By Paul Bazeley

Plug in and turn the volume up to eleven. A design icon guitar used by musical legends, the Gibson Les Paul.

The story of the Les Paul begins when Fender released the Telecaster, a guitar made from a solid body. Gibson saw this and decided they needed to gain some of the market share of solid body guitars. At this point, they approached the musician Les Paul to help them design some solid body electric guitars. Funnily enough, a few years prior to this, Les Paul had actually approached the company with the idea of building a solid body electric guitar and was in fact ridiculed by the company.

Nevertheless, the thought of increased sales meant Gibson had a change of heart and the first Gibson Les Paul was released in 1952. To this day it is still unclear who designed most of the guitar. Gibson claim they had pretty much finished the guitar and asked Paul to add some finishing touches to it and then endorse it, however, Les Paul claims he already had ideas for certain aspects of the guitar and that Gibson gave him the overall decision of how the guitar was designed.

Over the next few years, the original gold top design received a few minor changes but stayed true to the original 52 model and the Les Paul Custom and the Les Paul junior were also added to the range, although it is the Les Paul standard which has remained the stand-out of the range. In 1958 the sunburst models began to appear as the gold top design was phased out, it is the sunburst model that still remains heavily popular today.

Although, the sunburst Les Paul may be a design icon now yet originally the sales and popularity were poor. Although over 58 and 60 small changes were made, changes which many guitarists believe make this era of guitars some of the most playable and most valuable, Gibson actually dropped the Les Paul from its catalogue entirely in 1960.

Fast forward almost a decade later, in the late 1960s, and the Gibson Les Paul cemented itself in history. Some of the most influential guitar players of the time, such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, began to use the guitar and eventually, the guitar became a prominent choice for many guitarists.

Now the guitar is considered one of the most versatile and Les Paul Standards have been used by Paul McCartney, Slash, Lenny Kravitz, Hank Williams, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Dave Grohl, Sheryl Crow, Bob Marley, Mick Jones and Marc Bolan.

Since it was first made in 1952, there have been many varieties of the Les Paul made, including many signature models, some more sought after than others. However, one thing has remained and that is its legacy since it was picked up in the late 1960s the guitar has been used by some of the greatest musicians in the world.

Les Paul sadly passed away in August 2009 due to complications with pneumonia, yet his legacy will live on not just in people’s minds but through all the songs that have included a Les Paul guitar. Whether you’re a professional guitarist or just someone sat at home trying to play the guitar, if you are lucky enough to pick up a Gibson Les Paul just take a moment to realise you aren’t just holding a great guitar, you are holding a piece of music history.

Winning fabrics will be on display at the 2019 London Fabric Show, which returns in March this year. Organised and hosted by the BFM (British Furniture Manufacturers Association), the two day show takes place on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th March at the Chelsea F.C. stadium at Stamford Bridge in Fulham.

New exhibitors for 2019 include Bill Beaumont Textiles who can trace their history back to the Lancashire fabric mills of the 19th Century. They are now a leading brand in the soft furnishings industry, supplying curtain fabrics, made to measure soft furnishings & wall-coverings. The company is now run by ex England Rugby star Bill Beaumont’s eldest son Daniel, who is the sixth generation of the family to run the company.

Highly regarded Flemish fabric and textile manufacturers from Belgium are among the many regular exhibitors. Beaulieu, Greenstreet and Muvantex are just some of the famous names from Belgium renowned for the quality of their textiles returning to the London Fabric Show in 2019. Their fabrics include jacquards, linens, velvets and chenilles in traditional and modern designs.

Other returning European exhibitors displaying new designs include Arruma Trapos from Portugal, Eurotex from Germany, Imatex from Italy and Boyteks and Turman from Turkey. Between them they will show a variety of natural fibre and mixed texture fabrics in plains, stripes, florals and abstracts in soft and vibrant colours.

Returning exhibitors from the UK include Lancashire based British Velvets. Producing velvets for over 80 years, they are the leading weaver of velvets in the UK and produce over 750 luxury velvets for upholstery and soft furnishings. Art of the Loom are another Lancashire based company who always make a colourful splash with their bright wools, linens and cottons.
Fabric treatments will be on display too, Spanish Inter Fabrics have every kind of fabric treatment covered with their internationally known Aqua Clean brand, as well as producing their own extensive collections of fabrics for a variety of industries including furniture.

Entrance to the London Fabric Show is free and registration for the 2019 event is open at: www.londonfabricshow.uk

Police seemingly powerless to combat epidemic levels of theft from commercial vehicles.

Life is tough for companies trying to make an honest living in the UK today. Working to complete hard won contracts far from home and office is challenging enough, but after your staff have been booked into a conveniently located motel, all plans for an early start might just disappear – along with your equipment.

Being faced with damaged vans and loss of valuable tools and equipment can be devastating or even terminal for a company.

The morning the pictures below were taken, the hotel Night Desk Manager had witnessed thieves breaking into FOUR vehicles in total. They followed procedure and called the police who simply gave them a crime number. No wonder fleet insurance is sky high!

The total cost to companies in lost working hours, administration, vehicle repairs, replacement of equipment and higher insurances must be astronomical, and yet the police seem powerless to do anything.

The thieves are so confident in not getting caught that in this instance they brazenly used heavy equipment, first to break through the car park security fencing and then proceeded to smash and cut their way into multiple vehicles, emptying them of their contents, all under the eyes of a hotel staff member and CCTV cameras. The police response to simply issue crime number and leave it to the victims and insurance companies to sort out is madness…

We need your help

There is currently an online petition which has our full backing at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/231177 calling on the Government to consider what more can be done to tackle this problem, whether it be introducing new legislation, additional sentencing guidelines or regulations on the reselling of tools, but something needs to be done. Please sign and show your support!

Two new companies are exhibiting at the London Fabric Show in March this year.

The UK’s Bill Beaumont Textiles and Ragolle N.V from Belgium are both renowned fabric producers with long histories and extensive collections of upholstery and soft furnishing fabrics.

Bill Beaumont Textiles is based in Lancashire and as well as supplying upholstery fabrics they are a leading brand in the supply of curtain fabrics, made to measure soft furnishings and wall-coverings. The company is currently run by the sixth generation of the Beaumont family to take the reigns. Daniel Beaumont is the eldest son of ex England Rugby star Bill Beaumont.

Ragolle N.V is one of Belgium’s leading manufacturers of jacquard woven rugs and upholstery fabrics. They also produce broadloom carpets and fabrics for cushions and curtains. Their in-house design department continually updated their designs and colours and they use a combination of computerised techniques and traditional methods to produce their fabrics.

The London Fabric Show features over 35 high-end fabric producers from the UK and Europe and is organised by the BFM (British Furniture Manufacturers Association). The 2019 event takes place on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th March at Chelsea F.C. in Fulham. For more information and to register go to www.londonfabricshow.uk

According to the Annual Fraud Indicator published by the UK Fraud Costs Measurement Committee, the UK economy lost an astonishing estimated £190 billion to fraud and cyber crime in 2017.

This shocking figure can be broken down into the following:

• Private sector fraud losses: £140 billion
• Public sector fraud losses: £40.4 billion
• Charities and charitable trust losses: £2.3 billion
• Frauds directly against individuals: £6.8 billion

This represents more than the UK Government spends on health and defence combined and equates to around £10,000 per family in the UK.

Even more worrying is that these estimates may be conservative given that many organisations and individuals prefer not to report their losses to fraud for personal or commercially sensitive reasons. People can feel embarrassed and ashamed about being defrauded, companies may decide to write off the loss to avoid any reputational damage if the fraud went public.

Protect yourself

Online fraud is now the most common crime in the UK. Due to the scale of fraud, current Government resources to tackle cyber crime are thinly spread so it is up to businesses and individuals to protect themselves in the first instance.

In most cases, this can be done by following simple guidelines such as:

• Always ensure the latest software and app updates are installed on your devices. Updates contain vital security fixes which will help keep your devices secure.
• Use a strong, separate password for each email account. Never repeat a password. Hackers rely on people being lazy, gaining access to personal or business accounts with the same password.
• Never share pin numbers or passwords and never provide them in response to a phone call or email. Genuine organisations will never ask you for these remotely.
• Never open attachments to emails that you are unsure of. Avoid opening marketing emails unless you have signed up to receive them.
• Always use a firewall when connected to the internet.
• Always have up to date antivirus/anti-malware installed.
• Secure your devices with passwords, this is especially important for portable devices such as smart phones, laptops and tablets.
• Back up your important data to the cloud or onto encrypted drives. If you fall victim to a ransomware attack, you will be able to restore your files without being blackmailed into paying to regain access to your device.

Whether business or personal, the fraudsters and cyber criminals are actively seeking to separate you from your hard earned money. It’s an arms race between those trying to protect our systems and those trying to breach them and we are only as strong as our weakest link, so be vigilant, be sensible and be careful.

For further information and advice go to https://www.cyberaware.gov.uk/