HEADING off to work yesterday in the lashing rain only intensified that 'back to school' feeling I think we're all afflicted by after Christmas and New Year.

So it was cheering to be greeted by the news that one of our region's biggest employers, Bentley Motors, achieved a near-40 per cent sales increase in 2011.

As you can read elsewhere in today's paper, the Crewe-based firm sold 7,003 cars worldwide last year and saw particular success in China, which leapfrogged the UK to become Bentley's second-biggest market, after the U.S.

The increase was widely expected; in September Bentley said it was predicting an overall sales rise of around 40 per cent for 2011. But the fact it has achieved that target must surely come as a boost for the near-4,000 highly-skilled people the firm employs at Pyms Lane, who play such a crucial role in its success.

Encouragingly, Bentley says it expects sales growth to continue "unabated" in 2012 – perhaps this year we'll hear more about a potential new Bentley 4x4, which chairman and chief exec Wolfgang Dürheimer dropped a tantalising hint about back in September.