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By Dani Saveker, May 20, 2010 4:57 pm

I’ve finally put one of my concepts for supporting young adults and children with careers advice and preparation for their life journey into a visual format! I now have a proof of concept to start making this idea a reality. The idea started to take form in 2009 after putting a company into administration.

I hear so often “I had a good idea…” but nothing ever happens! The easy bit is the idea but the real value is in the delivery. Seeing something through is certainly made easier when you absolutely believe in it 100%

What made things start to fall into place for me and this particular concept was seeing the latest book released by Gallup… “Wellbeing”. Basically the book looks at 5 areas that need to be nurtured in order for us to have complete ‘wellbeing’.  It’s an area that fascinates me, from being a CEO of 100 employees and looking at reducing absenteeism to being frustrated by employability issues with young people. I also think that the last 12 months I have experienced have also allowed me to reflect and address a number of my own ‘wellbeing’ issues.

Gallup’s book is by Tom Rath and Jim Harter  and explores areas that we all should take care of:

- Career Wellbeing

- Social Wellbeing

- Financial Wellbeing

- Physical Wellbeing

- Community Wellbeing

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By Dani Saveker, May 10, 2010 10:55 am

We’re absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of the Jeeves Services lifestyle management website ‘Jeeves Exclusive Living’.

Jeeves was something I started in January 2010 and we have gently shaped the brand towards lifestyle management.

What’s that?

Well, basically we provide a service to high profile and busy professional clients by taking care of anything that they do not have the time, expertise or inclination to do themselves. So we mainly arrange and manage house keeping, laundry, dog walking, landscaping, plumbing but equally can get asked to source Orangeries and corporate events for team building. This is provided through clients retaining our services on a membership basis.

Contact me to find out more on 07812 99 27 26 or email

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By Dani Saveker, May 6, 2010 9:52 am

Last month saw the first “Dani Saveker, Building on Strength” feature in Chatterbox, a West Midlands magazine.

This first article, which is many ways was just an introduction, explained a little of my own background and a brief overview of Savekers administration. We received some great feedback but the most touching email arrived in my in-box a few days later.

A lovely lady emailed me to say she and her husband had just read the magazine and came across my article. The reason for contacting me was because they had both worked for Savekers many years ago and indeed that was how they had met…

“My husband and I are in our 70’s and way back when we were teenagers we both worked at T Savekers in Phillips Street, Aston. I was employed by Mr Ron as Purchase Ledger Clerk and my husband started in the Steel shop under Mr Frank.  I was there for about five years. My husband left to go into the RAF but we eventually married in 1955.

So without Saveker’s we would never have met.

I remember the building and the good times we had. The dashing Mr Derek who came in to look after despatch and all the females were after him. Mr Bert was a darling who taught me how to speak over the tannoy.  Mr Ron was a wonderful boss and always said ‘well done’ when you balanced at the end of the month.

We both would like to wish you every success in your new venture I am sure you will succeed you have been through so much you deserve to.”

Of course I circulated this my family who were all deeply touched by the email. As a family run business we all had very strong ethics and this thoughtful message reminded us of what my Great Grandfather and relatives all stood for. So many couples met through the business and even had children that then worked for us. This is how we have chosen to remember Savekers Limited.

The next edition of Chatterbox features a piece on Employability

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By Dani Saveker, April 6, 2010 1:47 pm

Having just Googled “Savekers”… something I tend to do from time to time as I often find long lost relatives that way, I found that an interview I’d given a while ago for Radio 4 was played out on Easter Monday.

I’ve had a tough old few weeks for one reason or another and to sit with a cup of tea and indulge in 28 non work minutes with the laptop and my eldest son was a rare treat although listening to the programme was really quite strange.

To hear it back, albeit edited to remove the moments my voice broke under the emotion during the interview, was still very hard to hear. In many ways my grieving is still ongoing and I can feel the pain as much now as at the time. My husband knows all too well exactly how hard I still find it but each day that passes is a day we go  forward.

Ben, my son, said that he found it fascinating to hear. He has quite an understanding of the recession especially considering his age plus his ability to care and protect me is something we are incredibly proud of. My youngest son even wrote a piece at junior school recently about my experience and the family business, again he really does understand the human side of recession and the consequent fall out.

I was really quite worried that the interview would fail to portray the reality of what happened but I think all in all the producer, Laurence Grissell from the BBC, did a very good job. I’d be interested in what people think…if you want to hear for yourself, go to the following LINK

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By Dani Saveker, March 8, 2010 10:26 pm

As the 12 month anniversary approaches in a  few days of Savekers Limited’s administration (10th March) I have looked back and paused for reflection.

I’ve spent a little time over the past few days thinking about this time last year - remembering breaking the news to my parents, fending off suppliers, trying to ensure no one’s financial position worsened, being unable to let my closest friends and colleagues know what was to come, planning how I would actually tell our employees, not really understanding how administration worked, the feeling of letting go, the relief, the loneliness and the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

But here we are, a year on and still in one piece. In so many ways I’m now in a much better place.

Of course I have looked back and had moments of insecurity and played events over in my mind – could anything have been done differently, could I have done more and so on. Each and every time  I know that the answer is the same – no. Very recently I was interviewed for Radio 4 along with some of my former employees and I am still surprised at just how emotional I can become when asked about the actual events of 10th March. I can hear the sounds on the shop floor as I stood in front of my workforce and can picture the faces that looked back at me – and I can certainly relive the sound of my own voice telling everyone that there was nothing more that could be done. In many ways it’s as if it was just yesterday. The pain is almost as raw.

In looking over the journey that has followed I have recalled how busy I have been, the lessons I have learnt, how many new contacts I have, how disappointed I have been with some relationships,  how many opportunities I have found and what new friendships have been forged.

I certainly haven’t had time to look back and dwell – it’s only ever forwards for me now. I still carry certain insecurities but then who doesn’t?

I’ve faced many demons and still know that I have the love and support of the people that truly matter and so I raise a glass to the original Savekers Limited and thank my great Grandfather for founding the company that provided me with the most valuable apprenticeship you could imagine. I have had such a wonderfully valuable training for life and if I can make any difference, even just to one person through my experiences, then it’s all been worthwhile.

The dream I had as a little girl to run my very own company (from scratch) has been realised this year. I am no longer the caretaker of someone else’s dream, I’m living my own.