Black Friday

Yes, it's that time of the year again when on-line shopping goes into overdrive and The Lead Generation Group Ltd understands what that's like for the army of lorry and van drivers who have to deliver the goods.

Amidst Black Friday we also have Movember, when some men begin to look like Seventies porn stars and the rest try to grow some lip fuzz in support of men's health – both physical and mental.

Given that it is physically demanding one of the busiest times of the year for our delivery drivers, it's somewhat ironic that Movember coincides with the same month as Black Friday.

The physical and mental toil it takes on those who deliver to us day and night: I imagine most would say they don't get enough rest, proper meals and enough exercise, bar humping boxes. It would be interesting to compare if suicide rates rise during this time of the year with the increase in demand for goods and services. There are not enough hours in the day to get everything done.

How often to we see van drivers racing around our streets late into the night delivering their parcels? How often do you pass a Parcel Force articulated lorry making its way down the motorway in the middle of the night? Remember, these are someone's family member and they are probably not getting to spend enough quality time with their families or friends because of the demands of work.

Movember is a great way to highlight the importance of men's health. For too long it was left in a dark and dusty cupboard because "real men" didn't need to talk about "touchy, feely stuff!".

The Lead Generation Group Ltd wants to help highlight the importance of men's health because if your husband, brother, father, cousin or bestie is involved in the transport and logistics industry, you will understand the long hours, physically demanding duties and, in the most part, a rather unhealthy lifestyle when they spend inordinate hours on the highways and byways of the UK.

It's also rather ironic that Pringles, KP, Big Drop Brewing and amazon are strategic partners in Movember. All big names that one wouldn't normally associate with health and wellness. Salty snacks (but admittedly a rather fine moustache on the Pringles tin!), beer and the biggest on-line retailer in the world! They all make up a cocktail of unhealthiness at this time of year.

Let's hope they are strategic partners for the right reasons; we all want to take men's health seriously and make it easier to share the important of good mental and physical health, especially in fast-paced industries such as transport and logistics. The LG Group certainly does and we fully support events like Movember.

Black Friday is a push to get a high volume of sales in before Christmas. In essence from about late September until Christmas Eve the sales machine doesn't stop, and that means neither do the companies and the army of people who make it happen.

Let's hope that with all this additional work and pressure it's NOT a Black Friday for some.