One of Swansea's finest proponents of grassroots PR is about to hang up his hotline to the Evening Post.
Roger Thomas has been one of the city's finest butchers but now plans to retire.
He'll be missed not only for his range of exquisite meats, pies and ready-made meals but also for his passion for publicity.
Being the owner of a small business is tough, not least when you're competing against the big boys who seem to have marketing budgets the size of a nation state's GDP.
But Roger simply got on with the job in hand, ensuring that Sketty-based Howard Thomas and Sons - the business launched by his father - achieved more than its fair share of photo stories in the Evening Post.
Topical
Rugby was his favourite topical hook. If Wales won a Grand Slam he'd create a sausage with ingredients favoured by each of the defeated opponents - beef for England, malt whisky for Scotland ...
Invariably, a Post reporter would hear about the new offering, see it as a fun way of illustrating a big story and send out a photographer. Roger and his staff would be pictured with a string of their new bangers.
Only this summer he was still at it. Roger's World Cup sausage was a South African-style concoction of beef, pork, coriander, nutmeg, Worcester sauce, vinegar, garlic and thyme.
I'm ashamed to say that the Media Master family failed to make the short trip to Frogmore Avenue. Our loss.
What Roger did show is that a little creativity and cheek can go a long way in getting news of your business out there. Well done, Roger - now you'll have more time to enjoy reading your bulky scrapbook of press cuttings!
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