First impressions.

This is Terminal 5 at Heathrow. Two or three times a day I along the concourse to the coffee shop that is on the left hand side of this picture.

To get there, I walk past the arrivals area and I enjoy watching the people arrive, sometimes greeted by friends and sometimes by these characters lined up on the left. They're all here to meet people who aren't their friends but who are clients of the companies they work for as drivers.

The high end ones have their passengers names on iPads, others have little A4 sized whiteboards, some are printed on paper and occasionally I see a handwritten one. Usually these men - and they are always men as far as I've seen - are dressed in suits. Some are very smart and some are exceedingly scruffy.

Maybe it's just me but if was meeting people off a flight, even if I didn't have the iPad, I think I'd have a shave and make an effort. First impressions and all that...