Bathroom Studio Birtley
From inspiration to installation, the complete service
WhiteVanMan
First Taking Stock competition winner is revealed
May 30 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
THE boss of a North East bathroom company has proved he may be more suited to tapping into lucrative investment vehicles rather than fitting taps.
For John Bottomley, who runs Bathroom Studio Birtley, has won The Journal’s first Taking Stock competition, which saw around 700 people battle it out on the fantasy trading floor. Under his alias – White Van Man – Mr Bottomley topped the leaderboard for the majority of the three-month duration of the game despite some tough competition and yesterday he won the first prize of £500 and a short break at Matfen Hall in Northumberland.
In just a matter of weeks Mr Bottomley managed to turn £100,000 into over £800,000 through some shrewd market moves – an achievement even the slickest of traders would be pleased with.
He said he was over the moon to win the competition and that he may use the £500 cash to spruce up his most prized possession.
He said: “My white van needs a service, but I might even splash out on a new one. I’ll be taking my long-suffering wife Jackie to Matfen Hall and I might even make it a romantic weekend by leaving the golf clubs at home.”
As the serious investment heavyweights vied for positions at the top of the league, companies across the region also played for bragging rights in their own mini-leagues. The firm with the highest average portfolio was Newcastle IT outfit ZebraHosts, with a mean value of around £156,000. Staff member Kevin Richardson, aka Seven Dust, said the company had enjoyed playing the game and benchmarking its average portfolio with rival firms. He said: “We all enjoyed it here and it was good fun knowing the other companies and a couple of people in their leagues and trying to beat them, there were also stock tips going round the office.”
ZebraHosts can now bask in the glory of beating off competition from the likes of Taylor Wimpey, Muckle LLP and Tyneside Cyrenians.
The Taking Stock game, which was sponsored by Brewin Dolphin and developed by Scott Logic, is now closed but we aim to return in the near future.