Looking after PR and marketing for OpenSure, I like to get out and about as much as possible listening to local companies and learning about how they use their IT and, more importantly, how they would like to use it. I know how doctors feel now – as soon as the syllables ‘I’ and ‘T’ are mentioned, people are telling us their problems. But that’s okay, it’s the best way to understand the realities of IT for small businesses, and that’s what our business is based on.

Today I’ve come along to Shropshire Jelly at Ludlow Food Centre and find myself in a hotbed of tweeting (#ludlow #jelly), blogging and furious typing on laptops. I’m in awe of the real hard work going on here – I can hear things being achieved all around me, connections being made and plans being hatched. We’re being looked after (and the more rowdy element kept in line) by Michaela Hardwick of Beyond Expectation, I’ve met the fantastically talented artist Sophie Bignall (who also has a PR business) and am sitting between business expert Jan Minihane on one side and polymath author Carole Anne Carr on the other – I’m feeling slightly star struck.

I can see Ludlow Jelly becoming a regular fixture in my business diary. It’s the perfect combination of getting some work done (have netbook, will travel – see our blog post on virtual businesses), meeting people and having a refreshing change of scenery, not to mention the excellent lunch we’re all looking forward to. Why stay at home when you can Jelly?