I was picking apart a cardboard beermat with my fingers, and she was trying to console me the best she could with the advised distance of a professional counsellor.

And then it was plonked on a tray with roughly the size and structural integrity of a beermat, two drinks precariously balanced one atop the other.

The writer is a best-selling author, keynote speaker and entrepreneur mentor, co-founder of Beermat.biz, an on-line resource for entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, FT columnist and author of The Beermat Entrepreneur, Mike Southon, will join senior representatives from some of the most forward-thinking firms in the country to look at how businesses can survive the current difficult environment.

We totted them up on the back of a beermat. The women said puppies, trees and love.

The Proofie, made from material similar to a beermat, will be on sale in chemists and vending machines from next month.

It wasn't actually a contract - Wallasey captain Danny Beaver and wicketkeeper Jack Leckey tricked him into signing it on a beermat when they met him in a bar in Sydney in January, just after he'd helped his country rout England 4-0 in the Ashes.

| The glass and beermat technique |would be used for this beauty in our house

While Dylan Thomas' image has long since appeared on a beermat with little comment, the face of late, great RS Thomas on a bag of crisps sparked a complaint and subsequent apology from an upmarket snack-maker.

No matter that Coventry's Memorial Park last Saturday morning was as soggy as a Barmy Army beermat and the sky more threatening than a Mitchell Johnson bouncer.

Mr Southon, who is the acclaimed author of the book, The Beermat Entrepreneur, will focus on the importance of creativity, teamwork and branding.