Back in the spring of 2002 BBC 6 Music launched, coal mining ended in Scotland and the Queen Mother died. Another story that crept under the media radar at that time was the launch of the online printer ink retailer, Stinkyink.com. On 22 April 2012 serial entrepreneur, John Sollars, celebrates a decade of trading and gives advice to start-ups on how to survive beyond the early years.

John Sollar’s tips for new businesses: “It’s different for everyone but these tactics have worked for me.

It was summer 2008.

Alice ran a graphics studio. She employed 12 young artists and turned over a tad under £1m. Lovely lady. Lovely business.

Jason ran a web design company. He employed 4 webbies and turned over a tad under £350k. Lovely man. Lovely business.

And then came the recession.

In our attempts to be polite, everything recession-oriented has the strapline “survive and thrive”.  My book… workshops run by accountants… and seminars run by banks, business support organisations and consultants now give everything the S&T tagline. Sometimes we reverse the letters so it is T&S!

Chewbz, a retro sweets shop, was launched in October 2008 by Emily Denyer using Actinic ecommerce software.

31% of employees think the boss of their firm has an extravagant office, according to a recent survey conducted by office design company Maris Interiors. And not just fish tanks and comfy chairs - some bosses have saunas and drum kits!

The most common office excess was artwork, mentioned by 17% of employees. One management consultancy even boasts a Picasso, and a hotel boss sits beneath an original Andy Warhol.

Food co-ops have existed since 1844, when the first opened in the UK. But they have fallen out of favour in Europe in recent decades. But the launch of The People's Supermarket in Lambs Conduit Street (near Great Ormond Street) in London could herald the start of a revival.