David Parkin finds Barbie is not beyond his ken

I’VE finally found a car that I think channels the inner me.

I would have perhaps liked something a little more gaudy, but you can’t have everything.

Amid the rows of bicycles, motorbikes, cars, buses, racing cars, fire engines and armoured cars that grace Coventry Transport Museum, I found this little gem.

Forget the recent glossy Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

The car above, a Jaguar XJS in ‘glitter pink’ was commissioned by toymaker Mattel back in 1990 to promote the release of the toy car for the Barbie and Ken dolls it made.

It is almost the opposite way it should work isn’t it?

Normally they release a toy car based on the real version.

Mattel just got Jaguar to produce a real version of the toy it was making.

Now I’m no petrolhead, but the visit to the transport museum ticked a few boxes for me.

It was a trip down memory lane seeing Hillman’s Avenger and Minx models and a Morris Minor, all of which I remember my Mum driving when I was a child.

It was an education.

Coventry was once the capital of British car making with brands I have heard off like Humber, Triumph and Alvis and many I haven’t, like Maudslay, Singer and Lanchester.

It was fascinating to see the first vehicle that set the world land speed record, a French-made electric bike which clocked 39 mph over a kilometre in 1898.

By 1983 Richard Noble’s Thrust2, also on display in the museum, had hit 634 mph over the same distance in the Black Rock Desert in the United States.

And 14 years later ThrustSSC achieved the current record of 760 mph in the heat of the same Nevada basin.

Also on display in the museum is the open top double decker bus that the victorious Coventry City team used to parade through the city after winning the 1987 FA Cup.

I thought it might be a positive omen given the club were back at Wembley last weekend for an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United, but after a gallant display, they lost on penalties.

Now, I tell you all this, firstly because I thought you might be interested (please yourselves) and secondly, because I was at the transport museum working at an event.

Bus company Stagecoach brought the people who lead its Network and Wellbeing team together to both celebrate what they have achieved and to focus on what more they can do in the future.

Having previously worked with Imran Sama, Inclusion & Culture Partner, and Sean Algar, Head of Talent Management at Stagecoach, I knew the event would be full of positivity and energy.

It was that and more with those in the room, who work hard to nuture a diverse pool of talent across the business, buzzing with ideas about how even more can be achieved.

I was fortunate that Sean and Imran asked me to recommend a guest speaker who would be able to tell an interesting story about overcoming challenges.

I suggested Razan Alsous, who, along with her husband Raghid, left highly skilled jobs in Syria to escape war and bring their three children to the UK 12 years ago.

Having arrived in Huddersfield, they were unable to find work because of a lack of references and work history in the UK.

So they started making the squeaky Halloumi-style cheese which is a breakfast staple in Syria.

Their tasty cheese, coupled with their inspiring story, has seen them win many awards and feature in the media and on TV.

In fact, the couple were on prime time television just two days before the event, on Aldi’s Next Big Thing on Channel 4 which they won and received an order which will see their cheese pastries listed in 1,000 stores across the country.

I went to meet Razan at Coventry railway station before the event and as we walked in the sunshine across the city centre towards the museum I pointed out a few of the local highlights such as the shopping precinct and the statue of Lady Godiva.

I couldn’t actually remember what the woman was doing riding starkers on horseback, so I think the story lost a little bit in translation.

Fortunately Razan then started telling me about the recent experience of appearing on TV.

She said that many people had taken to social media to suggest that winning a big order from a supermarket chain can sometimes prove a curse rather than a blessing to a small food manufacturer.

She doesn’t see it like that.

She said the profile that an opportunity like this provides will give her firm the chance to grow and win other orders.

What is interesting is that when she approached her bank for funding to finance expansion of the business it didn’t respond positively.

When she explained her challenges to Aldi it paid for some of its orders upfront to enable her to fund the expansion.

A bank lacking vision and having zero appetite for risk is no surprise but a supermarket providing such support for one of its suppliers perhaps is.

Introducing Razan to the audience, I explained about her TV appearance and said I wish I could claim credit for it coinciding within two days of this event.

In fact, when I booked her she had no idea when Channel 4 would broadcast Aldi’s Next Big Thing and once it was on she was in huge demand for media interviews so had to make a real effort to juggle her diary to get to the event.

She said she had committed to me that she would speak at the event and was not going to let anyone down.

It probably explains why she is successful in business and has overcome many challenges in life that many of us would find overwhelming.

IT was great to catch up with Garry Wilson at the recent Gareth Southgate event.

Garry, the co-founder of private equity group Endless, has just finished his year as president of the BVCA, which represents the venture capital and private equity industry in the UK.

I was fortunate to do some work with Garry during his time in office, supporting him with content and ideas for media articles.

What struck me was how focused he was on promoting the sector and encouraging those within it to tell their very positive stories.

Often, those who get a role like this use it as an ego-driven opportunity to promote themselves and their own firm.

That’s not Garry.

His greatest achievement from his time as president, in my opinion, is the work he and his colleagues have done to explain to those in both government and opposition, the value of the private equity sector to the UK and what more it can do to support the growth of the economy.

I OFTEN imagine who I’d have as guests at my perfect fantasy dinner party.

You know, where you are allowed to choose anyone to sit around the table, living or dead.

Most of the people I’d be interested in hearing from are dead - Winston Churchill, Eric Morecambe, The Queen, Tommy Cooper - but I’ve found someone who is definitely alive who I’d love to hear more from.

Matt Frei, the Europe Editor and presenter on Channel 4 News was the guest speaker at a British Israel Business breakfast last week.

A former Washington correspondent for the BBC, Frei has met and interviewed five men who have been president of the United States and more recently spent long periods covering the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.

The event was held off the record, under Chatham House rules, so Matt could speak freely and he brings a unique, nuanced and refreshing perspective to the many current challenges the world is facing.

Edward Ziff of Town Centre Securities arranged for Matt to attend the event and he chaired it, asking questions and taking questions from the audience.

The breakfast was held at the Black & White Executive Lounge at Leeds Arena where I’ve done a few events, and it was nice to catch up with Lisa Turton from the arena, which had just had Take That in residence for four nights, and Ann Seddon of Ayre Events who provide audio-visual services to events across the country.

When I arrived Edward introduced me to Matt and told him I was a journalist.

I said: “I’m also an event host, Edward is taking my work doing this so I think I might start building some car parks and shopping centres!”

Well Matt seemed to find it funny, even if Edward didn’t.