What a year! It’s been a real whirlwind. From discovering and working with amazing local companies and organisations, attending an array of VIP events, award ceremonies and conferences, being interviewed on local radio to writing for Cotswold Life and WhichUK, reviewing the best of performances at The Everyman Theatre and culminating in a fabulous LIVE TV debut, 2018 has most definitely been a year to remember!

I always knew that blogging would be a bit of a journey but didn’t quite realise how much of one it would actually be and blogging is definitely not as easy as it may seem. I’m on it all the time; either post writing, managing social media, networking, researching or learning how to do all the techie things that I still can’t do!

Luckily help is on hand technically as I have moved over to a new web host and I’m really excited about working with him on a revamp to the blog in the New Year! I was also really pleased to attend the fabulous BlogOn conference in Manchester where I picked up lots of fab tips on how to pitch for freelance work and how to use Pinterest. Following the conference, I’m now also an influencer for Coop which is an amazing opportunity and am really looking forward to working with them in 2019! #thecoopway

In addition to BlogOn, I was very lucky to attend the UKMoneybloggers conference in London in the company of some of the very best of UK bloggers! Again this was a great opportunity to further brush up my techie knowledge with really useful talks on improving SEO and using affiliates whilst also learning how to be more financially savvy!

It’s been a fabulous year for guest posts too with appearances on the following fabulous sites. Thanks to everyone who has hosted me. It was a pleasure to write for you!

From Spender to Saver. How and why I changed my ways!

Why I’ll never have a joint bank account but maybe why you should

5 ways to save money and still look good

Why British holidays are cheaper- and better!

5 must have beauty products i simply cannot live without

In other news, March saw the publication of an article I wrote in Cotswold Life where I took a look at my five favourite places for excellent Customer Service featuring The Glasshouse Inn and Hillside Brewery in Longhope and The Ivy Montpellier Brasserie, The Greenway and The Find Cheltenham. Watch out for my next submission coming VERY soon!

Inspired by my findings I launched the Saturday Spotlight series whereby a local company is given the chance to talk about what they do and their views on Customer Service. Many thanks to all the fabulous companies who have taken part in this series which is exclusively by invitation only based on merit and recommendations! You are all amazing and it has been a real pleasure to host you on the site! Most recently I’ve also been looking at some of the fabulous people behind excellent Customer Service in the Cotswolds. Look out for some more exciting exclusives coming up in the New Year!

Following some general negative blogger press about the integrity of reviews, I decided to launch the Mystery Shop Monday series which saw me out and about establishing which companies do offer excellent customer service and which ones definitely do not! I’m pleased to report that I’ve had the best of times enjoying the best of service from the majority of companies featured and I’ll be covering more in a NEW series of reviews which will launch in the New Year! #watchoutforthenails

So there it is, such an amazing year! And what a way to end it too with a TV debut on the BBC Breakfast sofa to chat about regifting with the King of Etiquette himself William Hanson.

Thank you for all your support in my journey so far! Next year is already shaping up to be full of more exciting opportunities and I can’t wait to share them with you!

Happy New Year everyone! Cin cin!

Lady Janey x