What a trooper Palletforce CEO Michael Conroy is! Despite clearly being in pain at yesterday's official opening of the pallet network's 380,000 sq ft hub in Burton-on-Trent, Conroy limped through the ceremony on crutches and was on hand to welcome his VIP guest HRH The Princess Royal.

Conroy is suffering from cellulitis - and no that isn't what ladies get on their thighs but a painful swelling of the leg - brought on when blisters on his foot became infected. Why the blisters? Conroy was helping to raise money for mental health charity Mencap with a gruelling week-long, 22 miles a day sponsored walk, but had to be rushed to hospital in Devon part of the way through the challenge. You can still donate at http://www.justgiving.com/Michael-Conroy/

Palletforce moved into its new £30 million hub last Christmas, consolidating four old depots into this state of the art facility. The company says that there are signs that the recession may finally be coming to end, reporting volumes up across all sectors and parts of the UK.

Bet you're dying to know how many football pitches or double decker buses end to end can fit in the hub - the answer is 8 and 1,736 respectively.