Sunday 18th May proved to be a great day for Silver Cross’ own Tamzin Hawkins (pictured above at the Christmas party!). Our fabric designer took to the streets of Manchester to take part in the Bupa Great Manchester Run.

In sunny and dry conditions Tamzin, running for this year’s Silver Cross charity, the Meningitis Trust, managed to complete the ten kilometre course in a sensational time of 53m32s, finishing in a fine 7,397th position out of 31,000 entries! Well done Tamzin!!!

One of the most difficult decisions all parents down the ages will face is what name to choose for their new arrivals.

While some parents will wait until baby arrives to make a decision (putting it off in other words!), many will have chosen names in advance of their due dates (mainly for nursery decorating and baby shopping purposes!). Nevertheless, actually coming up with a name that meets all the ‘relevant criteria’ can cause much anxiety. Here are some baby name ’criteria’ the Silver Cross team regard important :

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Thanks guys! Certainly one of the best places to start is the most popular name rankings. National statistics are published every year and in the UK in 2007, Jack was the most popular boys name (again) and Grace the most popular girls name. In the United States however, the story is substantially different with Jacob the number one name for boys and Emily the top girls name. You can take a look at a multitude of historical baby name information from the US by visiting the Social Security Administration baby name statistics page.

Finally, our friends at babycentre have a neat little resource to help with the naming process - their baby name finder will give you plenty of suggestions and name meanings to help you on your way!

Silver Cross supports both the Princes Trust and The Meningitis Trust with regular donations and staff events.

As part of the recent work with the Prince’s Trust Silver Cross made a large donation during a musical event supported by top songstress Katie Melua and Welsh crooner, Aled ‘Walking in the Air’ Jones. As a thank you Katie very kindly donated her guitar which she used during the evening and put the icing on the cake with a great inscription on the instrument. The guitar is now on display in the Silver Cross reception area for everyone to enjoy.

Oh, and by the way Katie, we thought you were fab last night and you definitely have a loyal fan club up here in Yorkshire. x 

(Ms Melua is pictured above with Silver Cross Chairman Alan Halsall, CEO Nick Paxton and Head of Design Phil Taylor, her guitar is pictured below)

While working through our website email enquiries this week, our customer services department came across a remarkable story from Scotland…

Alison Anderson from Bonnybridge in Falkirk wrote to us, asking where she might buy a replacement Linear Chassis. She went on to write; “My partner had a bout of ‘baby brain’ and reversed over ours with his Toyota Tundra! In the chassis’ defence, it is all scratched however, it withstood the weight of the car!”

Naturally, we were absolutely amazed to hear about this ‘unorthodox’ test and were delighted to hear that the Linear had survived; although we definitely wouldn’t advise using it again! James Barraclough, Silver Cross Technical Manager said; “It’s not a test we’ll be repeating in the lab!!!”

This year’s Fast Track 100 awards ceremony proved to be a happy occasion for Silver Cross, with the pram manufacturer picking up the prestigeous international award for excellence

The event was hosted by larger-than-life Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson at his Oxforshire home and the guest of honour was Conservative leader, David Cameron. The Tory politician challenged British entrepreneurs to use their dynamism, creativity and ingenuity to help create a better Britain, stating; “Business is not just good for creating jobs and wealth, but it is a positive force for creating a good society.”

As the event progressed, attention turned to the 7 awards to be presented for excellence in categories such as technology, management and green credentials. The international award, sponsored by HSBC acknowledges outstanding growth and expansion into international markets. Wayne Bowser, HSBC deputy head of commercial banking was on hand to announce Silver Cross as the winner of the top award and present a commemorative plaque to a delighted Silver Cross Chairman, Alan Halsall. The picture above shows Mr Bowser (left) presenting Alan Halsall with the accolade.

Some other companies to win Fast Track awards were drinks manufacturer innocent, who won best use of technology… Gü Chocolate Puds, who won best emerging brand and Travel Republic, who won fastest growing company.

Following new legislation to be introduced in Australia on July the first, Silver Cross is set to introduce a red foot brake pedal to the Australian Dazzle stroller to comply with the new law (see above).

The new safety standards are being introduced to make footbrakes more visible following accidents involving prams rolling away. In addition to the foot brake, strollers will also be fitted with tether straps to remind parents to apply the brightly-hued brakes when stopping.

Silver Cross head of design, Phil Taylor stated; “The Australian Dazzle’s brake is now fire engine red to draw attention to the fixed-link mechanism. At Silver Cross, safety, attention to detail and quality are always our prime concerns.”

You can read more about the story in The Sydney Morning Herald

News from the UK: Britain’s most popular theme park, Alton Towers will be converting the nation’s children into thrill seeking adrenaline junkies at an even earlier age thanks to their new ‘Project Giant Gurgle’ baby rollercoaster!

The novel idea (brought to our attention by parenting website Raising Kids) will stand just 2 metres off the ground and allow parents to walk alongside while their little bundles of joy float along at a gentle two miles per hour. The ride will attempt to mimic the movement of a pram in motion and last 67 seconds.

Influential baby and parenting websites babyzone, babygadget, coolmompicks and Growing Your Baby have been testing the iconic Silver Cross Dazzle over the last few weeks and the resulting reviews have proved more than complimentary towards the stylish British design.
 
Babyzone paid particular attention to Dazzle’s aesthetic appeal; stating that the British stroller is best for “Hipster moms seeking eye candy that is affordable and portable.” They went on to say “This super-sleek, minimalist stroller looks like it belongs in a museum instead of your home,” and one of the mothers asked to test Dazzle commented; “I can’t stop staring at the stroller - it is like a piece of art!” Babygadget described Dazzle as “kind of neat, it’s lightweight, collapsible and suitable to use from birth.” Coolmompicks were also taken with Dazzle’s good looks, stating; “The Silver Cross Dazzle, in a word, dazzles! The streamlined style, appealing curves and modern colours are great!” Growing Your Baby listed the Dazzle’s extensive features, describing the British stroller as “A stylish lightweight stroller for quick trips to the mall or the Carribean!”

The talented folk at Love Creative have been taking a look at the packaging of our products and they’ve come up with some very smart designs for our entire range. Firstly, they  get our products to you in pristine condition, then the children on the boxes show your little ones just what can be done with an empty box. Hours of fun…

Cardboard boxes will always be a great source of entertainment and amusement for little ones; in fact very often, the boxes their toys arrive in end up being played with more than the toys themselves! After all, a dolls pram will always be a dolls pram. A cardboard box can be a house, a spaceship, a racing car, a boat, a bus… The possibilities (and the ideas kiddies have) are endless!

More about this story on how-do