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01 October 2012

A glimpse in to the future

I was summoned to a meeting last week whilst I was in London after this newspaper article had been published. On entering the conference room the man at the top of the table called me over and requested that I sat next to his team of people.

'Mr Morton, thank you for joining us, we need your help'

The other people on the opposite side of the table looked familiar from somewhere although at the time I'm not sure where, they didn't look too happy either.

Discussions were taking place about the terms of a sale, then I realised what was being sold.... Filofax Letts Group. The team I had been asked to sit with were the potential buyers the French company......

I sat there trying to take in what was going on, different people were asked to give presentations and the Frenchman was scribbling frantically in a very nice looking note book with his fountain pen. Contrastingly the English man on the other side of the table was using a similar pen in his Filofax, but the ink seemed to be spreading on the paper not very nice at all.

Oh how I wanted to say to him... we have been telling Filofax UK about that issue for years but they would never listen... but I thought no keep quiet Morton and just listen.

The next thing that flashed up on the big screen was a presentation about the names of organisers. What was this all about... there were names I was familiar with on the left but on the right a list of names I had not heard of in relation to Filofax. Then it became clear.... these were the proposed names of the models in the future.

Current Name Future Name
Finchley Le Raincy
Winchester Laon
Boston  Marseille
Buckingham Mouvaux
Metropol Metropoliatin
Cuban Cubain
Guildford Poitiers

The next screen showed a crude mock up of the replacement of the 'Jack Vintage' I shook my head in despair, who did they get to do the mock up.... someone who obviously had no experience of Photoshop.



What ever, but it at least gave me some idea of how much a take over this was going to be.

The final screen finished off the presentation with the big slogan:

Philofax c'est un mode de vie

http://www.philofax.co.uk/

They had changed the name.... what a company, they actually recognised the powerful influence of Philofaxy... I felt honoured.

The poor chaps on the other side of the table were looking totally dejected, what did the future hold for them. 

I never did find out.... because the cat woke me up... it had all been a dream... or had it... 

This post is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales , is entirely coincidental. If any of the things described above come true, then the author will be just as surprised as the reader. 

21 comments:

  1. Another great one Steve, another great one!!! :-)

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  2. Steve your good at this.... and guess what? I GOT THE IT! lol Miracles can happen! x

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  3. LOL Steve we'll see if this fictional account turns out to be a premonition after all!!

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  4. I love the idea of the Metropol being called the Metroplitain.

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  5. Well, if your move to France had anything to do with this then you were/are VERY ahead of your time but entirely 'en point'! Interesting times ahead.

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  6. This is great, Steve! I love it!!!!

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  7. To be fair,
    If they made the name Metropolitain in the same font as the Metro sign, it would have a certain cachet, non? I've made my decision and I'm sticking to it. I don't intend to buy a new Filofax again until they sort the quality out. Vintage only pour moi. Having recently received an A5 in Italian bridle leather, Im afraid there is simply no competition. This is a binder I will pass on, when I pass away and it will still be going strong.

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  8. I like the idea of renaming the styles. Henceforth, my Cuban will be known as the Miami-Dade.

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  9. How fabulous would that be? :o)

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  10. I think the total age of my binders in around 250 years. For some strange reason, I like that. Love the idea of renaming some. The Miami-Dade rocks. Images of Al Pacino in Scarface come to mind. A limited edition range to honour the movies, maybe. I'd be up for a "Godfather" one with the logo, especially if In Italian, showing "Il Padrino" and the strings. We can but dream.....

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  11. In case you are wondering how the names came about.... doing some 'extensive research' and using my 'local knowledge' I just transposed the names in to French, or used the towns/cities they were twinned with in some cases!

    But it's only a bit of fun, I'm pleased you enjoyed it!

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  12. Nice one Steve! If only you were a fly on the wall!

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  13. Well done! An enjoyable read! more, more.

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  14. WOW! I was taken in the whole time--honest! Crazy American me!
    Steve--I'm going to have to watch out for you! Great read, though!
    Maybe someday...... ;~)

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  15. Je voudrais Le Raincy en rouge, s'il vous plait.

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  16. You cunning man, you...
    While I was reading my mind kept buzzing " mais oui... mais oui... " and at the same time I felt like such a slutty sell- out for FF. And I was not ashamed.

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  17. I should have included that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was going to be the replacement famous name designer for Templerley, I know Carla doesn't have a reputation for designing organisers... but does Alice Temperley?

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  18. May be the Canadian is a French Canadian...

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    Replies
    1. Ben, moé, j'cré que c'est extraordinaire !

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