You would have thought it might be one of those 'hold the presses' moments - when the US president sends his contribution to your company's anniversary book project in a little late.

But not so for Wilmslow's Ci Research, which, thanks to a staggering array of globally renowned contributors, decided to print their project without the proffered words of wisdom of Mr Barack Obama.

'Can I get back to you on that?'

To give it added publicity umph, and persuade people to part with £3.99 to support the worthy causes, the research agency hatched the idea of asking famous contributors to answer the question 'what is the best advice on life you've ever been given?'

The response the team received was, quite honestly, mind blowing.

Lewis Hamilton, Baroness Thatcher, Chris Patten, Nick Clegg, Sir Ian Botham and Ricky Hatton MBE, to name a few, all submitted their own personal pearls of wisdom.

Amazingly first lady of the USA Michelle Obama also contributed, beating her husband into the publication, as he - perhaps busy with other pressing matters - missed the deadline by "a matter of hours".

The Ci team and that book

"We are extremely grateful for their contributions - not only for making the project such a huge success, but in anticipation of the money we will hopefully raise for charity."

Auton also revealed that Lewis Hamilton had sent his quote over just prior to the Singapore Grand Prix and then asked if he could rewrite it afterwards when he wasn't quite so pushed for time.

"It was quite surreal to imagine one of the world's most famous sportsmen driving round the circuit thinking how he could improve his quote for our book," he added.

For those of you eager to find out more, the publication is now being distributed through more than 30 charily shops across the region, as well as North West schools including Stockport Grammar School and via the Claire House website www.thehandbookoflife.com

Stop Press: (We can do that when we have exclusives you see.) Here's the quotes from Barack Obama that didn't make the book:

“Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled.”

 “Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”

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