Victor and Percy

New learning aids for children being developed

2011-07-11T23:10:00.001+01:00

The two illustrations shown below are the first samples of the body of learning material being developed for pre-school children. The illustrations will be available from the Victor and Percy website following a relaunch later this year. They are being made available free of charge for use by parents as educational tools. Each will focus on developing one aspect of the skills and understanding expected of young children as they enter school. Topics will include numeracy, literacy, comprehension and visual skills.

René Renewable

2011-05-19T13:17:00.006+01:00

Introducing René Renewable

René Renewable is a friend of Victor and Percy. While Victor is interested in all things electrical and Percy in all things to do with pipes and plumbing. René is a champion of renewable energy. Her mission is to teach children about renewable energy, carbon pollution and sustainable water supplies. She will introduce basic themes at reception level using games and puzzles.

René Renewable will first appear in stories with Victor and Percy. Later in the year she will have her own blog, Facebook page and website.

René Renewable, Victor Voltage, Percy Pipe and The Adventures of Victor and Percy are all registered trademarks and are protected by copyright law.

The Adventures of Victor and Percy New Logo

2011-05-19T13:15:00.003+01:00

Victor Voltage

2011-05-19T13:09:00.005+01:00

Here is the new version of Victor Voltage.

As with Percy the character has been aimed at younger children. The size of the head is proportionally larger to his body as is the case with most children's characters.

The first new material to be added to the Victor and Percy website will be seen at the end of June / beginning of July and will be a series of games and puzzles free to download.

Relaunch of Victor and Percy

2011-05-19T12:51:00.006+01:00

Victor and Percy will be redesigned and relaunched with a younger audience in mind.

All the feedback we have received is that the concept behind the Adventures of Victor and Percy characters, is more suitable for younger children. In responce to this the characters will be altered to make then more appealing to 4 and 5 year olds and developed with reception class children in mind.

The Victor and Percy website will be updated and a new section of 'free downloads' will be added. The character seen here is the new version of Percy Pipe.

The Big Question

2010-11-13T10:12:00.003Z

Now that we have recovered from the work of publishing and promoting the first book in The Adventures of Victor and Percy series. We are turning our thoughts back to Victor and Percy and the next book. We took some time off to concentrate on our electrical and plumbing business.

The big question is should we go ahead and produce the next book in the series in a similar format or should we alter the format and target a younger audience and produce an Easy Reader. Targeting a younger audience would have the added benefit of opening up a potential market in merchandise and educational material.

If we follow the same format, the next book will feature Victor Voltage in an electrical adventure. It will contain about 6000 words, 65 illustrations and be aimed at 7 - 9 year olds.

If we change the format and produce an Easy Reader aimed at 4 - 5 year olds the focus of Victor and Percy will change completely. This book would still contain about 65 illustrations but would have limited text. Typically each page would contain just two sentences in large print and the language used would be suitable for young children. If we decide on the Easy Reader option then the first book Percy Pulls the Plug would be adapted and relaunched.

We are going to decide by the end of the year. We would like to hear your thoughts.

Please send your comments to Chris on info@ctpublishing.co.uk

Please vote for Victor and Percy

2010-06-08T19:28:00.005+01:00

Voting has started in Barclays Bank Take One Small Step competition. Please vote for Victor and Percy and help us win an investment to develop more children’s books about Percy Pipe and Victor Voltage. The promotional books will encourage children to read, help them think about life after school and raise the profile of modern apprenticeships. Vote Now
Thank you for your support.

Please email the link; https://www.takeonesmallstep.co.uk/Entry/View/2326 to your friends so that they can vote as well.

Barclays Take One Small Step Competition

2010-05-26T18:42:00.006+01:00

Great News! Country & Town have been nominated as a finalist in the North West Region in Barclays Business Take One Small Step competition for the Victor and Percy initiative. The winner will be decided by a public vote. We need your support. Information about how and where to vote will be posted as soon as we have it. Voting opens on 7th June and closes on 4th July.

The Business Idea behind The Adventures of Victor and Percy
The idea, know as The Adventures of Victor and Percy has three mutually supportive elements. These are Country and Town Maintenance, The Adventures of Victor and Percy and the Victor and Percy Roadshow.

Country and Town Maintenance is a company based in Altrincham that provides electrical and plumbing services in Manchester and Cheshire. The company aims to maintain high standards; ensuring quality of work, that appointments are kept and that staff wear uniform. This has led to a steady increase in business and a client base that provides 60% of business on a month by month basis. Country & Town though profitable and expanding is competing against many similar companies and needs to differentiate itself.

The Adventures of Victor and Percy is a promotional initiative. The idea originated from feedback from plumbers and electricians who returned from domestic jobs saying that they had an audience whilst they were working. Children had insisted on seeing what was being done once the toolbox was open, forcing parents to stand with them. This helped to build a rapport with the parents and encouraged repeat business. The plumbers and electricians joked with the parents that they had taken on new apprentices, the idea stuck and soon developed into Victor Voltage and Percy Pipe. With The Adventures of Victor and Percy we have a powerful promotional tool.

It is clear that the business will be supported by and will benefit through the characters. More importantly as the characters in the book wear the Country and Town uniform with the logo on the chest and the web address www.ctm.co.uk is shown on toolboxes and vehicles, the children reading the book will know that the characters work for a real company. They could visit www.ctm.co.uk and see over 1000 photos of jobs being done and will believe in the characters. Other characters such as Rene Renewable who is interested in all types of renewable energy are being developed.

The Victor and Percy Roadshow will use the profile of The Adventures of Victor and Percy and develop a social project aimed at encouraging children to study hard at school, set goals for themselves when they leave school and focus attention on the needs of and pressures on tradespeople in the construction sector. We expect to receive support in various ways from the education sector and local government, plus this will raise our profile.

Percy Pulls the Plug - Ebook

2010-05-14T17:43:00.002+01:00

We have just launched the ebook version of Percy Pulls the Plug. Click on the above image to launch the ebook viewer and see how you can actually grab and turn the pages just like a real book.

The digital is version is an exact copy of the printed version and has been made available exclusively through MyEbook.com priced at £2.99. The first two chapters are available free of charge. The book was launched just a few days ago and has already had 188 views.

Book Launch at Waterstone's Today

2010-04-24T17:51:00.003+01:00

We did it! The first book in The Adventures of Victor and Percy was launched today and was a great success. Over 30 copies of Percy Pulls the Plug were sold. It was a fun afternoon with book readings being held almost non-stop.

We have been invited to hold more events in the Altrincham store and it was suggested that we hold other promotional events in other Waterstone's outlets.

Thank you to everyone who turned up and thank you for all the good wishes.

We now have a number of things to do:
1. Open the shop on the Victor and Percy website and add more products and merchandise
2. Continue our talks with the education sector about putting Percy Pulls the Plug into schools
3. Start work on the second book featuring Victor, as we are planning to have this out in time for Christmas

BBC Radio Manchester

2010-04-13T09:27:00.004+01:00

Chris Tomlinson was interviewed on Monday 12th April by Steve Saul on the 6pm BBC Radio Manchester Business Show. Steve was interested in why writing a children's book would be good for a provider of electrical and plumbing services. Steve also asked about the situation regarding apprentices and if Country & Town was trying to encourage more young people to become apprentices.

We hope that the Victor and Percy books entertain the young reader and that they will find value in them. Of course we believe that the books will help to promote our business. The business has spent a lot of time and money producing the first book and intends to invest more money in The Adventures of Victor and Percy series. We would like to see a return on that investment.

We also think that the information contained in the books will encourage young people to work hard at school and think about what they want to do when they leave school. As Steve mentioned they do contain information about careers as electricians and plumbers. We are not trying to encourage people down a vocational or an academic route. We just aim to provide some additional information to enable young people to make an informed decision.

Waiting for the printed product

2010-04-04T11:41:00.004+01:00

The proofs for the book have all been approved and we are now waiting for the final product to be produced. We are of course behind schedule, but the printer has said that he will be able to supply enough copies of Percy Pulls the Plug to enable us to go ahead with the launch.

The launch is scheduled for Saturday 24th April, so there is not much time left and it is now too late to change the date. The adverts and posters are in place. The press information has been released and the invites will be sent out next week.

The Victor and Percy website is also behind schedule, this should have been launched on 15th March. This will now go live on 10th April, providing technical issues around the page layout and the shop have been resolved.

Once the launch has taken place and the ebook has been made available, we will turn our attention to the education sector. More on this to follow...

CIHPE support Percy Pipe

2010-03-14T10:20:00.005Z

We are pleased to announce that the Chartered Institute of Heating and Plumbing Engineering are to endorse the first book in The Adventures of Victor and Percy series.

Having read a copy of Percy Pulls the Plug, Kevin Wellman, CIPHE Operations Director said, "The CIPHE is delighted to endorse 'Percy Pulls the Plug'. Each and every one of our registered plumbing professionals is a real-life knight in shining armour, fixing poor plumbing jobs all over the country, just like Percy."

Percy Pulls the Plug will be published in April 2010, with the launch taking place at Waterstone's in Altrincham on 24th April.

Television Advertising

2010-02-27T13:28:00.007Z

The television advertising campaign promoting the launch of The Adventures of Victor and Percy will start on 1st March. The 30 second ads will be shown on Granada Media’s Channel M four times a day for the next three months. Follow link to view: Victor and Percy TV

Percy Pulls the Plug launch at Waterstones

2010-02-14T18:19:00.002Z

Percy Pulls the Plug will be launched at Waterstones in Altrincham on Saturday 24th April. We have not yet decided what will happen on the day, but will keep you posted. We are talking to careers advice services and to suppliers to the building trade about supporting the event. More to follow....

Education and Training

2010-02-06T17:09:00.011Z

The task ahead is to develop the education and training side of the Adventures of Victor and Percy, which will run alongside the illustrated books. Initially we are thinking that this will be through as association with a careers advisory service or a technical training organisation.

The books are designed to help children to consider what they want to do when they leave school. Many will enjoy the books and then decide that being a tradesperson is not for them. The key point is that whatever they decide to do when they leave school; the sooner they set a goal, the greater the prospect of achieving it. The Victor and Percy stories will gently encourage children to develop a positive attitude to personal improvement. These will include core competences that are important to all, not just tradespeople, such as numeracy, literacy, technical knowledge and practical skills.

So after a full English breakfast, it is time to find some support for or a partner help develop this aspect of Victor and Percy. We will contact the local council, local schools, careers services and training organisations and will let you know how we get on. If successful there is a possibility that this could develop into something called the 'Victor and Percy Careers Road Show' which would involve electricians, plumbers and training and careers advisers.

We will keep you posted...

Online activity

2010-02-03T09:56:00.003Z

Today is the day to shout about our plans for online activity, just like Percy Pipe is shouting about his news. He is running down the stairs calendar in his hand. Today is his big day as he starts work as a plumbers apprentice.

Our big day was spent deciding how to spead the word about The Adventures of Victor and Percy. Creativing a project website was just the start, the success of this project would depend on the online activity that surrounds it. That online activity could be divided into two groups; information we have control over e.g. the information we publish and the information we have no control over e.g. uploads to social sites and media comment. If we are successful the second group will overwhelm the first. Which is quite daunting. Our success is quite literally in your hands. All we can do is tell you what we are doing and hope that you find it interesting.

So with limited experience in this arena and with very limited budgets we have developed our communications strategy. We have decided to be open about our plans for the project and will aim to strike a balance between the concept and the thinking behind the concept. Hence a link to this blog appearing on the Victor and Percy site. Some people will just be interested in The Adventures of Victor and Percy, the characters and the stories. Others will be interested in the development of the business a few will be interested in both.

The jigsaw of our online activity as it stands today is a follows:

Company website www.ctm.co.uk this website currently receives about 7000 page views a month. This results in the electrical and plumbing work that is paying for the Victor and Percy project. This website will have links to the www.victorandpercy.com site to help generate traffic. These links will be live by 10th February 2010.

Victor and Percy website www.victorandpercy.com will be the shop window for the project. It will sell books in paperback and electronic form and will sell a range of merchandise including gifts, toys and games when they become available. The electronic books will be sodl via an agreement with 'My eBook'. All of our online activity will encourage people to visit this site. The Victor and Percy site will be supported by activity on social networking sites.

The social networking sites Facebook and Twitter will be used to make the main characters appear real. They will develop the personalities and profile of the characters and will encourage people to take an interest in them.

Facebook: Victor Voltage and Percy Pipe will have Facebook pages. These will carry information, photographs and short stories about the characters. These pages will link back to the Victor and Percy site.

Twitter: Victor Voltage and Percy Pipe will have twitter accounts that will be updated on a daily basis from 1st March.

This blog will be developed as an insight to the project. It will provide the reader with a chair at the boardroom table. The reader will be privy to our thoughts, actions and future plans. They will also in the months to come receive feedback on which aspects of the project were successful and which were put down to experience.

We hope that this online mix provides a platform for the project to develop and encourages people to be supportive of what we are doing.

Marketing Strategy

2010-01-26T20:06:00.007Z

This is an image a young Percy Pipe with his grandfather. It was included in the first draft of the book 'Percy Pulls the Plug' but was removed after an edit. We decided that an additional story about helping his grandfather when he was small was not required. It already clear that he had been interested in plumbing for quite a while.

The same thing happens with promotional campaigns, as time passes they evolve and what seemed to be a good idea at the time is cut away when it is no longer relevant. The marketing activity for The Adventures of Victor and Percy is work in progress. This is due to the fact that the project itself is developing. As new opportunities are presented we will move to capitalise on them.

I was going to talk about online marketing strategy for the Adventures of Victor and Percy in this blog, but I think the reader should first appreciate how Victor and Percy came to be. I am both a Water Industry Approved Plumber and an electrician registered as a Domestic Installer with the NICEIC. I became aware of the interest children show in tradesmen doing jobs in their homes first hand. This coupled with feedback from other plumbers and electricians developed into the idea of Victor Voltage and Percy Pipe as promotional characters for the business Country and Town Maintenance www.ctm.co.uk. This in turn lead to the idea for the book.

We thought that an illustrated book featuring electricians and plumbers working for Country and Town would help to underpin our communications activities. If we are right once the initial investment has been made, we will be able to reduce our promotional spend. The money saved will be invested in other parts of the business. At a strategic level it should also help to differentiate our business, providing our brand with a hook and giving the business character and personality.

The market sector occupied by plumbers and electricians is becoming increasingly competitive and price sensitive. We could not compete on price alone. Over 70% of our work comes from repeat business. These clients choose us because we provide a good service at a fair price. Not because we are the cheapest in town. Indeed we could not operate effectively if we reduced our prices. Doing so would reduce levels of service and undermine the offering.

We are counting on parents realising that children will be interested in the characters Victor Voltage and Percy Pipe. We think parents may also wish to encourage this interest so that the children consider an electrical or plumbing career. Once awareness and distribution grow, the book will keep our business in the parent's mind. They may also read it to them reinforcing our message of quality and service. All of the communications we initiate connected to the book will be directed at parents.

The thinking is that the book will promote the business through word of mouth, PR, media coverage and goodwill. In return the business will support the book, and not just financially. The association with an actual company and the 1000 photos on the CTM website of workers wearing CTM uniforms, the same green and grey uniform shown in the illustrations, will make the characters seem real.

The projected has been costed on the basis that income generated through the sale of the book and associated merchandise will be retained to cover the day to day costs of managing the project. Whilst Country and Town Maintenance who invested the capital to publish the book will see a return generated by additional work gained though increased profile.

I was going to talk about online marketing in this blog, but decided to save it until the next. I thought it was important to appreciate why we are involving ourselves in this project.

Next blog... online marketing activities including Facebook, Twitter, the thinking behind this blog and how we will support the project with other online initiatives

About time!

2010-01-25T19:25:00.001Z

Well its about time. I have just set-up the Facebook accounts for Victor Voltage and Percy Pipe. I have been meaning to do it for a while, but as I have never used Facebook before I kept putting it off.

So the big tasks of setting up the Blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts for The Adventures of Victor and Percy and linking them together are complete it is now just a case of developing the profiles and the information.

The www.ctm.co.uk Country and Town website is being updated and should contain the social network links and news about the book launch by the end of the month.

The www.victorandpercy.com Victor and Percy eCommerce site has been commissioned and is due for testing on 15th March and launch on 20th March.

I will talk about the online marketing strategy behind Victor and Percy in my next blog

Copy completed

2010-01-23T12:27:00.001Z

After a few months of playing tennis with editors, proof-readers and well meaning critics the copy for Percy Pulls the Plug, which was completed a couple of weeks ago, has been sent to the printers.

What started out as a good idea and a pretty straight forward project soon turned into quite a lot of work. Looking back, it should not have been so difficult. I came up with the idea towards the end of December 2008 and wrote the first draft in January 2009. That was the fun part. Going to a country house hotel on a Sunday morning, finding a sofa in a quite corner and sitting there with a pad and a coffee.

The only progress made over the next six months was transferring the hand written draft to the PC. The project was put on hold at this stage when we decided to apply for trademark certificates for all the main characters. Once these were granted we started to push forward again.

I am very grateful to the editors and proof-readers, as I tend not to see what is written and only see what I think is written. As a result errors are missed and characters appear out of the blue without any introduction. Now that the final draft is complete I believe we have a good story and a platform to launch a series of connected books and merchandise.

I may be wrong, as this is the first time I have tried anything like this. I have not written a children's story before, but from what I have seen in customers homes, I am convinced I am right. Children, both boys and girls are fascinated with workers coming into their homes. There are often shouts of objection when parents try to drag them away to allow the tradesman to get on with their jobs.

Three nights ago I had a call at 6.30pm to a leak on a heating system. In the house was mum and three children, two girls aged 10 and 3 and a boy aged 8. While I went around the house to drain down the system I had all four following me. Three kids trying to see what was going on and mum apologising for them getting in the way. When it came to cutting out the damaged section of pipe in the corner of a room and soldering in a new piece, I felt like I was on stage. The boy had been given a torch at Christmas and was shining it on the pipe, which was actually quite helpful. The girls were squeezing in with mum when I lit the blow-torch. All were fascinated.

The book is due to be launched in a few months - I guess time will tell

Doing the groundwork

2010-01-20T21:38:00.001Z

When we decided to write a series of books about an electrical apprentice and a plumbing apprentice we did not realise just how much work it would be. The idea came from feedback from clients and their children. We then decided to incorporate the characters into the business to provide a promotional platform for them. www.ctm.co.uk/victorandpercy.htm

So far we have included them on company stationery, promotional material, a company vehicle and in press releases. We are building an eCommerce site which will be launched on 15th March. The first book 'Percy Pulls the Plug' will be the first product, other books and merchandise will follow.

We are still waiting for about 60% of the illustrations. These are taking longer than expected as they are all being hand drawn and coloured. See attached sample from the book. The book is due for launch on 10th April.

The promotional activities supporting the book are now going live. There is a 15x3 ad in 1 daily and 4 weekly publications running for January, February, March and April. A TV ad will air for three months starting in March. We also plan a 100,000 leaflet insertion into a daily newspaper on the day of the launch. All this will be supported by PR and activities on Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook and Twitter accounts have been established and will start receiving posts from 1 February.

Victor and Percy

2010-01-15T10:14:00.002Z

The Victor & Percy blog is about creating and publishing a series of books aimed at secondary school children, ‘The Adventures of Victor and Percy’. The first book, ‘Percy Pulls the Plug’ is due to be published in April 2010. This blog was started in January 2010. The initiative is being supported by, and in return will help to promote Country & Town Maintenance.

When we began this blog the following had been completed:
• Outline of The Adventures of Victor and Percy concept
• Characters drawn and named and toolbox logo created
• Trademarks in place for Characters and series title
• Copy for Percy Pulls the Plug; written edited and proofed
• Victor and Percy included on Country and Town promotional material

To do by April 10th - Book lunch Percy Pulls the Plug
• Complete artwork
• Apply for an ISBN
• Build the eCommerce site
• Launch the promotional campaign
• Set, proof and print the 1st edition
• Develop the Facebook and Twitter accounts

Future plans, written January 2010
• Develop additional products related to Victor and Percy to sell online to off set the costs of running the ecommerce site and bank charges relating to online sales
• Begin second book ‘Victor Saves Christmas’ launch Dec 2010
• Obtain sponsorship from educational and commercial organisations to help offset the development and running costs of the project