline due to general fluctuations, there was definitely a decrease in the volume of orders, at least in the month McDonald's started delivering, compared to the previous month. "I'm keen to just keep pushing and promoting all our local spots and confident it will bounce back." Naomi and Felix Neaga who run the Augustino Artisan restaurant in the town centre say they cannot compete with McDonald's on deliveries. Naomi said: 'We are a very very small town. It is not like Grimsby. It is very small with a high amount of food places. 'We are trying to get our young people to eat quality food. But are up against McDonald's and their offers and it is not good food. 'You cannot compete with McDonald's on delivery. The have pots of money. They will do a faster service with better packaging. 'It is going stop people from coming into the town when they are on holiday if they can get McDonald's delivering to their camp site. 'We have had to change our whole business model and focus on inside. 'It was costing us a fortune to get our food delivered but everyone wants deliveries since Covid. 'It is the most talked about thing in our small food town - McDonald's and KFC doing deliveries.' Felix added: 'We stopped delivering because we had a lot of problems with delivery drivers and customers saying the food was late and cold. 'So I am sure they will be saying the same thing about McDonald's. I know someone who ordered it and it was 40 minutes late and cold.' 12 12 12 Alan Bloomfield, who runs Chuck Burger in the town centre, says he does not mind McDonald's being in the town. He said: 'We stopped deliveries last weekend. We were paying money out to Just Eat and Mouth to Louth that we were not getting back. 'Personally, I don't mind. If I was at home and wanted a McDonald's I would be happy to give them a call. 'McDonald's did bring a lot of jobs to the town. I do like McDonald's myself as a classic little treat. 'But I do understand that local businesses like us need the money.' Marcus Young, of Larders coffee shop, added: 'I don't see McDonald's or other takeaways as heated competition. 'Our customer base is very different to McDonald's, so I am not too bothered about McDonald's doing deliveries. 'I would be more concerned if it was Starbucks. Hopefully, people will appreciate their own local businesses and it won't matter. 'Local businesses have their own sets of customers so there is very little rivalry.' MCDONALD'S 'UNABLE' TO COMPETE WITH LOCAL QUALITY Many cafe and takeaway customers in town believe McDonald's will not be able to compete with smaller businesses, either on quality or price. They included Dave and Jill Carlile, who are loyal customers at Archies cafe in Louth, travelling in from Grimsby to grab a cooked breakfast. Dave, 67, said: 'I cannot see people ordering from McDonald's when they can come here for a cracking breakfast. 'McDonald's is not cheap any more. In fact, I would say a tenner for breakfast here is similar to McDonald's and fills you up more. 'By the time I get a McDonald's delivered it is probably about eight quid for a burger. 'But it always effects someone. It is like shopping on line. If people are ordering in from McDonald's they are not spending in town. 'Thankfully, most people who use this place will not go to McDonald's anyway.' Another local, Celia Foster, spoke as she tucked into her drive-in meal at McDonald's. She said: 'McDonald's are doing deliveries all over the place. 'Now they have started here. People do not like it but it is not a big deal. 'There was uproar when they first planned to open McDonald's here, as they was when KFC opened. 'They were queuing around the block when KFC opened but if you go there now it is dead. 'Deliveries are massive in places like Cleethorpes and Grimsby. So I don't think home deliveries are going to harm anyone, including takeaways.'
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussie quits 'rough' industry to make $3,803: 'Earning so much more'
A Brisbane woman has shared how she is pulling in $3,803 a week after quitting her job in the childcare industry to start her own cleaning business. The cleaner said she was earning 'so much more' than her previous gig and putting in 'half' the effort. Stephanie Brown had been working in the childcare industry for nine years and worked her way up to an assistant director, earning about $1,200 a week. The 30-year-old told Yahoo Finance she was 'always on call' and found it was a 'very rough industry to work for so little pay'. Brown said she and a colleague got the idea to start a cleaning business after hearing from parents and families that they were desperate for help around the house following the pandemic. RELATED Gen Z worker quits corporate job with no back up in growing trend: 'Not worth it' CBA, NAB, Westpac slash term deposit interest rates in anticipation of RBA rate cut: 'Widespread' Mark Bouris issues blunt retirement message for young Australians: 'Accept it now' 'We were both in the childcare industry and we were hearing so many of the parents and families saying how much they really wanted cleaners because of COVID,' she said. 'Everything sort of shifted hygiene-wise and there was such a shortage in our area.' Brown said the pair decided to give it a crack and opened up their own cleaning business. Brown initially dropped down to a casual at her childcare job, but within two weeks she ended up quitting her job to do the business full-time. Within a month, she said the business was 'pretty much fully booked out', with the pair finding cleaning work through families at the childcare centre, word of mouth and later through advertising on and her business partner built the business up over two years before deciding to go their separate ways and open their own separate cleaning businesses. Brown now owns Steph's Glowing Cleans, which does end-of-lease cleans, window jobs, driveway pressure hosing and commercial jobs. She has three subcontractors she works with. Brown recently shared a video online showing how much she was able to make through the business on a typical week, which has racked up thousands of views. She made $1,140 on Monday, $463 on Tuesday, $975 on Wednesday, $400 on Thursday and $825 on Friday, totaling $3,803 for the week. 'That would be a baseline and it would be a minimum. More would come through if I have more clients come through,' she told Yahoo Finance. Brown said she was able to make this with the help of subcontractors, who she will hire for bond cleans, deep cleans and some commercial work, while she focuses on regular residential cleaning. She said personally gets about 30 to 40 per cent of the profit per clean after subcontractors are paid. Brown said her basic cleaning package started from around $165 and went up depending on the size of the house. Silver packages start at around $198, while gold packages range from $480 upwards. Brown said she leaving the childcare industry to start a cleaning business was a 'leap of faith', but she's glad she did it. 'There is no way I would be able to make this money, even as a director in that industry and the hours you are working as well are so much more,' she said. 'The effort I would be putting into my childcare career is so much more than what I'm doing now and I'm earning so much more as well.' Brown said she finds the cleaning job 'very easy', but noted bigger jobs can be more physically demanding. 'I feel like the childcare one was a lot more taxing on my body because I'm getting up and down and running around. You have to put in a lot more energy,' she said. On top of the money on offer, Brown said she feels like she's able to help more families than she could in her previous job. 'The grateful thank you's and the conversations that I get to have with my clients now, I feel like I'm making more of an impact taking away that stress for them in their home and giving them that support that they need,' she said. Brown said there were 'so many opportunities' within the cleaning industry and different niches people could jump into. 'There's just so much out there and it's very low cost to start,' she said, adding that her startup costs were just $300 to register an ABN and buy cleaning supplies. 'I always tell people, just give it a go, you have nothing to lose. If you have a dream, whether it's starting a business or moving to a different job or trying something new, just give it a go.'
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘It Starts With Believing:' Hubbard House calling on Northeast Florida to end teen dating violence
Everybody remembers their first teen romance… but not always for good reasons. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] According to the Center for Disease Control, around one in five teens are victims of sexual or physical dating violence in their relationships. Stephanie Brown with Hubbard House also explained to Action News Jax Sunday those stats don't even account for several other types of teen dating violence that often go unnoticed. 'Extreme jealousy, love bombing, excessive control, access to technology – that doesn't have to be the norm for your relationship,' Brown said. That's why in February, for National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, Hubbard House is launching its 'It Starts With Believing' campaign, aiming to tackle this issue which can often have far-reaching effects on teens. 'We know that teens who are in violent relationships, they're at an enhanced risk of being in a violent relationship in the future,' Brown explained. While also aiming to tackle teen dating violence through one resounding message for parents when their teen does come forward: 'Those positive adults in that teen's life need to believe that experience and validate that experience,' Brown said. Both Brown and Hubbard House are also emphasizing the importance of parents being an example of themselves, in the household. 'Model healthy conflict resolution, model good communication skills, model that solid relationship understanding,' Brown urged. These are some of the ways Hubbard House says you can get involved and make a difference this National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month: Learn how to identify teen dating violence and support survivors by reading Hubbard House's blog post. Join 'Wear Orange Day' to raise awareness by wearing your best orange outfit on February 11. Like and share Hubbard House's #ItStartswithBelieving social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram. Invite a Hubbard House speaker to present on teen dating violence and healthy relationship skills at your school, company, or other organization. Visit Hubbard House's website to learn more. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
