According to The Guardian 81% of people working in the West Midlands would up and leave if their job permitted - the idea being that universal broadband might one day make such a Brummie exodus possible - with the East Midlands faring almost as badly in the reported popularity stakes amongst its discontented denizens. Apparently it's the lure of the coast that does it, with Devon and Cornwall being the main attraction - although the report indicates there's 3 million who want to come to Scotland. Hoots Mon! Products, such as the above-mentioned meaty staple could suffer catastrophic declines in sales, with the likes of Melton Mowbray pork pies swapped for Cornish pasties, and Banks' Bitter given a good tanking by Caley's Deuchars IPA. The survey - commissioned by Orange - just goes to show how ridiculous market research can be, and highlights the difference between useless statistics and good common-sense and intuition that any marketer worth their salt possesses. As a regular visitor to the Midlands, I have to say, I can't think of a more contented bunch of Brits anywhere in the land, and the idea that they'd up sticks and scarper is - like their favourite meal of chicken vindaloo - best taken with a good pinch of salt.
