NEWS FROM NORWICH UNION

CALLING ALL QUIRKY COLLECTORS
Insurer Launches Search for Unusual Stars


Norwich Union is set to get curtains twitching by throwing open the doors to some of the UK’s most weird and wonderful collections as it launches a search for closet collectors to come forwards and star in a new film.

The UK’s largest insurer is seeking images and anecdotes of the country’s quirkiest collections to be uploaded onto www.happysback.com, the best will feature in a short online movie celebrating eccentric collectors.

And to ensure the best entrants have extra cash in their wallets to pursue their passion, Norwich Union, soon to be Aviva, is giving the five winners £500 each. It is also offering free contents insurance to new customers when they buy buildings insurance. *

So if you’re mad about memorabilia, crazy about comics or barmy about beer mats this is the competition for you!

Angela Rippon, one of the best known faces and voices in British broadcasting has been enlisted to champion the search for the best Quirky Collectors. She has her own proud collection of seemingly ordinary items made unusual by its scale.

If you were to go down to Angela’s house you’d be in for a big surprise – she’s a collector of teddy bears. Angela has 26 bears (not all on her bed!); though at one point she had more than 80 of them!


Calling All Quirky Collectors Page 2 of 3

Angela says: "My love of teddy bears started at the age of three when I was given a fifty year-old teddy by a family friend. He's over a hundred years old now and worn round the edges, but like my love of teddy bears he's still going strong. I've been fortunate to have
many teddy bears given to me but sometimes I still find bears I can't resist - or maybe they find me!

"I’m sure there are plenty of people across the UK who've got a collection they cherish as much as me. I'd love to see and hear about what you collect, so upload images of your collections on to the website and let us know how it all started and what it means to you."

Also joining Norwich Union’s search is cricket legend, Michael Vaughan. Not surprisingly Michael’s collection is of the sporting variety. He has an entire room in his home dedicated to his collection of football and cricket memorabilia that he began in1993 – including a prized signed bat from record-breaking cricketer Brian Lara! It all started with a shirt from his first game playing for Yorkshire, the team he still represents today.

“I became obsessed with collecting sporting memorabilia early on in my career and it’s something I’ve built up over the past 16 years. The collection is something of a series of mementos from what has been an amazing journey for me in my career, however I’ve also been adding to it over the years with items from other sports, particularly football – the best one being a shirt from my all time sporting hero – Pele.”

“I’m appearing in a film about people’s cherished collections and we’re looking for members of the public to be part of it. If you have a collection that you’re proud of, upload images on to the website and tell us why you should be included.”

To see pictures of the famous pair and their collections log on to www.happysback.com.
And to enter simply log on to www.happysback.com and upload a picture of you and your collection for your chance to win £500 and star in a short online film with Michael and Angela. Entries close at midnight on Friday February 20th 2009.

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Contacts: For further information contact: Frank PR on 0207 693 6999 or norwichunion@frankpr.it


Images and broadcast clips:
Available for free download at http://www.digitalnewsagency.com/ or upon request from the above contacts

Notes to Editors
* The offer applies for all new Norwich Union buildings and contents home insurance policies when you have been claim free for 3 or more years on your current buildings and contents insurance.

Norwich Union is the UK’s largest general insurer with a market share of around 15%, with a focus on insurance for individuals and small businesses.

It is a leading provider of life, pensions and investment products and one of the largest Financial Adviser (FA) providers. FAs provide over 70% of the company's long-term savings business in the UK.

In the summer of 2009 Norwich Union will change its name to Aviva. Aviva is the world’s fifth largest insurance group and operates in 27 countries. Aviva is to become the customer brand worldwide, thus enabling the company to compete even more effectively on a global scale for the benefit of customers, staff, business partners and shareholders.

Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media.

NEWS FROM PREMIER INN

Premier Inn London City voted as Best Hotel in Great Britain

Nearly a quarter of a million tourists have voted Premier Inn London City (Tower Hill) as the Best Hotel in Great Britain in the HolidayCheck Awards 2008.

The award highlighted Premier Inn London City as one of the top 99 hotels in the world during last season. The Premier Inn is also the first British hotel ever to win a HolidayCheck Award.

Premier Inn, the UK’s largest and fastest growing hotel brand, scooped the award alongside hotels in destinations as far afield as Egypt, Greece and Turkey. The HolidayCheck Awards 2008 carefully selected the winners based on the experiences and opinions of thousands of travellers worldwide.

Jean-Claude Scharinger General Manager, London City said: ‘We are delighted to have won this award - to be recognised by international travellers as the number one hotel in Great Britain is fantastic. It’s good to know that tourists enjoyed visiting England’s capital city, and our hotel in particular, last year, and we look forward to welcoming them back in 2009’

Premier Inn London City is located in the heart of the capital; just five minutes walk from Tower Bridge and the Tower of London and offers rooms from just £97 per room per night. To book a room at the hotel please visit www.premierinn.com.
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For more information please contact Frank PR
0207 693 6999 or email premierinn@frankpr.it


Notes to editors:
Premier Inn, is the UK’s largest and fastest-growing hotel brand with 563 budget hotels and more than 38,000 rooms across the UK. Premier Inn bedrooms are 22m² and feature en-suite bathroom, TV, and internet access for business guests. Premier Inn offers customers a ‘Good Night Guarantee’ of a good quality room, comfortable surroundings and friendly service, which is unique amongst Britain’s leading hotel chains.

Premier Inn was the first Britain-wide hotel group to sign up with national tourist board VisitBritain; this means Premier Inn is now part of a new quality assessment scheme, specially created for budget accommodation.

A joint venture with Emirates has seen the Premier Inn brand develop in the Gulf region, with its first budget hotel in Dubai in Spring 2008. Premier Inn also has a joint venture with Emar-MGF to roll out 80 budget hotels in India by 2017. On a domestic front, Premier Inn is set to be the largest provider of budget hotels in London by the time of the 2012 Olympics.

Premier Inn has won the following awards:
Best Budget Hotel at the Business Traveller Awards 2008
Leading Economy brand in the JD Power European Economy Hotel Guest Satisfaction Survey 2008
Most improved brand by the BDRC British Hotel Guest Survey 2008.
Winner of the HolidayCheck Awards 2008

NEWS FROM TIME TO CHANGE

COMMUTER TRAM TURNS INTO PADDED CELL

Mental health campaign Time to Change invites commuters to ride to work in a ‘padded cell’


Monday 26th January 2009



Commuters in Sheffield will be in for a surprise today as they ride to work and discover that one of their trams has been turned into a padded cell. The idea, the first of its kind to be conducted on a commuter service, is led by Time to Change – a campaign to tackle the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems.



The padded-cell will run on the yellow route of the Sheffield Supertram network throughout the day. It will be emblazoned with provocative slogans. One panel reads - “1 in 4 will have a mental health problem in their life; that’s 50 on this tram – but they don’t need to spend their days in a padded cell”. The stunt makes the point that mental health problems are very common, yet people who have experienced these problems, are typically getting on with life and travelling to work, just like everybody else.



Time to Change is England’s biggest and most ambitious campaign to end mental health discrimination. It’s run by leading mental health charities Mental Health Media, Mind and Rethink, and backed by £16 million from the Big Lottery Fund and £2 million from Comic Relief.



The tram will run from the 25th January through to the evening of Monday 26th January (on the yellow route). Commuters will be able to hop on board as they usually would during the day. Furthermore, travelling on board will be several people who have experienced mental health problems, including an ex-police officer and a qualified nurse.



Lawrence Butterfield, a qualified nurse who has had depression, says -

“I was surprised by people’s reactions when I was first diagnosed with depression. It was as if they thought a nurse should somehow be immune to mental health problems. The truth is it can happen to anyone. Thankfully padded cells are a thing of the past – but in many ways our attitudes to mental health problems are still very old-fashioned and its about time we all became more open about the issue. The subject of cancer used to be a taboo, but we are now comfortable discussing it and it’s time we had the same attitudes to mental health. I will be riding on the tram to make people realise that mental health problems are still a taboo, but the people who have experienced them are just normal people, getting on with it.”



Sue Baker, Time to Change Director says -

"Time and time again people with mental health problems say that other people's prejudice, fear and discrimination can have a worse impact than the problem itself. And yet mental health problems are a common experience in the 21st century. With one in four of us experiencing a mental health problem at some stage, this is an issue that affects all of us - whether it be directly or a family member or friend. We’ve got to realise that stigma, discrimination, and outdated attitudes wreck lives. But it doesn't have to be this way – this is the beginning of a social movement that can change things for the better”.



For more information on Time to Change and the padded cell visit www.time-to-change.org.uk



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For images of the padded cell, interviews with a Time to Change spokesperson, and/or interviews with any of the case studies, please contact Frank PR on 0207 693 6999 / 0781 309 5242or email rethink@frankpr.it

NOTES TO EDITORS



About Time to Change:

Time to Change is England's most ambitious programme to end the discrimination faced by people with mental health problems, and improve the nation's wellbeing. Mental Health Media, Mind, and Rethink are leading the programme, funded £16m from the Big Lottery Fund and £2m from Comic Relief and evaluated by the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College, London.



For further information go to www.time-to-change.org.uk



About The Big Lottery Fund:

The Big Lottery Fund’s support for Time to Change comes from its £165m Well-being programme, which provides funding to support the development of healthier lifestyles and to improve well-being. The Big Lottery Fund has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006. Full details of the Big Lottery Fund, its programmes and awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888 / Out of hours: 07867 500 572 Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030 / Textphone: 08456 021 659



About Comic Relief:

Comic Relief is committed to supporting people living with mental health problems. The projects Comic Relief funds ensure people with mental health problems get their voices heard in the decisions that affect their lives and to get the help they need to recover. Comic Relief also helps people to promote their rights and reduce the stigma and discrimination they face so that they feel more included in society. The £2 million grant to Time to Change is part of Comic Relief's long standing commitment to this issue. For more information go to www.comicrelief.com



About Stagecoach Supertram:

Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The company employs around 30,000 people and operates bus, coach, rail and tram services. Stagecoach Supertram was Britain's first state-of-the-art tramway and has been in operation for 15 years. It incorporates three tram routes in the city of Sheffield and carries around 15million passengers a year.

NEWS FROM PREMIER INN

PREMIER INN VOTED AS TOP IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

Premier Inn has been voted as top in the customer service stakes in the Leisure and Tourism category, by the Institute of Customer Service Customer Satisfaction Awards.

The award highlights Premier Inn as a leader in the field, seeing the UK’s largest and fastest growing hotel brand fighting off competition from mid-market hotels, such as Marriott and Hilton.

The award winners were the top performers in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index, which asked more than 24,000 people to rate how well or badly companies and organisations performed in 12 key public and private sectors.

Robert Crawford, Executive Director of the ICS said: ‘Most awards are judged by a panel of experts, but the ICS Customer Satisfaction Awards are based on the views of real customers. Premier Inn displays real consistency in providing excellent customer service to all of its guests and this award recognises this.’

Paul Flaum, chief operating officer for Premier Inn, said: ‘We are delighted to have won this award – customer service is something we pride ourselves on and to be recognised for this by our customers is a great achievement.’

Premier Inn is so committed to guest satisfaction they offer a unique Good Night Guarantee at each of their 558 hotels across the UK - meaning any guest who is not 100% satisfied with their stay will receive a full refund.

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For more information please contact Frank PR on
0207 693 6999 or email premierinn@frankpr.it

Notes to editors:
About Premier Inn…
Premier Inn, is the UK’s largest and fastest-growing hotel brand with 563 budget hotels and more than 38,000 rooms across the UK. Premier Inn bedrooms are 22m² and feature en-suite bathroom, TV, and internet access for business guests.

Premier Inn offers customers a ‘Good Night Guarantee’ of a good quality room, comfortable surroundings and friendly service, which is unique amongst Britain’s leading hotel chains.
Premier Inn was the first Britain-wide hotel group to sign up with national tourist board VisitBritain; this means Premier Inn is now part of a new quality assessment scheme, specially created for budget accommodation.

A joint venture with Emirates has seen the Premier Inn brand develop in the Gulf region, with its first budget hotel in Dubai in Spring 2008. Premier Inn also has a joint venture with Emar-MGF to roll out 80 budget hotels in India by 2017. On a domestic front, Premier Inn is set to be the largest provider of budget hotels in London by the time of the 2012 Olympics.

Premier Inn has won the following awards:
Best Budget Hotel at the Business Traveller Awards 2008
Leading Economy brand in the JD Power European Economy Hotel Guest Satisfaction Survey 2008
Most improved brand by the BDRC British Hotel Guest Survey 2008.
Winner of the HolidayCheck Awards 2008
Best Business Hotel Chain at the Business Travel World Awards 2008
Institute of Customer Service Award for Hotels and Leisure

For more information please visit www.premierinn.com

About ICS…
The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) is the professional body for customer service whose primary purpose is to lead customer service performance and professionalism.
The ICS launched the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) in 2007 and it is repeated every six months. This latest UKCSI is based on a sample of 24,000 adults surveyed online in late 2008.
It measured 20 individual factors of customer satisfaction that can be grouped into five attributes: professionalism, problem solving, timeliness, quality/ efficiency and easy to do business with.
Each of these factors is weighted according to how important customers said they were in the ICS research Customer priorities: what customers really want and the weighted satisfaction scores are used to produce the Index. This makes the scores exceptionally robust as they are not simply a percentage of respondents who answered a question in the positive or negative – they are derived from a weighted index of multiple questions.
The UKCSI results are determined on a geographically and demographically representative sample of UK adults and data is collected for all organisations with a high market share in each segment of the private sector and the main players in the public sector.

The UKCSI has been welcomed by BSI British Standards. It says: “We believe it is an important step in improving customer satisfaction in the UK as well as a useful tool for consumers and business. Customer satisfaction is a key area of standardisation for BSI and our own work in this area potentially assists organisations to improve their position in the index.”

NEWS FROM VIRGIN MEDIA

Terrier-vision!

Virgin Media investigates the ‘wag’ factor for new ‘Doggy on Demand’ service

Virgin Media has today announced it is investigating a new phenomenon: dogs who are dotty about telly. The entertainment company is conducting research into shows that appeal to the whole family, including our beloved pet dogs, after discovering a unique breed of TV fans who are literally ‘barking about the box’. Striving to meet the demands of every viewer in the house, Virgin Media is even considering plans to introduce a bespoke TV on demand section containing shows that appeal to dogs as well as their owners.

Having carried out a nation-wide search to find the nation’s biggest canine TV fans, Virgin Media selected three top TV dogs from across the country to help assess whether they know their Rover’s Return from Bone-jacker. Whilst most dogs are content chasing a stick or munching on a bone, these potty pooches go ‘ga-ga’ for the gogglebox. Virgin Media’s research shows a diverse range of programmes appeal to these crazy canines, from Bark Rise to Candleford to Canine-99 Lifesavers.

Helping the entertainment company’s research, Virgin Media’s TV Terriers include:

· Football mad Miki, a German Shepherd aged one from Kent, who loves anything noisy or action-packed including sport, The Bill and EastEnders.

· Chihuaua Oliver, aged nine from Stoke-on-Trent, who goes crazy for Corrie and barks for Shih Tzu Buster on the Paul O’Grady Show. Oliver also enjoys singing along with TV theme tunes.

· English Bulldog Cookie, aged one from London, particularly likes football and has been known to chase a ball around the room whilst watching a match.

Mavis Williams, Oliver’s owner, said: “Oliver has enjoyed watching telly since he was a puppy, and his whole mood can change if one of his favourite shows is on. We were delighted to get involved with Virgin Media’s ‘Doggy on Demand’ project and discover what other programmes dogs across the country enjoy watching.”

Ashley Stockwell, managing director of brand and marketing at Virgin Media added;

“There are already over 4,600 hours of top TV at Virgin Media customers’ fingertips through our TV on demand service, so every barking mad telly fan can watch what they want, whenever they want. We’ve had a fascinating insight into what gets our panel of TV Terriers’ tails wagging, and are looking closely at these results to ensure our TV on demand service continues to be the ‘dog’s’.”

For more information on Virgin Media’s TV on demand service, log onto www.virginmedia.com.





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Media contacts
Frank PR, 020 7693 6999 or virginmedia@frankpr.it




Notes to editors
About Virgin Media

With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK's first quad-play provider of TV, broadband, phone and mobile.

Virgin Media is the largest residential broadband provider in the country, delivering next-generation internet access with ultrafast speeds of up to 50Mb using its unique fibre-optic cable network.

Virgin Media has the UK’s most advanced TV on demand service and is the only TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer. Virgin Media was the first to launch a high definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder.

Virgin Media is the second-largest provider of pay TV and home phone in the UK and the largest virtual mobile network operator.



Virgin Media also owns two content businesses – Virgin Media Television (VMTV) and sit-up. VMTV owns eight entertainment channels, including Virgin1, Living, Bravo, Challenge and Trouble – and is a 50 per cent joint partner with the BBC in UKTV which consists of ten channels including Dave, G.O.L.D., Watch and Alibi. sit-up runs retail TV channels bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auction tv.



For more information, go to www.virginmedia.com.

NEWS FROM ALTON TOWERS

Alton Towers SEAS the future!

Alton Towers Resort announces £4 million SEA LIFE investment

The first major sections of a new SEA LIFE attraction arrived at the Alton Towers Resort yesterday. A 10 metre long acrylic ‘walk-through’ tunnel was delivered to the park while tropical and ambient fish including several species of shark are currently being held in Weymouth before being transferred to the resort.

The aquarium, called Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE, is scheduled to open on Saturday 28th March. It will be located in the Mutiny Bay area of the theme park, and alike the land surrounding it, will also be pirate themed, enabling guests to explore an underwater ship wreck and enjoy a touching pool.

Creating at least 25 new jobs, and representing an investment of £4 million, the Resort is confident the new attraction will be a successful addition to the fantastic range of rides and attractions already on offer at the Resort. Entrance will be included in the theme park admission price – which has not increased from last year*.

Morwenna Angove, Sales and Marketing Director for the Alton Towers Resort said:

‘We’re delighted to welcome the arrival of our new tunnel and ocean tank. Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE will be the 30th SEA LIFE attraction worldwide and will contain up to 300 species within over 1 million litres of water! We’re confident the attraction will delight our family audience, giving them an underwater adventure with the additional twist created through our exceptional pirate theming.

Research indicators show people aren't going abroad as much because of what is going on in the economy, but people will still want to go out with their family.

We think we are ideally placed for that."



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NEWS FROM PREMIER INN

PREMIER INN’S £50,000 GIVEAWAY

Premier Inn is helping businesses keep an even closer eye on their finances in 2009 as they offer one lucky company the chance to win £50,000 worth of business travel accommodation.

Any company that successfully applies for a Premier Inn Business Account via www.premierinn.com/win before the 27th February 2009 will automatically be entered into a draw to win this fantastic prize.
Businesses are looking to minimise costs and ‘buy smarter’ when it comes to business travel. The Premier Inn Business Account gives companies a simple and efficient way to control business travel expenses, offering a unique expense management solution as it works as a charge card so that companies are able to authorise spending limits when employees are travelling.
Premier Inn recently beat off stiff competition at the Business Travel World Awards 2009 to be crowned ‘Best Business Hotel brand’ for the second year running and scooping the award for ‘Best Business Expense Management process’ for the Business Account. This latest award win for Premier Inn makes them the first brand to have their own expense management solution recognised above global payment solutions such as American Express and Concur.
Luke Goggin, spokesperson for Premier Inn says, “Premier Inn is committed to offering great quality rooms at affordable prices, meaning business guests can economise on hotel expenditure without having to sacrifice on quality or comfort. £50,000 worth of accommodation is a fantastic prize and I wish everyone that enters the very best of luck.’

Over 13,000 companies are now using the Business Account Card. In the first half of 2008, new users were up 16% and total sales via this channel up 33%.1
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For more information please contact Frank PR on
0207 693 6999 or email premierinn@frankpr.it

1 Figures taken from Whitbread IMS statement December 2008.

For more information or to book a room at Premier Inn please visit www.premierinn.com

Notes to editors:
The prize entitles the lucky winner to a year’s free accommodation with Premier Inn (up to the value of £50,000).

Premier Inn, is the UK’s largest and fastest-growing hotel brand with 563 budget hotels and more than 38,000 rooms across the UK. Premier Inn bedrooms are 22m² and feature en-suite bathroom, TV, and internet access for business guests. Premier Inn offers customers a ‘Good Night Guarantee’ of a good quality room, comfortable surroundings and friendly service, which is unique amongst Britain’s leading hotel chains.

Premier Inn was the first Britain-wide hotel group to sign up with national tourist board VisitBritain; this means Premier Inn is now part of a new quality assessment scheme, specially created for budget accommodation.

A joint venture with Emirates has seen the Premier Inn brand develop in the Gulf region, with its first budget hotel in Dubai in Spring 2008. Premier Inn also has a joint venture with Emar-MGF to roll out 80 budget hotels in India by 2017. On a domestic front, Premier Inn is set to be the largest provider of budget hotels in London by the time of the 2012 Olympics.

Premier Inn has won the following awards:
• Best Budget Hotel at the Business Traveller Awards 2008
• Leading Economy brand in the JD Power European Economy Hotel Guest Satisfaction Survey 2008
• Most improved brand by the BDRC British Hotel Guest Survey 2008.
• Winner of the HolidayCheck Awards 2008
• Best Business Travel Chain at the Business Travel World Awards 2008
• Institute of Customer Satisfaction award winner for Hotels and Leisure 2008