bridge too far

It's hard to see a commercial organisation being interested in the less profitable / loss making parts of RM. Collecting and delivering mail to the remotest parts of the UK for example. Unless, of course, said organisation charges according to mileage and remoteness.

I've corrected it for you.

There is a difference between fact and fiction, doncha know?

from Wiki: The couple have lived in a 16th-century redbrick farmhouse on the 500-acre (2.0 km2) Pophleys estate in Buckinghamshire, England, and on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. They currently live in Wiltshire, England. Phew - this backs me up and, in my endeavours to find out more, I came across this: http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/travel-resources/industry-news/miscellaneous-and-celebrity-news/rock-star-pad-may-be-on-the-cards-for-tony-blair/a-3-58-1051/ It says IA owned the place in the 70s but it was definitely in the 80s that he confronted me!

He he! We do that too - purple nitriles for us.

Well, he has a large estate in Buckinghamshire (near High Wycombe). I accidentally strayed onto his land once (I didn't know he lived there then) and he came charging up in his landrover to tell me off. I was told he holds hunting parties on the estate.

Ian Anderson lives about a quarter of mile away from where I used to live. Useless FACT!

gants de souci?

You do know I was referring to rubber gloves?

The life and work of Shirley MacLaine

I misread that as English Marigolds but hey ho maybe, just maybe

15. Onanism?

Now Poopey scoop another goal

Qwerty - the RCD contract. If HCC spends more than (approximately) £100,000 on those purchases over a four year period, they are obliged to put the contract out to tender notwithstanding that it's currently an in-house supplier. The in-house supplier has to compete with external suppliers. Whilst the £100,000 threshold might have changed in the past 2 years (but not by much), it is EU Procurement Law and cannot be ignored. If the spend is under the EU threshold, the council's own Standing Orders will dictate that the council still has to go to competitive quote.

Whereas in fact the news of his resignation has taken centre stage, with Blair and Alan Johnson all but bit players in today's news.

Absolutely agree with you although I don't actually think it is a lisp that he has, more a case of a problem with his adenoids. (Cue childish comments about haemorrhoids).

n You guys might be interested in this programme, on at 9pm tonight. All about poor customer service offered by the major players on the High Street http://www.channel4.com/programmes/mary-portas-secret-shopper?ppc_secretshopper_google_Mary_portas Tells you how to complain, too.

^^ You talk about the incorrect use of 'I' instead of 'me'. In that vein, I really, really want to kick something when people use 'myself' instead of 'me'. For example: 'If you return the damaged article to myself, I'll repair it for you'. Err no - 'If you return the damaged article to ME, ........'

Very good R!

They sell bottled hair now? Gosh I bet a fair few of you lot here buy it then

Very close, except I've got dark hair

I can only talk with any knowledge about the NHS as I used to be a Procurement Manager. There most certainly are claw-backs. For example, I negotiated a Dry Goods contract (flour, sugar, cereals - you get my drift) with a very well know large supplier based, IIRC, in Petersfield. A figure was agreed, and for every £20K over that figure, the NHS Trust received a % back. The bigger the amount over the 'figure', the bigger the % retrospective discount. When you consider that I was buying for all the hospitals and clinics in the greater Portsmouth area (is that an oxymoron - greater and Portsmouth?), then you can see that the discount ended up being substantial. I should add that there was a national NHS contract for the supply of these goods, but I got a better deal negotiating outside that contract. Another thing to bear in mind too is that, as with e.g. Tesco, there will be loss-leaders. So QWERTY might well have got his RCD plug for less from B & Q but I bet his employer's contracted supplier could provide other stuff cheaper than B & Q. Any local authority with any nous will negotiate Framework Contracts. These mean that buyers can price-match and get the best deal. Hampshire CC used to be held up as good practice and indeed led a Procurement Hub for many local councils and NHS Trusts in the South. This meant the Hub's members could draw from these large contracts at very advantageous rates. Certainly in the NHS we had to make a 6% reduction in non-pay spend year on year (I'm talking late 90s / early 2000s) and we achieved it. A final point is that contracted suppliers will offer more than just goods. They provide training / upgrades / add-ons often at no extra charge (e.g. heart monitoring equipment). Here endeth the first Procurement lesson

Ooooooh I've got another one! I grimace when someone says 'He is going to try and win the next game'. Surely it should read 'He is going to try TO win the next game'.?

You should offer that phrase to DC

Was SLH a healthcare company? I thought it was formed on the back on nursing homes (whilst providing care, are not on the same level as healthcare companies like BUPA and all lthe american ones like United Healthcare).