Are you scared of seeing the dentist? According to a recent survey, 80% of all people are scared of seeing the dentist with at least half of those claiming bad childhood dental experiences as the reason.

Thankfully all that is about to change with the arrival on Brook Street, W1 of swiss smile kids. In their native Switzerland swiss smile treat 400 people a day.

Swiss smile is aiming to revolutionise kids’ dentistry by utilising special techniques to make the kids feel safe and secure about going to the dentist. Award winning pediatric dentist, Dr. Atar, the clinic’s resident dentist has carefully thought through the whole process, using special materials for young teeth and psychological tools that help the child to feel at ease.

Here are a few of the behaviour management techniques he uses when treating kids:

Voice Control -modulating your voice so the child listens and obeys Tell Show Do – for phobic patients – the doctor tells what they are going to do, then shows, then does the procedure Child Renese – Using child language to explain the procedure Distraction – Using toys/dvds/other means to distract the child

Dr. Atar is an award winning dentist:
http://www.qmul.ac.uk/news/newsrelease.php?news_id=670

The clinic has a child friendly consulting room and a waiting room with kids’ DVDs and things for them to do. The whole atmosphere is more like walking into a 5* boutique hotel than a dentist … And at prices comparable to my own high street dentist.

The two Zurich based female owners were recently awarded Businesswomen of the Year in Switzerland and their clinic there regularly treats 400 people a day. Their Brook Street branch, their first in London, is open 365 days a year and offers a same day service.

Here’s a link to their website.
http://www.swiss-smile.com/en/london-brook-street/

I hope to hear from you on this. Dr. Atar is available for interviews and free child consultations are available if you would like your child or a child you know to have a swiss smile experience.

The EU Election is on 4th June but who cares?
All we have are the usual unknown non-entities, desperately hoping for a lucrative seat on the Brussels gravy train. Meanwhile most voters can’t be bothered wasting their time voting for self-serving third-raters with no ideas and no policies.

There is, however, reason to be hopeful. David Craig, the author who last year uncovered Gordon’s Brown’s massive overspending in his bestseller Squandered: How Gordon Brown is wasting over £1 trillion of our money has now turned his attention to the EU in his latest book The Great European Rip-Off (Random House,£8.99).

In The Great European Rip-Off: How the Corrupt, Wasteful EU is Taking Control of our Lives Craig exposes the shocking greed, arrogance, incompetence and corruption that are the hallmark of today’s EU.

If the media want new and refreshingly honest opinions about what is going right and wrong in Brussels and Strasbourg, then David Craig is the person to talk to.

1. Greed, expenses fraud and cover-ups by MEPs as they become millionaires in just 5 years
2. How the European commissioners are often tarnished third-raters sent to Brussels to keep them out of domestic politics
3. The lack of democracy as 80% of our laws are now made by 27 unelected bureaucrats
4. The importance of this year’s elections – the last act in a fight to the death between centuries of democracy and a centralising bureaucracy
5. How the European Parliament is a powerless hot air factory with little power
6. The failure of all the EU’s main policies – agricultural, fisheries, carbon emissions, biofuels etc
7. Widespread waste and corruption throughout the EU – why no action is ever taken.

Moreover, Craig was so disgusted with the rot that he found permeating all areas of the EU bureaucracy, that he is standing as a candidate for Libertas in the EU elections. While most of our MEPs have used their seats in the European Parliament to enrich themselves at the taxpayers’ expense, Libertas successfully campaigned in Ireland for a rejection of the dreadful Lisbon Treaty. By doing this, Libertas achieved more in one year than our European politicians have achieved in the last thirty years.

In Brussels they’re not listening because they no longer care what voters want. David Craig is one of the few people in Britain prepared to stand up against the Brussels bureaucracy to force them to listen.

For interviews please contact Suzanne Noble, Tel: 0203 355 1529/07957 371840 or suzanne@stunningpr.com

Editors Note: David Craig is the pen name for Neil Glass, who self-published his first book ‘Rip Off’ when none of the major publishing companies wanted to take a chance on a book revealing the corruption that goes on at management consultancies, many of whom they worked with on other books. Following sales well into five figures, David turned his attention to the public sector in his book, ‘Plundering the Public Sector,’ a look at New Labour’s massive overspending on consultancies. His next book, ‘Squandered: How Gordon Brown is wasting over £1 trillion of our money’ was published last year and became a bestseller. David is now a highly successful author and public speaker.

Lena Semaan is launching her first novel, Toxic People, on the web. As a ghostwriter Lena has produced books for Noel Edmonds, Jacqueline Gold, John Bird, Colin Fry and, most recently, wrote the account of an ex stripper’s life Girl in High Heels.

Her own book – ‘a not so moral tale of hedge funders and hubris’ is based on true stories from the world of hedge funds. She plans to release it on the internet where subscribers will be sent each chapter by email. To give them a taste of the book she has published the prologue online and will provide updates as chapters are produced.

Readers who sign on now at http://toxicpeoplenovel.wordpress.com will be able to purchase the entire novel for $3 with those that join later having to pay as much as $9 for the entire book. The prologue is up now and free. Each chapter will be released once a determined threshold has been achieved. The idea is that the more people who sign up, the sooner Lena will release the book.

Lena says, “This is an experiment but the alternative is to keep going backwards and forwards with my agent at WMA trying to second guess publishers who are not in good shape this year. Still, if they want to snap it up, they will still have a chance!”

Toxic People Synopsis:

It’s 2005 and the financial markets are booming. For anyone with a head for numbers and a desire to make big money, the sexiest, most aspirational place to work is in hedge funds. David Taylor is a successful but insecure banker who, along with his colleague Drew sets up his own fund, backed by rogue financier Raef Savage – a man for whom narcissistic personality disorder was named.

Unknown to them Raef is playing a totally different game where there will only be one winner: him. Flick Savage, his trophy wife doesn’t think so. Raef’s sex addiction and his affair with David’s mercenary, NY lawyer girlfriend Sarah is the last straw for her. But she’s not the only one he’s crossed. Quietly watching is the smart, reticent but increasingly vengeful Ellie Hines, Raef’s PA. She hates bankers. She hates the City. And when Raef steps into dangerous territory, she reckons it’s time these money men learned a lesson or two.

As everyone sets out to grab what they believe is theirs, the world they know is sinking in a quicksand of its own making.

About the Author:

Lena Semaan was once a copywriter. In between availing herself of the lavish hospitality of various directors, photographers and fine restaurants, she wrote award winning ads for major clients. It was too much fun so she switched to the corporate world where she pretended to fit in. These days she is a corporate refugee, freelance marketing consultant, ghostwriter of eight books, hotel and restaurant reviewer and contributor to Italian Elle Decoration and other style magazines. Her popular blog, womanofexperience.blogspot.com has a strong following amongst City types, lawyers and thinkers. Lena is currently single, though not all the time.

Wolverhampton Art Gallery
11 April – 27 June 2009

Leading contemporary artist Gerry Judah challenges us to explore our understanding of war, conflict, peace, natural disasters and devastation in a solo exhibition, COUNTRY at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. The exhibition is co-curated by Independent Curator Jenny Blyth, and Kate Pryor-Williams, Exhibitions Curator.

Gerry Judah’s work is a direct response to landscapes of destruction whether the result of war or climate change. His paintings are inspired by conflict – particularly in the Middle East whether Iraq, Afghanistan or Gaza, articulating global concerns for the environment and the decimation that follows natural disasters such as the flooding of New Orleans in 2005, and the recent Australian bushfires. He recreates scenes of ruinous settlements that we witness daily as reported by the media. Urban landscapes, constructed from scores of buildings, complete with internal structures, communication wires and water towers are fixed onto canvas, and then systematically destroyed. The ensuing rubble and detritus are fused onto a background of empty white canvas with layers of acrylic gesso to create ‘white on white’ and ‘black on black’ abstract paintings.

Concerned with the rupture of place, lives and architecture by violence, Judah’s epic landscapes have an unearthly quality, where dove-grey shadows and segments of light created by the relief work are played out across the canvas as if it were a lunar landscape. With a delicate poetic tone, he invokes a palpable presence of absence. Judah wants viewers to experience the ghostly complexities of the present without a past and no apparent future. Whether these scenes are a result of war or natural disaster, they remind us of our vulnerability, and force us to consider solutions.

Head of Curatorial Services, Marguertie Nugent, said,

‘We are extremely excited to be exhibiting the recent works of Gerry Judah. Both thought provoking and provocative, the series COUNTRY shows Gerry Judah as a contemporary artist reacting to current International politics and environmental affairs. His paintings are overwhelming and disturbing yet beautifully intricate, displaying both absorbing and immersive qualities.’

She continues,

‘COUNTRY also links directly to our existing Northern Ireland and Contemporary Collection displays at Wolverhampton Art Gallery which alongside this exhibition address issues of global conflict and International politics.’

The exhibition will be launched on 23 April 2009, 5.30pm – 8pm in conjunction with Andy Warhol Paintings and Posters.

Born in Calcutta, India, Gerry Judah studied at Barnet College of Art before obtaining a First Class degree in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College and post-graduate Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. In the last twenty years, Judah has built a reputation for innovative designs for films, television, theatre, museums and spectacular public installations for many clients. He has also exhibited in a number of exhibitions including the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Camden Arts Centre and Yorkshire Sculpture Park and his work has entered many public and private collections.

Gerry Judah lives and works in London.

ENDS

Media Contacts:
Suzanne Noble @ Stunning PR, Tel: 0203 355 1529/07957 371840 or suzanne@stunningpr.com

Notes to Editors:

• Wolverhampton Art Gallery is open Monday – Saturday, 10.00am – 5.00pm. Free Entry.

• Further information regarding Gerry Judah can be seen at www.gerryjudah.com

• The title COUNTRY must be referred to in capital letters only.

• Gerry Judah is represented by Jenny Blyth Fine Art. Jenny Blyth has worked with Judah since 2005 on a number of projects including Frontiers (2005), Angels (2006) and Motherlands (2007). She is an independent curator and art consultant based in London and was previously a curator at the Saatchi Gallery from 1990 to 2002.

• Wolverhampton Art Gallery is part of Wolverhampton Arts + Museums service, funded by Wolverhampton City Council. It receives additional funding as a Regularly Funded Organisation of Arts Council England and from the Museums, Libraries Archives Council through Renaissance in the Regions West Midlands.

• Renaissance is the Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) Council’s £150million programme to transform England’s regional museums. For the first time ever, investment from central government is helping regional museums across the country to raise their standards and deliver real results in support of education, learning, community development and economic regeneration. A network of ‘Hubs’ has been set up in each English region to act as flagship museums and help promote good practice. Alongside the Hubs, MLA Regional Agencies and Museum Development Officers are providing advice and support, Subject Specialist Networks have been set up, and national museums are sharing their skills and collections to ensure Renaissance benefits the entire museums sector. Renaissance is helping museums to meet people’s changing needs – and to change people’s lives.

• Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. As the national development agency for the arts, we support a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2008 and 2011, we will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.

Celebrity personal trainer Mark Anthony shapes up stars of the 80’s in the forthcoming series ‘Pop Goes the Band’ (Living, 10pm, starting 23rd February). Mark is available for interviews.

This entertaining new reality series brings viewers a blast from the past by revisiting bands that have made pop history, and propels these idols of yesterday into a bright new future. Some of the biggest and best-loved groups of the last three decades including The Original Bucks Fizz, Dollar, 911, Shakatak, Visage and Cleopatra feature in the show. Having garnered collective record sales of over 30 million between them, they’ve all reached the peak of pop superstardom before facing the inevitable descent from those giddy heights.

Mark Anthony has slimmed down and toned up each band member using his very own 6 Week Body Plan. Mark has helped to sculpt stars such as Jordan and Billie Piper into perfection and has now worked his magic on the 80s stars, transforming Mike Nolan (Bucks Fizz) from an overweight 53 year old to a 2 stone lighter, fit looking super-stud. Cheryl Baker slimmed down by a stone and now looks ten years younger. Other successes were Shelley Preston who lost 1 ½ stone using Mark’s amazing plan and now looks like a FHM superbabe. Shakatak lost 6 stone between them.

Editors Note: Mark Anthony is a Master Trainer and has reshaped a host of celebrity (and non-celebrity) bodies and is the author of the ‘Once a Week Workout’ and presenter of the Once a Week DVD for Men and Women (Warner Home Video). See: www.markanthonyspersonalfitness.com

For MARK ANTHONY Press Office:
Suzanne Noble    0203 355 1529
07957 371840    suzanne@stunningpr.com

Images available from LIVING Press Office:
Felicity Beardshaw    020 7299 5364    Felicity.Beardshaw@virginmediatv.co.uk

Nasreen Akhtar, the ‘real Asian Bridget Jones’, has just been named one of  ten finalists up for the Book to Talk About award 2009 for her raw and inspiring memoir about her search for love online, ‘Catch a Fish from the Sea (Using the Internet)’ (greenbirds, £12.99).

Ever since the book was released by small independent publisher greenbirds which she set up with help from the Prince’s Trust, 34 year old Nasreen, who also illustrated and designed the book’s striking cover, has been inundated by outstanding reader response.

The  comments board on the Books to Talk about 2009 website is buzzing with praise. So too at the Daily Telegraph when it announced the long list. Amazon readers have published ravishing reviews awarding it an average rating of the highest possible five stars. The book was Asian Woman magazine’s Book of the Month (Issue 36).

Said Nasreen:

“The scary part about dreams is when they start to come true! I am delighted both as the author and the publisher of the book that it has started its journey of a thousand miles with such wonderful first steps!”

Now she hopes her book will win the coveted award, chosen by readers who can vote for her book here on the Spread the Word website (http://www.spread-the-word.org.uk/index.asp). Spread the Word is part of World Book Day, the biggest annual celebration of books and reading in the UK and Ireland. Voting reopens on 30th January. The winner will be announced on World Book Day – Thursday 5th March 2009.

Nasreen is available for interviews for all media.

Notes to Editors:
Synopsis:

Catch a Fish from the Sea (Using the Internet) takes readers into the uncertain world of internet dating. Nasreen Akhtar is a thirty-something single British Asian Muslim who is well past her cultural best-before date. After years of shying away from all things marital, she discovers an unexpected yearning for love.

Following a toe-curling interview (’What is your name, Nasreen?’) for an arranged marriage, the author turns to the web for the one ‘extraordinary guy who would be happy with an ordinary girl’.

The internet hides more extraordinary guys than Nasreen imagines: losers, liars, chancers, and chiselled hunks. Amid the joy and heartbreak, she finds friendship, faith, and a belief that fate must run its course.

Nasreen’s raw, funny, and inspiring memoir resonates across the cultural divide of modern Britain. South Asian readers recognise the conflicting tensions of family, independence, marriage and religion; Westerners are drawn to the simple humanity of a woman who aches for love in an imperfect world. This is a story for anyone who has ever believed that they were born to love and be loved.

About the Author

Nasreen Akhtar holds a Masters’ degree in Applied Linguistics from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She is the proprietor of the publishing imprint greenbirds. She was born in 1974 and came to the UK with her Pakistani parents when she was 4 years old. Catch a Fish from the Sea (Using the Internet) is her first book.

* Extent: 331 pp
* Format: 198mm x 129mm, pb
* RRP: £12.99
* Language: English

*  http://www.greenbirds.co.uk

For review copies/interviews with Nasreen, please contact:

Suzanne Noble @Stunning PR, Tel: 0203 355 1529/07957 371840 or suzanne@stunningpr.com

Hambleden Herbs is delighted to be able to announce a completely new organic tea to the UK market – Black Tea & Lemon Verbena. This original blend of black tea and lemony verbena has been created to appeal as much to the hardened black tea drinker as to those customers who prefer more subtle blends and herbal teas. As part of this range development, Hambleden will also be producing an organic black tea, thus enabling retailers to offer a complete organic blend range to their customers.

Since its inception 25 years ago by Hambleden farmer Mike Brooks, the business has grown substantially and now produces one of the largest range of organic teas and herbs in the UK.

Hambleden Herbs Organic Black Tea & Lemon Verbena

The initial concept for this blend was born through consumer feedback about how much they enjoyed black tea with lemon. Hambleden wanted to see if they could produce a refreshing tea that would give consumers the lemon freshness that they are after without having to add lemon juice. The answer was a resounding yes. By blending a zesty Lemon Verbena with their black tea blend they have produced a light, balanced tea that gives the body of a black tea with the lemon freshness of Lemon Verbena.

Hambleden are confident that this tea will introduce a new group of consumers to herbal tea, consumers who are dead set that they only drink black tea but do like the added freshness that a drop of lemon gives the tea.

Believed to be a first for the UK market, Hambleden Herbs Organic Black Tea & Lemon Verbana brings genuine innovation to the hot drinks sector.

Packed in boxes of 20 individually enveloped tea bags.
Recommended Retail price of £1.69

Hambleden Herbs Organic Black Tea

Hambleden Herbs Black Tea is a smooth blend of leaves from some of the best growing regions in the world. Blended to produce a smooth, well rounded tea that is perfect at any time of day it includes leaves from, Assam, Africa, Ceylon and Southern India.

The Assam leaves give the body to the blend along with a malty flavour. This is then lifted by the addition of the African, Ceylon and Southern Indian leaves. The African leaves add a refreshing briskness whilst the Ceylon and Southern Indian teas add delicate, light, lemony flavours to complete the blend.

As ever, all of the teas used in Hambleden blends are Soil Association certified organic.

Packed in boxes of 20 individually enveloped tea bags.
Recommended Retail price of £1.49

For samples please contact: Suzanne@Stunning PR, Tel: 0203 355 1529 or suzanne@stunningpr.com

With M&S shedding staff, Debenham and Next reporting weak sales over Christmas, Zavvi in receivership and others major stores in freefall, there is one retailer notable for its positive results&hellip New Look. Instead, the UK’s third largest womenswear retailer have seen like-for-like sales rise by 2.8pc over the 14 weeks to January 3, bucking the downward trend that has been the leading feature of the high street over this period.

Amongst one of the tools allowing them to grow is a new software system installed in 2008 called Q by Quantum Retail that allows retailers to achieve their merchandising goals for every product, in every store. In layman’s terms this means an intuitive system that detects when one size is selling faster than another, when a line is not moving or when a certain item is flying off the shelf and adjusts the buying accordingly so that the customer gets what they want, when they want, every time.

‘Q has placed the customer at the heart of our stock management and delivered impressive financial paybacks,’ says New Look chairman Phil Wrigley.

Quantum’s goal is to see their software installed not just on the High Street but in every mom and pop shop around the world guaranteeing that all inventory is sold off and that wastage is reduced to zero meaning the end of seasonal sales, clear-outs and bargain racks.

Founded by a world class team of retail industry experts, technologists and scientists who believe that there is a better way to leverage technology to solve retail’s age-old challenges. Quantum Retail’s Q software addresses:

Out of stocks
Unproductive inventory
Disparate processes and goals
Historic data and reporting
Costly and complex systems

It may not be a great start to 2009 for most of the high street but at least for New Look, the future is looking very good indeed.

Editor’s Note: About Quantum Retail Technology, Inc. Quantum Retail Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of software solutions that enable demand driven supply networks. Quantum’s flagship solution, Q, allows retailers to optimize inventory availability and supply network performance with low risk and high ROI. Q helps retailers continually achieve the merchandise and financial goal for every item in every location. By leveraging item assortment strategies and goals, Q links the art of merchandising with the science of inventory fulfillment. Q is available as an annual subscription and Quantum Retail offers low-impact pilots to ensure value delivery, alignment of investment to benefits and rapid ROI. Q can be deployed in either hosted or customer deployed environments. Quantum Retail’s customers include Guitar Center and New Look. For additional information email info@quantumretail.com or visit www.quantumretail.com.

About New Look New Look has 590 stores in the UK and Eire, and 263 stores in France trading under the name Mim. In addition, New Look has 13 New Look branded stores in France and Belgium, and has recently opened franchise stores in Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In the UK New Look has a 4.8% market share, making it among the leading womenswear retailers in the UK (Source – TNS). New Look also has a growing market share in Mens & Kidswear. New Look is now the number 1 retailer of women’s shoes in the UK by volume, with a market share of 7.3%. (Source – TNS). 25% of British women have bought an item of outerwear from New Look – amounting to over 6 million customers (Source – TNS). New Look’s competitors include H&M, Next, Top Shop and Dorothy Perkins. The average age of shoppers in New Look is 30. Further information can be found on www.newlook.co.uk and Product and Management photos are available upon request.

To find out more about Q and how it can give your company the unfair advantage click here

Magnus Scheving, the creator/director and star of LazyTown, is available for interviews in January to support the launch of LazyTown FitKid (UK) – fun fitness classes for kids that will be starting across the UK in schools, nurseries, community centres and health clubs from February 09. Sessions will incorporate the LazyTown music and dances along with fun play equipment such as parachutes, space hoppers, balls, etc. encouraging kids to move and get active. Parents will also be able to book LazyTown themed birthday parties for their child.

Magnus says, ‘We’re very excited about working with FitKid (UK). They’re a terrific company who really understand the LazyTown philosophy of making fitness fun for kids.

Aside from FitKid, a new LazyTown show, ‘The Pirate Adventure’ will be kicking off their UK tour on 29th January 2009 in Northampton. LazyTown Live was the UK’s highest selling show for kids in 2008 selling just under 400,000 tickets across 46 venues in the UK and Ireland. Many of the LazyTown Live 2008 cast are returning to play the same roles.

Contact:  Suzanne @ Stunning PR, Tel: 0203 355 1529/07957 371840

Currently celebrating its 25th year, organic tea and herb company Hambleden Herbs, has recently launched an exciting and innovative range of herbal teas.

Available to purchase via their website at Hambledenherbs.com and through independent shops throughout the country, the company was set up by Mike Brook in the Oxfordshire village of Hambleden, just outside Henley on Thames. Although no longer owned by him, the current owners still purchase nearly all their raw materials from Mike who now concentrates on sourcing and importing the finest organic ingredients.

The new tea ranges reflect the public interest in green teas and tea combinations and the changing tea drinking habits we’ve seen developing over the past few years,

Gone is the standard cuppa as we’ve known it, replaced by refreshing flavours to drink at any time of the day or night, like Chamomile and Peppermint, Lemon Grass and Ginger, Green Tea and Jasmine, Green Tea and Ginger, Rooibos and Rooibus and Liquorice, a unique Hambleden blend.

The best kept secret for those looking for a soothing, healthy and refreshing tea is finally out – and it’s Hambleden – organic teas of the highest quality- too good to keep secret!

For samples, further information or a history of Hambleden contact:

Suzanne Noble @ Stunning PR, suzanne@stunningpr.com or 07957 371840/0203 355 1529