Why trendy names are often a terrible idea

Of all the trendy rebranding exercises undergone by colleges in recent times, the College Formerly Known As West Nottinghamshire’s decision to call itself Vision West Notts has come in for the most - and most deserved - derision.

So when the institution decided to reinstate the word “college” in its title, FErret was quick to breathe a sigh of relief. As the gospel of accuracy that is Wikipedia explains, “because of the new name not containing the word college, the college was renamed again to Vision West Nottinghamshire College. The word Vision, however, is often omitted and it is also often still referred to as West Nottinghamshire College.” Glad we got that cleared up.

But having regained one of its colleges, Nottingham has lost another. South Nottingham College will henceforth be marketed as, quite simply, Central. Apparently, in a consultation on the matter, 90 per cent of respondents gave this slimmed-down moniker the thumbs up.

And if you thought that was bad, the newly merged Lewisham and Southwark colleges in South London have confirmed that they are consulting on an even more ridiculous new name: LeSoCo. FErret could do with a double. And skip the lemonade.

Fair is foul, and foul is fairly well fried

The quaint Warwickshire town of Stratford-upon-Avon may be best known for a certain playwright who used to live there, but an alumnus of the town’s FE college is doing his bit to earn it a reputation for cutting-edge cuisine.

Chris Sell, who trained as a chef at Stratford-upon-Avon College under its former name of South Warwickshire College, moved to the US in 1990 and has since established a traditional British chippy in New York City to cater for homesick expats.

And his latest invention is a deep-fried English breakfast: a 1,200- calorie monster consisting of two slices of white bread, bacon, egg and mushroom, all bound together by batter. “It looked great cut in half, with the egg yolk running down the middle,” Sell said. “The first half tasted amazing, but it’s cooked in oil, so by the second half the bread got a bit soggy.” Delicious.