Steve Corby, Director of Cott Beverages Limited, commented: “The Calypso Soft Drinks acquisition falls within the diversification strategy of Cott Beverages Limited as it brings new soft drink packaging formats such as single serve Combi cartons, single serve cups and cuplets and two freezeable formats into the Cott portfolio. Calypso Soft Drinks has been highly successful in providing its customers with quality and innovation. We look forward to building on the solid foundation already established.”

Calypso Soft Drinks, with revenues of approximately £35 million, has a strong presence in the Foodservice channel (which includes schools) with an extensive range of branded children’s soft drinks that use its own source of natural mineral water and contain no artificial colours or flavours. Additionally, Calypso Soft Drinks is the U.K. market leader in freezeables with its Jubbly, Mr. Freeze and other various licensed trademark offerings.

Peter Cooke, CEO of Calypso Soft Drinks said: “We firmly believe that bringing Calypso Soft Drinks into the Cott family will provide additional opportunities for the benefit of our employees and customers alike.”

Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including Office of Fair Trading clearance and is anticipated to close in June 2013.

Mark McGuigan talks exclusively to macb.co.uk

It’s been a while since my last blog for macb and it’s safe to say that in that time a lot has changed at Partick Thistle both for the club and me personally. The manager (well the now ex-manager I guess) recalled me early from my loan spell with Albion Rovers  which left me with mixed feelings.

On the one hand I was sad to leave Rovers as I’d really enjoyed my time there, however on the other I was delighted to get back to Firhill to try and force my way into what is and has been all season a very, very good team. Before the turn of the year a couple of injuries hampered my progress, which was frustrating to say the least, but now I’m over the knocks and niggles and ready to help the team when I’m called upon.

As for what’s been happening at the club, the last few weeks have seen a big change here at Firhill – but we’re all confident it won’t knock us off our stride. Our manager Jackie McNamara and his assistant Simon Donnelly obviously left to join Dundee Utd a few weeks ago. It was all a bit of a shock to the boys at the time as it all happened so quickly, but hey these things happen in football and it’s part of a footballer’s job to be able to adapt and deal with change – it’s not always a bad thing. Jackie and “Sid” were absolutely brilliant with the lads and they’d worked wonders to get the team into the position we’re in just now. Not only that but it’s fair to say that on our day, Thistle play the best brand of football in the First Division which is something I know the fans really appreciate and enjoy watching, even if some of the pitches aren’t exactly conducive to good football.

Interim Manager Alan Archibald with Kris Doolan

Even though we were really sorry to see Jackie and Sid go, we’ve been given a massive lift as Alan Archibald our club captain has been put in charge of the team for the foreseeable future. Archie is a born winner and a guy who knows what it takes to win leagues, who the fans love and more importantly has the respect of all the players in the dressing room. I think you’d be hard pushed to find a player who didn’t want Archie to get the job full time – we’re all 100% behind him. The good thing from the players point of view is that Archie (although I suppose I should call him gaffer now!) worked with Jackie and Simon as a coach – as well as playing for them – so very little has changed and all the lads are totally focused on getting the club back to the top level.

Sine Archie took over we haven’t had a game as both Cowdenbeath and Raith were postponed 2 postponed so this Saturday’s match against Morton will be our first with Archie in charge. It’s a huge game for both club’s, but we’re confident our fans – now nicknamed Archie’s Army – will march down to Cappielow and get right behind the new manager and the team so that we can continue to work towards winning this league.

Cheers!

Mark

Finding this photo of me running a 10k (back in 2007) and reading this blog piece has just inspired me to get my trainers on and get running again.  Ok, so in this photo I’m mostly just waving to the camera, rather than focusing on the running itself, but isn’t that part of the fun?

It’s a lovely morning where I am, I know I will feel good afterwards, so I am going to dust down those trainers and get out there.  I’ll let you know how it goes. : )

I thought starting back at University again would be a bit of a shock to the system but in all fairness, it hasn’t been too bad. The hardest thing has actually been starting back running again!

After a few weeks off – the past three weeks have been HARD! Fitness wise, it was a lot better than I had imagined it would be at this time of the year. In fact, my sessions have been going really well, however my easy runs have taken a bit of a hit.

With quite a large increase in mileage this year, every morning run has turned into a serious struggle. My alarm goes off on a Monday at 6.30am, I get up expecting to be bounding out of bed, down the stairs ready for my morning run – but in reality… My alarm goes off at 6.30am, I attempt to roll out of bed and realise that every muscle in my muscle is aching. I then hobble down the stairs like a 90 year old woman who’s been through the wars, hoping that my zimmer frame is at the bottom of the stairs to zoom me around Carnoustie but unfortunately there is just a pair of trainers waiting to take me around the cold, dark, freezing Carnoustie Golf Courses.

Although it is a struggle to get out the door – it certainly is not because ‘I don’t want to’ or ‘I can’t be bothered’. I LOVE running, clearly… and not many people are lucky enough to have their hobby as a ‘job’. Running for me, is not a chore. It has never been a chore. I get a buzz from doing every single run on my training program and feel a sense of achievement at the end of the week knowing that I gave it my all and couldn’t of done anything more. For me, every other competitor is training equally as hard as me – you can’t afford to give them a head start.

From looking at the team’s diet, hydration and sleep regimes to look more deeply at the mental strength needed to succeed, Shona talks to macb about what we can all learn from her experience with Thistle, and what steps we can all take to be our own very best.

1.     This weekend’s game against Dunfermline has so much resting on it.  What advice do you give Jackie and the team going into a game like this where so much is at stake?

It doesn’t matter what game is approaching the message is the same, we want to go out and win and to do that we need to work effectively individually and work well as a team.

So the main focus with Optimum Performance is empowering players to work constantly on themselves to enhance their personal thought processes, release fears and get them to start concentrating on what they want to achieve, not what they don’t want.

Using their instincts is also key along with constantly reviewing diet & hydration to optimise energy levels.

Jackie, Simon and the backroom team give the players the technical requirements and make sure they are physically fit, utilising each individual players skills and ability for Jackie and Simon to pick the team. The combination meets somewhere in the middle to get the result we are all looking for.

2.     What advice do you give the team on the rare occasions this season where the result has not gone their way?

That losing is part of the experience, Jackie and I only reflect briefly on a game, to see whether the team did the best they could or what areas they could have improved on. That could be energy levels of specific players, injures, goals conceded or set pieces that may not have come off as well as had been expected. From our discussion and the debriefs Jackie has with Simon and the other backroom staff, we all know what we have to work on for the week ahead.

3.     Is there any advice/techniques that you use to help Jackie and the team perform at their best that could equally apply to anyone in life?

How I work with the players and Jackie is no different from how I would work with people personally who want to change their lives or corporate clients.

The majority of the players have a drive and passion to be professional footballers and this is key in any career. If you love your job, you want to do well and you will give your best on all levels, no matter how hard it is, to get the results you want, and you NEVER give up, even when you are not getting the results you want.

You reflect on what you have  learned and identify what can be improved, ask for help and advice from people you trust and if required be willing to learn new knowledge in order to move forward again.

What I ask the players to do is reflect on their own performance:

- Did they prepare as well as they could have?

- Have they fuelled and hydrated properly over the week?

- Have they used the coping strategies we have given them to mentally be as focused as they can be?

- Have they trained to the best of their ability?

If they have, then that is all they can do, no one is asking any more of them. If they haven’t we address what they feel they could improve on, how they can implement it going forward towards training and the game the following week.

Tickets to Partick Thistle v Dunfermline are available from the club in advance or you can turn up and pay on the day.

Well I am currently giving myself a huge pat on the back!  I completed my challenge yesterday and have run 5k every day for 50 days (well ran 48 days walked 2 due to flu)!  I have to say I am so so pleased with myself.  Selfish, I know but hey it was me that did all the hard work.

I do have to thank all my friends and family who have encouraged me along the way and of course my husband and kids who have let me have that time to myself every day to do the run and it hasn’t been easy.  It was all worthwhile when I came home from my run yesterday and Jack (my wee boy) said “Mummy I’m so proud of you – well done!”.

Don’t get me wrong there were moments most weeks where I thought to myself I must be crazy, but I kept going and finished the 50th day yesterday on a massive high.  So what do I do now I ask myself?  I can’t let my running go back to just a few times a week because I know myself where it leads too – gradually no running at all.

So being completely crazy I have decided to set myself a new challenge – to run for another 50 days starting today!  Yes that will take me up to 17th December.  Can I do it?  I don’t know but I’m willing to give it a go.  Perhaps the incentive this time will be to raise money for a charity so close to my heart as I was so busy running the last challenge I never quite got round to it.

I really hope that this will inspire someone to take that jump and go for a walk or a run!  We owe it to ourselves, most of us are always putting work, family, children and friends first but we all individually need some space and time for ourselves which in turn will benefit the people around us!  Trust me you feel amazing afterwards. So here goes….

Laura x

Image courtesy of Mizrak on Flickr

I thought I would give you all an update on how my running has been going.  I must say I really have surprise myself and have managed to keep up the challenge of running 5k every day.

We are now on Day 45 – can you believe that?  No I can’t though my legs would disagree.  I would be lying if I said that I’ve found it easy.  It’s not the actual running it’s more finding the time and the thought of it before I go out.  I know that many of you out there will empathise with me on this.

This week has been especially hard as I’ve been out running myself every day and I definitely think that is tough – you sometimes jut need a bit of motivation or company to keep you going.  I am really hoping that having done this challenge I will have changed my lifestyle and that running will become part of my everyday routine but there is something that makes me think that without the challenge I will slip back to my old ways of making excuses of why not to go out.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot when out running this week and I really hope this is not the case.  I’ve managed to fit it into my very busy day to day routine of work, school, kids, the house – the list goes on….. so surely i should be able to keep it up?

Time will tell.  If anyone out there has the secret of how to keep up the momentum – please let me in on the secret… : )

Mark McGuigan talks exclusively to macb.co.uk

2012 has been quite a year for me.  I signed a two-year deal with Partick Thistle (scoring on my debut), graduated from uni, went through my first pre-season as a Jag (believe me it was tough!) and then just when I thought everything was on course BANG the gaffer (that’s Jackie McNamara to you) told me I was going out on loan to Albion Rovers.

I was a bit shocked and a bit worried at the same time cos my first thought was that the gaffer was trying to get rid of me. Over the summer he’d signed Steven Lawless and Steven Craig – attacking players who were in his starting 11 every week. They were scoring goals and we’d had such a great start to the season I knew it’d be difficult to get in the team ahead of them, but at the same time I wanted to be around and fight for my place because I love it at Firhill – the gaffer, the players, the fans – it’s where I want to be.

It didn’t help that I’d managed to pick up a back injury too which meant I wasn’t even on the bench. The loan thing was out of my hands, but after the gaffer explained to me he wanted me to go out and get game time I was happy to do it. It’s for my benefit and I know it will all be worth it in the long run.

That said, when they gave me the loan papers to sign I made sure I read the small print as I didn’t want to sign my Partick Thistle career away!

My ultimate aim is to be playing every week – and scoring goals – for Partick Thistle, but I’ve realised that sometimes you need to take a detour to get to where you want to go. My detour is via Albion Rovers where I must admit I’m loving getting the chance to play every week and I’m scoring goals (three in four games so far!). Everyone has been really supportive about my loan spell from the gaffer , the boys in the Thistle dressing room to the guys from the boardroom to the manager and players at Cliftonhill. In fact, they like me so much they’ve extended my loan spell to mid-DecemberJ I’m happy to stay because I’m playing every Saturday and scoring goals too.

If there’s a down side to it all, it’s that life is pretty hectic right now. I train full time with Thistle during the day, then two nights a week with Albion Rovers as well as putting my sports science degree to good use by helping out with Partick Thistle’s youths on their training nights. I rarely get much time to myself, but I’m loving every minute.

I suppose the lesson that I need to take out of all of this and I guess it applies to anyone is that sometimes you don’t always achieve your goals quite in the way you’d imagined.  Things come along that seem insurmountable at the time, but they actually make you stronger and better in the long term.  I’m staying focused on that and would encourage anyone going through something similar to do the same.

So, this Sunday I’ll be at Cowdenbeath cheering the boys on in the Ramsdens Cup semi-final  – the final isn’t til next April so hopefully the boys can get us there and I’ll be back at Firhill fighting for a place in the starting eleven. C’mon the Jags!

Since my last blog my youngest son Christopher was ill with a severe respiratory infection which resulted in an overnight stay in Yorkhill hospital.  So the whole week was written off and I didn’t get out running at all.  Thank goodness he has now made a full recovery and back to his normal cheery self. : )

Our brave soldier, on the mend

So now that the running shoes are back on, instead of doing my 2/3 runs a week, which I was struggling to do (!)   I somehow, in a state of madness, decided to sign up for the biggest physical challenge of my life so far  (excluding childbirth!) – 5 x 50 challenge!  What does this challenge involve I can hear you ask?  Well, it means that I have to run, walk or cycle 5k every day for 50 days!  Crazy, I know!

We are on Day 9 and I have actually managed to do it, which I find quite incredible.  Various things have kept me going: encouraging comments and support on Facebook from friends, family and of course the other team macb members – yes I’m not the only crazy one out there – there’s lots of us!

I am really hoping this challenge increases my fitness and lastly, more importantly to me when signing up for the challenge I decided that I would do every run in memory of my mum, Maureen.  Her illness was actually the reason I first ever decided to put on a pair of trainers and run the Women’s 10k!  I hope by doing this challenge I will be able to raise some money for a charity very close to my heart and make a difference to someone’s life.

Secondly, I hope that this may have inspired some of you to get your trainers on and go out for a run, even if it’s raining, trust me it’s quite refreshing!

And last of all, I hope that it will give some of my running buddies in the challenge the motivation to keep going – WE CAN DO IT!

Only 41 days to go!

Keep up the good work and I’ll let you know later in the week how it’s all going!

Laura x