How a Gloucestershire businessman found himself working in Formula 1

Sometimes the little anecdotes from businesses are the most inspiring. Adam Vines has a story like that - about a lady who called him up for a logo, and put him on a journey to the heart of F1.

Dear readers,

Welcome to Thursday’s edition of The Raikes Journal. Today we cover off a story that came from a conversation about how there are so many great small businesses here in Gloucestershire, ones capable of working for absolutely any organisation - no matter how big and exacting - who just need to be discovered. And that’s what Raikes helps you do.

This is an anecdote from a Cirencester-based creative marketing agency that took a call from a lady wanting someone to help design a logo - a seemingly simple job, but one which took the Cotswold business owner on a journey to the heart of Formula 1 motor racing, no less.

We also cover off some business shorts for you - our pick of the news items, diary dates and happenings we think might be of interest, from across the county and from the friends of Raikes.

And in case you missed Monday’s edition, we wrote about the small matter of 220 bodies dug up by those working on the University of Gloucestershire’s city centre campus site - although the story is about much, much more than that - it’s about two major developments set to transform Gloucester in the same way the Docks and Quays worked wonders are the other end of the city. You can read that here.

This edition is paywalled as we work towards making what we do - original journalism about Gloucestershire, its businesses, education and training providers, third sector and anything else we think is of interest. We’re a community interest company made possible by our Founding Partners (we give them all credit below), Founding Members and paying subscribers. If you have not already, please do consider joining them and helping us make Raikes a sustainable resource for the county we all know and love.

Raikes is looking for more sponsors to join its current stable. If you are interested, please email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk or telephone 07956 926061. We plan to release some figures shortly, but feel we are moving towards being able to claim to be the best read digital publication in Gloucestershire for business stories.

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Your briefing notes

🤝🏻 When once the concept of an Anglo-Welsh region uniting to create a voice loud and proud enough for Government to hear it above the Northern Powerhouse might have felt a bit of a leap for Gloucestershire, since the passing of GFirst LEP it’s become a much more attractive idea. On the 17 October 2024 at ICC Wales in Newport, the Western Gateway - that very voice - is due to stage its 2024 convention. Nearly 50 different speakers from Government, business, major industry and universities from across the UK will be part of the line-up. The convention will aim to demonstrate how South Wales and Western England can lead the way globally in creating sustainable economic growth. 

💬 We mentioned GFirst LEP above, the local enterprise partnership business group that folded into Gloucestershire County Council earlier this year. Its former leader, David Owen, is now director of economy and environment at the local authority. He is due to give an overview of the new economic strategy for Gloucestershire at the forthcoming Honourable Company of Gloucestershire Lecture on Wednesday 25 September 2024. Owen is expected to share plans for the county’s housing, its businesses and its infrastructure. Due to take place from 6pm to 7.30pm. Tickets are free and available here. 

🍻 🍸 Don’t say Raikes never invites you for a beer! Errr, okay, it’s not us at all - we’re just pointing you in the direction of an event due to be staged by the Gloucester Quays Rotary Club this Friday and Saturday (20 and 21 of September). This is the club’s annual Gloucester Beer, Cider and Gin Festival at the city’s Farmer’s Club on Sandhurst Road, a short walk from out of town from Kingsholm Stadium. Expect 50 different drinks behind the bar, live music and food. It’s all in aid of Young Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Young Carers and Vision Care for Homeless People and it’s been made possible by sponsorship from Barnwood Construction, GSS Architecture, Allstone Speedy Skips and MBC Timber. A £10 tickets covers both days. Find out more here. 

🗳️ We’ve flagged this a few times already, but as a media partner we just can’t help ourselves. This is your chance to vote for who you think should walk away a winner from the fortcoming Gloucester BID Believe in Gloucester Awards. The shortlist of businesses, charities and individuals for each of the 13 awards has been chosen, all you have to do is follow the link, make your choices, confirm your email address so you can’t use it to vote multiple times, and you can relax! Cast your vote here.  

🎳 🏆 Do you have what it takes to become the business community’s champion ten pin bowler? Willans, the Cheltenham headquartered solicitors, is calling on you - and anyone who just fancies taking part - to sign up for its fun bowling and networking event at Hollywood Bowl, Cheltenham, on Wednesday 25 September. You can enter teams of eight or four and win or lose, all money goes to Cheltenham Open Door, the firm’s charity of the year for 2024-25. Cheltenham Open Door supports vulnerable, disadvantaged and lonely people through access to food, friendship, advice and support.  Find out more here. 

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* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to paid, you’ll be part of this community interest company too. In an era when local journalism is all but gone, we are dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire, to championing the county, in particular its businesses, charities, education and training providers, to defending it, challenging those who need to be held to account and to helping create an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you will be able to see past the paywalls on our second and third email editions of the week, that lock all our archive after two weeks and lock our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire, the series that follows the financial fortunes of our biggest firms by turnover. You will be able to comment on our stories too. You’ll be helping make this CIC sustainable. Please do join us.

You can sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once.

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How a random phone call led a Gloucestershire designer into the heart of Formula 1 

Sometimes the little anecdotes from businesses are the most inspiring. Adam Vines has a story like that - about a lady who called him up for a logo, and put him on a journey to the heart of F1 motorsport. 

By Andrew Merrell.

It was an otherwise normal day at work for Adam Vines, who runs a Cirencester-based creative marketing agency, Lounge Design, which looks after clients from professional services firms to those in engineering and beyond. 

He specialises in brand, print and digital design and is used to taking enquiries about anything from a full website rebuild to packaging or logo redesign, and usually the calls come from businesses, entrepreneurs or other organisations, like charities. 

But one day the phone rang and on the other end was a lady who said she lived in Cirencester and wanted a logo for something she was working on by way of a legacy to her late partner and could he help? 

“Jane turned out to be lovely. She was racing through the story at 100 miles an hour though and it was difficult to understand to start with, but I wanted to help so we agreed to meet,” said Vines (pictured above, sixth from the right). 

And so began an extraordinary journey, one that now sees him rub shoulders with some of the foremost names at the heart of the glamorous world of Formula 1 motorsport, a sport worth several billion pounds, where an individual cars costs anything from £9 million to £15 million – and that’s just the build cost!

It was a journey that has put him at the heart of a project that will change the course of the lives of countless wannabe engineers looking to find one of the elusive doors into the world of top flight motorsport.

The lady with the improbable story who needed a logo in a hurry turned out to be Jane Nottage, a journalist and writer but also the partner of the late Tyler James Alexander (TJA), who in 1963 was one of the founders of the McLaren F1 Team.

It is the team modern British F1 legend Lewis Hamilton made his debut for in 2007 and a team Nottage’s partner had a long and hugely successful relationship with.

It’s a story that fits so well with what Raikes wants to champion – businesses hiding in plain sight in Gloucestershire capable of and indeed achieving great things; stories about community and efforts in the world of education and training. 

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Yes, there is a lot more to read below this point! We’ve paywalled it to give value to our members who help make possible what we do. Please do consider joining them. Once you do, you will be more likely to become the subject of our future stories too!

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