Employers began to modernise in earnest, cutting staff, wages and prices to survive.
Photograph: Steve Jennings/Corbis Not for me, the earplugs handed out by earnest looking staff at Chalk Farm's Roundhouse as I entered the auditorium for a new round of aural assault from My Bloody Valentine.
Advocates believe that since 1995, when downsizing of the state Health Department began in earnest, field staff available to inspect and investigate complaints and incidents in hospitals have been allowed to fall to dangerously low levels.
Sixteen floors below, in Suite 336, is the headquarters of the Mark Green for Mayor campaign, which percolates with a mixture of earnest senior staff members and a small army of young volunteers.
So, too, is Taste itself, with its satisfying food, earnest owners, attentive staff and attractive surroundings.
At night, when the shop closes, more lines blur as earnest, finely tattooed staff members whizz around setting the giant farmhouse table with crystal glasses and wildflowers in jam jars.
For years, Vidpresso has been bootstrapping, but it's looking to take some funding and start expanding its staff in earnest.
The promised shake-up of White House staff began in earnest.
THE STAFF Welcoming and earnest; service can slow down when the crowd builds.
Critics also have to do their job, of course, but there was something very earnest and heartfelt about the staff we encountered, and the way they talked about improving and changing things in the wake of the review was impressive.
